Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – Down early in the second half, the Norfolk State men's basketball team used a 16-2 run to take the lead, and the Spartan men never let go on the way to an 88-79 victory over North Carolina Central on Saturday afternoon at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium.
 
In a matchup of two teams with the league's best records over the last several years, the Spartans went up by 11 in the first half before the Eagles responded to take a two-point lead at the break. After that big run early in the second half, the Eagles got no closer than four during the rest of the game.
 
NSU hit 11 3-pointers in the game, including seven in the second half to spark that rally. The Spartans scored 52 points in the second stanza, the most in a half this season by NSU. The Spartans tied their season high in points after also scoring 88 in the conference victory over Coppin State in December.
 
They also overcame foul trouble in both halves, with three players finishing with four fouls and three more tallying three fouls. Nevertheless, NSU shot better than 53 percent overall to improve its record to 7-12 overall and 3-1 in the conference. The Spartans maintained third place in the league standings while dropping the Eagles to 7-12 overall and 2-3 in MEAC play. NSU broke a four-game losing streak in the series with NCCU.
 
North Carolina Central put up a 12-0 run between the two halves, pushing the Eagle lead to six early in the second half. This came after the Spartans had been up by 11 near the nine-minute mark of the first stanza. Down 42-36 in the second, the Spartans had the answer.
 
Junior Preston Bungei's layup at 17:36 began a 16-2 run for the Spartans. Senior Charles Oliver had eight points during that time and capped the scoring spurt with a 3-pointer three and a half minutes after Bungei's bucket.
 
Oliver drained another trey on the next possession, but after the Eagles got to within 55-51 on a pair of free throws by Jeremiah Ingram, NSU scored the next seven points to complete what ended up being a longer 26-9 run. Sophomore Zaynah Robinson sank a 3-pointer, and Bungei's dunk with 11:10 on the clock made it 62-51 in favor of NSU.
 
Patrick Cole made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions with less than eight minutes on the clock to cut the Spartan lead to five, 70-65. But a few minutes later, junior Jonathan Wade made two free throws and then made another trey for the Spartans, putting NSU up by 10.
 
The Eagles got to within five with less than two minutes left thanks to layups by Rashaun Madison, who made one more with 24.5 seconds left that made it 84-79 in favor of NSU. Robinson and Oliver each made 2-of-2 from the foul line to ice the win.
 
NSU had five players in double figures, with Oliver hitting 5-of-8 from 3-point range for a team-leading 20 points. Wade, senior Jeff Short and freshman Alex Long each added 12 points, shooting a combined 12-of-19. Bungei also reached double figures with 10, thanks in part to a 6-of-9 effort from the free throw line, to go with four rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
 
With Bungei, Wade and Oliver not in the starting lineup, NSU's bench outscored NCCU's by a 51-7 margin.
 
Short and Long each had five rebounds, and NSU won for the first time in 10 games this season despite getting outrebounded. Kyle Benton led NCCU with seven boards to help the Eagles finish with a 36-30 edge on the glass.
 
NSU built an early six-point lead to start the game thanks to a pair of free throws from Robinson and then a trey in transition from Oliver at 13:15 after Madison had just nailed a 3-pointer for the Eagles. Oliver got the kind roll on another trey, and Bungei sank two from the foul line to give NSU a double digit lead nine minutes into the game.
 
The Spartans led by as much as 11 and still led by 10 with eight minutes in the half, but the Eagles used an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to four, 26-22, with six minutes to go. Short made a pair of 3-pointers to keep NCCU at bay, and sophomore Jordan Butler's dunk with the shot clock running out gave NSU a 36-30 lead with a little more than three minutes left.
 
The Eagles, though, scored the last eight points of the half, and even had a last-second bucket waived off, to go into the locker room up 38-36.
 
Dante Holmes had 14 to lead NCCU and all scorers at the break. NSU trailed despite hitting better than 54 percent in the first half.
 
Robinson finished the game with nine points and a career-high eight assists for the Spartans, who shot 25-of-47 for the game (53.2 percent) while holding NCCU to a 25-of-64 effort (39.1 percent). NSU ended up making 19-of-24 from the free throw line in the second half and 27-of-33 (81.8 percent) for the game.
 
Cole made 8-of-17 from the floor for a game-high 26 points, while Holmes added 21 on 7-of-18 shooting. Madison also reached double figures with 12, and the trio combined for 48 of NCCU's 64 field goal attempts.
 
The Eagles did outscored NSU in points in the paint (30-22), points off turnovers (16-10) and second-chance points (11-8).
 
The Spartans made 11-of-24 overall from long range, compared to 7-of-25 for the Eagles (28.0 percent).
 
The Spartans will finish out the North Carolina road trek with a Monday afternoon contest at North Carolina A&T.