Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. – Seniors Jeff Short and Charles Oliver combined for 38 points to lead the Norfolk State men's basketball team to an 88-56 win over Coppin State on Monday night at the Physical Education Complex.
 
The Spartans opened up MEAC play with their largest victory ever against the Eagles by outscoring them by 19 in the second half. NSU moved to 4-4 overall after shooting a season-best 55.6 percent overall from the floor (30-of-54). The Spartans converted 7-of-13 from long range and held a 39-25 edge on the glass.
 
Short made 6-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the foul line for a game-high 20 points to go along with a game-high seven rebounds as well. Oliver hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range and 5-of-7 overall for an 18-point night.
 
The Spartans also got double digit scoring outputs from senior D'Shon Taylor (13 points, 5-of-8 shooting) and junior Jonathan Wade (10 points). The latter hit double digits for the second time this season, while Taylor added five rebounds and a team-high five assists.
 
NSU also dominated in points in the paint, outscoring the Eagles 34-14. The Spartans held CSU to a 6-of-25 effort in the second half to pull away after holding a 13-point lead at the break. The Eagles did not have a player reach double figures in scoring.
 
The loss dropped CSU to 2-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
 
The teams traded 3-pointers early on in the contest, with NSU going up by four at 14-10 at 13:29 after junior Preston Bungei and sophomore Zaynah Robinson each went 1-of-2 from the foul line. NSU scored six straight a few minutes later to push its lead to 22-16, with Short hitting two free throws on a 1-and-1 for the first of two times in a 30-second span.
 
The Spartans went up by seven twice, at first when junior Brian Kelley got around a screen and converted the easy bunny. Taylor also put the Spartans up by seven at 7:37 when he drained a 3-pointer from the right corner. Oliver then sank a 3 of his own to go up by eight with six minutes before the half.
 
NSU went into the intermission up by 13, 47-34, after scoring the last seven points of the half. Oliver connected on his third trey with a little more than a minute left, and Kelley hit a floater just over a defender as time expired for the final first-half margin.
 
NSU shot 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) for the half, including 5-of-8 from long range.
 
NSU scored the first five points of the second half, part of a 14-4 run that ended at 14:21 when Wade came in to clean up a miss at the bucket. That put the Spartans ahead by a comfortable 61-38 score. Robinson gave NSU a 27-point lead at the 8:47 mark when he took a pass from Taylor and converted a 3-pointer from the left corner.
 
The game bogged down for a while with some sloppy play, although the Spartans did go up by 28 at 5:22 when Oliver completed a difficult 3-point play on a pass from Bungei. NSU led 76-48 at that point and by as much as the final margin of 32.
 
The Spartans outscored Coppin State 11-4 in points off turnovers. Bungei added a season-best nine points, while sophomore Jordan Butler added five points, six rebounds and four blocks.
 
The victory over the Eagles broke the previous best in the series of 21 points set on Nov. 29, 1982 in the first ever meeting between the two programs, a 77-56 NSU win. The Spartans now lead the all-time series, 26-11.
 
NSU also hit 21-of-27 (77.8 percent) from the free throw line.
 
CSU, which came into the game averaging 78.0 points per game, was held to a season low in points after shooting just 21-of-57 overall (36.8 percent). The Eagles connected on 6-of-21 from 3-point range as well. Keith Shivers led the Eagles with nine points, which came on 4-of-15 shooting.
 
NSU will stay on the road for its next trip, a three-game swing over five days beginning next Sunday at Northern Kentucky at 7 p.m.