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ETTRICK, Va. – Elijah Moore sank a 3-pointer with 22.3 seconds left in double overtime to cap a wild contest and lift Virginia State to an 83-80 win over the Norfolk State men's basketball team on Saturday night in an exhibition at VSU's Multipurpose Center.
 
In a game where both teams had chances to put it away before it finally ended, but in a game that did not count, it was the Trojans who ultimately made the final play. Both teams had plenty of opportunities, but both poor free throw shooting and poor decision making hurt the two squads at just the wrong times.
 
VSU gave NSU fits throughout regulation, especially on the glass, and went up by as much as seven early in the second half. The Spartans were primed to take the win after slowing the Trojans down to a standstill late in that second stanza.
 
Junior Micah Goss' quick trigger 3-pointer with 11 and a half minutes left began an extended 16-2 run for the Spartans. Senior Jonathan Wade scored a fastbreak bucket four minutes later to put NSU ahead. The Spartans scored 13 straight at one point before Ken Woodard's layup at 3:47 finally ended a nearly eight-minute scoring drought for VSU.
 
That basket began a regulation-closing 9-1 run for the Trojans, who nearly did not even need overtime to win.
 
With less than a minute to go, VSU got its field goal attempted blocked right before a shot clock violation. NSU, on the other hand, did not bleed out the clock on its possession right afterward. The Spartans still stuffed VSU's second-to-last possession with 15 seconds to go before missing two free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining. Then, Richard Granberry played the temporary hero, getting fouled on an and-1 with only 3.8 seconds left.
 
Granberry, though, missed the free throw to keep it tied at 65-65, and the Spartans could not get a shot off in the last seconds.
 
The Spartans led almost the entire first overtime, going up by five on junior Zaynah Robinson's 3-pointer a minute into the extra session. After Moore hit 1-of-2 free throws with a minute left, Wade did the same with 56.1 on the clock. Moore then redeemed himself with a putback with 29.7 seconds left to tie the score at 73-73. NSU again could not get a shot off in the final possession of the first extra stanza despite having more than 20 seconds to work with.
 
NSU, whose big men were in foul trouble all night, finally succumbed in the second overtime. Cyonte Melvin hit a trey from the left corner with 2:14 left to put VSU up 80-76. Sophomore Alex Long and junior Kyle Williams each hit 2-of-2 from the line with less than a minute and a half remaining, the second of those trips to the foul line tying the score at 80-80 with 38.2 left. Moore again provided some late heroics with his 3-pointer from the top of the key, and NSU could only get off a desperation three with several seconds left before time ran out in the scrum for the rebound.
 
Robinson led NSU with 24 points – surpassing his regular season career high of 19 – on 8-of-15 shooting to go with seven assists.
 
Moore countered with 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. Granberry added 15 points and 18 rebounds to help the Trojans to a 56-40 edge in rebounds.
 
VSU won despite hitting 14-of-31 from the foul line, compared to a 23-of-37 effort (62.2 percent) for the Spartans. The Spartans shot 6-of-11 in overtime, compared to a 3-of-8 effort for the Trojans.
 
Waymond Wright hit a couple of treys to get Virginia State going early on, but Wade completed a four-point play to start a 13-2 run that pushed NSU's lead to eight a little more than eight minutes into the game. The Trojans came right back with a pair of 3-pointers a little more than a minute apart, but with less than nine minutes to go before the half Williams made treys on back-to-back possessions to keep the Spartans in the lead.
 
Virginia State then began to match NSU bucket for bucket, with Granberry's offensive putback tying the score at 32-32 with less than four minutes to go before the break. Walter Williams then put the Trojans ahead with two free throws and a basket, and Virginia State held on to the lead going into the half, 38-35.
 
The score could have been worse had the Trojans not gone 8-of-16 from the free throw line in the first half. NSU was called for 15 fouls compared to seven for VSU and got outrebounded by the Trojans by 10 before the break.
 
VSU kept right on going at the start of the second half, getting the crowd into game and jumping ahead by seven after Wright's bucket at 17:31. Virginia State kept up its domination on the boards, although its lead never got above six the rest of regulation. After Woodard's dunk at 11:17, VSU did not score until Woodard's next basket at the 3:47 mark began the final run in regulation for the Trojans.
 
Wade (12 points) and Long (10) also reached double figures in scoring. Long tied with junior Jordan Butler for the team lead with eight boards.
 
VSU had 21 offensive rebounds that allowed the Trojans to take 14 more shots than NSU. Both teams were relatively even from the floor, with the Spartans shooting 24-of-58 (41.4 percent) and the Trojans hitting 30-of-72 (41.7). Both squads made nine 3-pointers apiece, with NSU need three less attempts (19) than VSU (22).
 
Kevin Williams joined Granberry in the double-double column with 13 points and 11 assists.
 
NSU begins its regular season next Friday at Mississippi State at 8 p.m. EST.