Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – Despite another big night from junior Jeff Short, the Norfolk State men's basketball team was unable to get past North Carolina Central in a 60-56 loss on Saturday evening at Joseph Echols Hall.
 
Short finished a career-high 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting, providing more than half of NSU's production on the night. In a battle for first place, the Eagles came away with the victory as they improved to 5-0 in the MEAC and 13-5 overall.
 
The Spartans, meanwhile, dropped to 11-9 overall and 4-1 in conference play. NSU is now tied for second in the MEAC with Hampton.
 
NCCU led for all but 30 seconds of the first half and by as much as 10 points early in the second. Momentum began to swing to NSU's favor after the Spartans scored eight straight to cut the deficit to two. Junior D'Shon Taylor drove through traffic for the layup and hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line to cap that spurt.
 
Short hit a long baseline jumper off an inbounds pass a few minute later to again get the Spartans to with two, and he sank a pair of free throws to cut the margin to one with 10:24 on the clock.
 
He hit two more jumpers, and junior RaShid Gaston had a steal under the basket and an easy layup to give the Spartans their first lead of the game at 47-45 with a little less than nine minutes left. The Eagles, though, twice went 1-of-2 from the line and then hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the right corner to open up a five-point edge with less than four and a half minutes remaining.
 
The Spartans were not done. A pair of free throws and a fastbreak bucket by Short following an NCCU turnover made it 56-55 in favor of NCCU with 1:01 left.
 
On the Eagles' next possession, Jordan Parks came off a screen for an easy dunk to push their lead back up by three. They then came up with a timely block on NSU's next possession with less than 30 seconds to go, and NCCU held on for the win.
 
Parks led the Eagles with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting and nine rebounds, while Dante Holmes added 18 points, 11 boards, three assists and three steals.
 
The Spartans, though, connected on just 1-of-16 from 3-point range, compared to a 7-of-18 effort from the Eagles. The teams shot pretty even overall, with NCCU finishing 21-of-52 (40.4 percent) from the floor. NSU shot at a 18-of-43 clip (41.9 percent).
 
Besides Short, Taylor was the only other Spartan in double figures with 10.
 
NSU got off to a slow start, as the Eagles scored the first nine points of the game over a four-minute span. Short hit a layup and then a jumper off a turnover to get the Spartans on the board and start an 8-2 run. He later hit a 17-footer and sank a pair of free throws after NCCU coach LeVelle Moton received a technical, tying the score at 15-15 at the 9:05 mark.
 
Tied at 21-21, the Eagles closed the half with a four-minute, 11-2 run to take a 32-23 lead into the locker room.
 
N.C. Central held a 34-30 edge on the boards and had a 13-7 advantage on the offensive glass. The Eagles outscored the Spartans 15-7 in second-chance points, although NSU returned the favor by having a 20-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
NSU will take on North Carolina A&T on Monday at 8 p.m. at Echols Hall.