NORFOLK, Va. – North Carolina A&T outscored the Spartans by 11 in the second half, and the Aggies came away with a 70-64 win over the Norfolk State men's basketball team in the MEAC tournament quarterfinal round on Thursday night at Norfolk Scope Arena.
 
The Spartans used a big run late in the first half to go up by five at the break after trailing by as much as 10. In the second half, NSU shot just 36 percent, and the Aggies went to the line 20 times after intermission to help seal the win.
 
NSU closed out its season at 14-19 overall after also tying the Aggies for fourth in the regular season standings at 11-5. The loss marked the first time in five years the Spartans failed to advance to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
 
North Carolina A&T (20-13) moved on to face No. 1 seed Hampton in the semifinals on Friday.
 
The Spartans shot 52 percent in the first half, trailing most of the way until the end. After A&T took a 28-18 lead, the Spartans outscored the Aggies 19-4 over the last 7:17 of the first half. NSU forced several offense fouls on A&T during that time, and senior Kyle Williams had eight of his 15 first-half points during that run.
 
He finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 from deep, with five rebounds. Sophomore Steven Whitley made 7-of-11 from the floor for a 15-point night, and freshman Mastadi Pitt also reached double figures with 11 while tying his career high with six assists.
 
The Aggies won despite committing 19 turnovers, including 12 in the first half. They did shoot 22-of-43 overall (51.2 percent), including 7-of-17 from long range. NSU had 21 more attempts from the floor but 17 less from the foul line.
 
In the end, the Spartans shot 27-of-62 overall (43.5 percent). They made just 4-of-13 from the free throw line, compared to 19-of-30 for the Aggies.
 
Following that late first-half run, another 3-pointer from Williams early in the second half pushed the Spartan lead to nine at 42-33, their largest of the game. The Aggies cut it to three before the Spartans scored seven of the next nine points to get it back up to eight. Whitley had a pair of layups to make it 49-41 with 13:34 on the clock.
 
But the Aggies responded with a 12-0 run in three and a half minutes for a four-point edge. It reached seven points with seven minutes left in the game after a layup from Devonte Boykins.
 
Whitley later made a layup with 4:38 to go, and a bucket from junior Alex Long got the deficit down to two at 63-61. But with 2:20 still left, the Spartans missed their next six shots from the field, and the Aggies made 5-of-6 from the line in the last 30 seconds of action.
 
Femi Olujobi totaled 18 points and nine rebounds to lead North Carolina A&T. Kameron Langley added 16 points on just 4-of-5 shooting with eight assists, and Aaren Edmead finished with 11 points and four assists, knocking down 3-of-4 from deep.
 
Denzel Keyes led the Aggies with 11 rebounds, helping them to a 37-32 edge on the glass. The Spartans did outscore A&T 36-26 in points in the paint, however.
 
Despite hitting 6-of-18 from long range, NSU still ended the year at 35.9 percent from beyond the arc, topping the previous school record of 35.7 set in 1998-99. On Monday against Maryland Eastern Shore, the Spartans passed the previous mark for 3-pointers in a season. They tallied 254 this year.
 
Williams was one of five senior for the Spartans. He had his fifth career 20-point game and finished with 510 points, 199 rebounds, 71 assists, 39 steals and 12 blocks in his two seasons with NSU. Competing in 65 games, including 33 starts, he ended his career 10^th all-time at NSU in 3-point field goal percentage (38.1), 13^th in 3-pointers (107) and 14^th in 3-point attempts (281). His 65 3-pointers this year were the seventh-most in Spartan Division I history.
 
Preston Bungei led NSU in rebounding this year at 6.1 boards per game, 12^th in the league heading into Thursday's game. He also averaged 8.5 points while tallying 465 points in his two years with the Spartans. His career began in 2015-16 before he sat out last year. He played in 67 games with 30 starts, compiling 313 rebounds, 100 assists, 55 blocks and 43 steals while shooting 44 percent overall.
 
Dan Robinson, Bryan Gellineau and Stavian Allen also wrapped up their individual two-year careers on Thursday. Robinson played in 62 games with 24 starts, finishing with 218 rebounds, 195 points, 53 blocks, 25 assists and 11 steals. He entered the night 12^th in the MEAC in blocks.
 
Gellineau saw action in 49 games with 12 starts, shooting 62 percent from the field on the way to tallying 180 points, 121 rebounds, 18 blocks, 11 steals and 10 assists. Allen started four games and played in 55 altogether, posting 158 points, 137 rebounds, 25 blocks, 16 assists and 16 steals.