DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Senior Preston Bungei tallied a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Norfolk State men's basketball team to an 83-79 win over Bethune-Cookman in a foul-plagued MEAC contest on Monday night at Moore Gymnasium.
 
Norfolk State took the lead early in the second half and never let it go despite B-CU's late-game attempts. The victory, its fourth in a row, improved NSU's mark to 8-16 overall and 6-3 in the MEAC. Coupled with North Carolina Central's loss to Hampton on Monday night, the Spartans moved into a tie for third place in the league with both B-CU and N.C. Central.
 
The teams combined for 54 fouls and 75 free throw attempts. Despite hitting 29-of-41 from the foul line, the Wildcats were not able to pull off the comeback at the end.
 
Bethune-Cookman (12-12 overall) fell despite getting 30 points and 17 rebounds from Shawntrez Davis. He shot 10-of-11 from the floor and 9-of-13 from the foul line before acquiring his fifth foul late in the contest.
 
Bungei broke out of a slump to make 8-of-15 from the floor. He was one of five Spartans in double figures. Senior Kyle Williams sank 4-of-6 from 3-point range on the way to a 16-point night, and sophomores Steven Whitley (5-of-7 field goals) and Nic Thomas each added 14.
 
The Spartans trailed by one at the half, but with Whitley back from foul trouble, the Spartans scored six of the first eight points of the second half to open a three-point advantage. They later scored seven straight, capped by a trey from Williams, for a 54-47 lead at the 14:38 mark.
 
The Wildcats then scored eight of the next 10 points to cut the Spartan lead to one. After Whitley's 3-pointer about four minutes later gave the Spartans a five-point edge, B-CU again got to within one. But once more he Spartans had the answer, scoring eight straight for a 71-62 advantage with just 5:12 left.
 
Jeffery Altidort led the Wildcats in trimming the NSU lead to four, and David Francis got out on the break to make it an 80-78 game with just 33.1 seconds left. The Wildcats, though, could not convert the rest of the way.
 
For the game, the Spartans shot 27-of-64 (42.2 percent), including 8-of-20 from deep. They held B-CU to 38 percent shooting, including 6-of-27 from 3-point range.
 
Thanks in part to a couple of 3-pointers from Brandon Tabb, the Wildcats opened a 13-5 advantage to start the game. After they extended the lead to nine, Bungei scored seven straight for the Spartans to start an 11-2 run. That tied the game at 21-21, and Bungei later made 1-of-2 from the foul line to give the Spartans their first lead of the game with 6:02 to go.
 
Late in the half, Thomas made a pair of treys to put NSU ahead before Francis' layup gave the Wildcats a 40-39 lead at the break.
 
Junior Alex Long added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans. They finished the night 29-of-41 from the charity stripe.
 
Tabb posted 17 points for B-CU, all in the first half, and Isaiah Bailey added 13 points and eight assists. Bailey made just 2-of-11 from the floor but 9-of-12 from the line.
 
Norfolk State outscored B-CU 19-9 in points off turnovers.
 
NSU will next compete in the Battle of the Bay, the first of two matchups this year, on Saturday at Hampton beginning at 6 p.m.