Box Score RICHMOND, Ky. – Norfolk State got as close as one late in the game, but the Spartan men's basketball team was unable to get past Eastern Kentucky in an 81-75 loss on Tuesday night during the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) first round at McBrayer Arena.
 
EKU led by as much as 14 in the second half thanks to some scorching 3-point shooting. NSU shot better than 60 percent overall to stay in the game, including a late comeback when EKU was itching to pull away.
 
A putback layup from junior RaShid Gaston and a 3-pointer in transition from junior Jeff Short with 5:36 left cut the EKU lead to just five, 71-66. EKU had led by 13 just three and a half minutes earlier. Those buckets also became part of a 10-0 run that trimmed the Colonel lead to just one, 71-70, at the 4:33 mark.
 
Ja'Mill Powell got the kind roll on his 3-pointer a minute later to push EKU's lead to four, and then neither team could get much going until EKU's Corey Walden completed a 3-point play with 47.3 seconds left. NSU senior Malik Thomas drained a trey from the left wing with 32.6 on the clock to make it 77-73, but the Spartans got no closer as time ran out.
 
The Spartans were making their fourth straight postseason appearance and the second straight in the CIT. NSU finished 20-14 overall for its third 20-win season in four years and the third in the Division I era that began in 1997.
 
Gaston led the Spartans with a game-tying high of 22 points on 10-of-11 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds. He posted his 18th double-double of the year.
 
Gaston was able to take advantage of a smaller EKU lineup, helping the Spartans outscore the Colonels 44-26 in points in the paint and finish with a 29-20 edge on the glass.
 
Thanks to Gaston's nearly flawless effort from the floor, the best individual D-I shooting percentage in a game that involved at least one miss, the Spartans connected on 31-of-51 (60.8 percent) for the game. NSU had 25 assists on those 31 buckets, just one assist from tying the school's D-I record.
 
Thomas added 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Short (14 points, 5-of-11 shooting) and junior D'Shon Taylor (13 points, 6-of-12 shooting) teamed up with Gaston and Thomas to score all but six of NSU's points on the night.
 
The Spartans also shot 9-of-15 from beyond the arc (60.0 percent), tied for the sixth-best shooting percentage in a game in the D-I era.
 
Walden (22 points, 7-of-11 shooting) and Eric Stutz (22 points, 8-of-13 from the floor) provided plenty of offense for EKU (20-11). Walden also added eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
 
The Colonels got going to start the game thanks to a pair of 3-pointers in the first three minutes of play. The scoring continued at a quick pace, and eventually Gaston and Taylor had back-to-back dunks to start a 14-2 run for the Spartans. Freshman Zaynah Robinson finished the run with a layup high off the glass at the 7:37 mark for a 30-22 NSU lead.
 
The Colonels responded with a 10-2 run of their own as Walden continued to pace the EKU offense. After Short hit a 3-pointer with a minute and a half left, the Colonels scored the last five points of the half for a 44-39 lead at the break.
 
NSU was 17-of-25 (68.0 percent) in the first half.
 
EKU drained five 3-pointers within the first seven and a half minutes of the second half to extend its advantage to 61-47, the largest of the game for either side. The Colonels had capped it off with an 11-0 run to get the lead into double digits. NSU got to within nine several times, but Stutz scored eight straight for EKU to keep the Spartans at bay until the late game run by NSU.
 
The Colonels shot 13-of-31 (41.9 percent) from beyond the arc, the second-most treys against the Spartans this season. They also finished the night 28-of-54 (51.9 percent) overall from the floor and outscored NSU 19-7 in points off turnovers.
 
The setback closed out NSU's season and the careers for six current members of the Spartan basketball team.
 
The most notable is point guard Jamel Fuentes. He ended his career first all-time at NSU in games played (133), second in assists (552) behind career record holder Billy Walker, and 10^th in steals (152). A member of all four of Norfolk State's D-I postseason squads, Fuentes also finished with totals of 565 points and 397 rebounds while starting 84 games during his career.
 
Thomas played just one year with the Spartans after transferring from Boston University last summer. He averaged 9.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.9 blocks this season. Over the course of his four-year career between BU and NSU, Thomas totaled 838 points, 539 rebounds, 152 assists, 78 blocks and 76 steals.
 
Fifth-year senior Jordan Weathers missed most of last season and all of this season due to injury. The most senior member of the program, he owns career totals of 94 points, 57 rebounds, 20 assists and 15 steals in 66 games played.
 
Junior college transfer LaTre'e Russell scored 119 points during his two years with NSU and also compiled 79 rebounds, 23 assists, 14 rebounds and 10 steals in 41 games.
 
Two other players, Paulius Vinogradovas and redshirt junior Hefeng Sun, also finished out their Spartan careers. Vinogradovas played in 58 games in three years with career totals of 42 rebounds, 26 points, four blocks, four steals and two assists. Sun competed in 24 games the last two seasons and tallied 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and one steal.