Jones Postgame Interview | Postgame Player Interview
NORFOLK, Va. – Down by as much as 18 in the second half, the Norfolk State men's basketball team nearly pulled off a big comeback before falling 79-73 to Stony Brook on Tuesday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
The Seawolves surged ahead by 18 early in the second half and led by double digits until there was less than seven minutes to go. Junior
Nic Thomas, who finished with 18 points, drained one of his four 3-pointers with four minutes left to get the Spartans to within three.
Leading scorer Jaron Cornish made a pair of nice plays for Stony Brook, and NSU was unable to convert on a pair of 3-point attempts late in the contest. The Spartans fell to 3-5 on the year, while Stony Brook improved to 6-1.
Thomas heated up for the Spartans in the second half, scoring 15 of his 18 points. He made 6-of-12 overall, 4-of-7 from deep, with four rebounds. He made all four of his treys in the second half after NSU went into the intermission down by seven.
The Seawolves scored the first eight points of the second half to stretch their lead to 15. They led by as much as 18 before senior
Jordan Butler's 3-point play and a pair of treys from Thomas made it 55-44 six and a half minutes into the period.
Sophomore
Mastadi Pitt had a 3-pointer and a layup as NSU tried five different times to get the deficit below 11. They finally did the last of those times with 6:45 left when senior
Armani Branch nailed a trey from the left corner. Down 68-60 at that point, the Spartans got four free throws from junior
Steven Whitley and then later Thomas' 3-pointer with 3:58 left.
Up 70-67 at that point, SBU's Cornish made an off balanced shot just inside the paint and then a deep 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down for an eight-point lead. Thomas later made an elbow jumper, 1-of-2 from the line, and then a late 3-pointer, but the Seawolves led by as much as nine with less than a minute to go.
Pitt finished with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting with four assists. Both Butler and Branch also scored in double figures with 10 each.
Cornish had 22 on 8-of-11 shooting to lead Stony Brook. Akwasi Yeboah ended the night with 16 points and seven rebounds as well. Along with Jeff Otchere (12 points, seven boards), the duo played a big part in the Seawolves controlling the boards by a 35-19 margin. They also outscored the Spartans 13-5 in second-chance points.
Stony Brook shot 59 percent in the first half. Neither team led by more than three through the first 10 minutes of the first half, that coming on a trey from the Seawolves eight minutes in for an 11-8 score. Pitt made a 3-ball and a pair from the line to give the Spartans the lead back twice, but Stony Brook made several 3-pointers to extend its advantage to seven.
Thomas and Butler made a pair from the line to keep the Spartans from falling any farther behind. But then late in the half, Otchere's 3-point play put the Seawolves ahead by eight, 35-27. Buckets by Branch and then senior
Derrik Jamerson Jr. got the Spartans to within two, but Stony Brook took a 39-32 lead into the half after scoring the last four points.
The Seawolves had 14 of their 19 turnovers in the first half. That negated their overall shooting, although they did finish 26-of-47 for the game (55.5 percent), including 9-of-19 from deep.
NSU, on the other hand, made 50 percent in the second half and 46 percent for the contest (22-of-48). The Spartans were 6-of-12 from 3-point range in the second period and 8-of-21 for the night.
They were hurt by a 13-of-24 effort from the free throw line in the second half after making 8-of-9 in the first 20 minutes of the game.
NSU returns to the court in two days when the Spartans host Hampton for the Battle of the Bay at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at Echols Hall.
