ORANGEBURG, S.C. – For the second game in a row, the Norfolk State men's basketball team overcame a late deficit as the Spartans defeated South Carolina State 74-69 on Monday night at the S-H-M Memorial Center.
 
In a MEAC contest, NSU trailed by nine in the second half and by four with five minutes to go. But starting with a pair of free throws from sophomore Mastadi Pitt with 4:48 left, the Spartans outscored the Bulldogs 10-1 to close the game. S.C. State shot 0-of-4 from the floor and had three turnovers during that closing stretch.
 
Two days after erasing a late deficit at Savannah State, the Spartans did it again to keep their perfect record intact. They sit 6-0 in the MEAC and 11-10 overall. After North Carolina A&T's win on Monday night, NSU owns a half game lead over the Aggies for first place.
 
Junior Nic Thomas made 4-of-8 from 3-point range and all five of his free throw attempts for a 19-point night, 16 of those points in the second half. The Spartans held the Bulldogs to 33 percent shooting in the last 20 minutes of play while outscoring them by nine during that time.
 
Junior Steven Whitley added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting with five rebounds, and freshman Joe Bryant Jr. went for a career-high 11 points, the first double-digit scoring game of his career. Pitt totaled 10 points as well.
 
South Carolina State, meanwhile, fell to 4-17 overall, including 2-3 in the MEAC.
 
The Spartans trailed by four at the half, but S.C. State's lead did not last long. Thomas had a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half to help the Spartans earn the advantage back. That was the first of four lead changes, which included NSU up 43-40 with 15:52 on the clock.
 
But a little later, after a 3-ball by Bryant tied the score, the Bulldogs scored nine straight for the largest lead of the game by either team, 57-48. Thomas made another 3-pointer and had a 3-point play, and Pitt had a couple of buckets to get NSU to within one with eight minutes left.
 
S.C. State twice led by four after that point, but a pair of free throws by Pitt started the closing run. Whitley had a pair of layups during that time, including one with 41.0 seconds left to go up by three. S.C. State got called for a shot clock violation on its end, and Thomas' two free throws with 8.7 left finished it out.
 
Both teams totaled nine makes from beyond the arc. The Spartans also made 12-of-13 from the foul line in the second half after a 7-of-13 effort in the first.
 
The Bulldogs knocked down three of their nine 3-pointers early in the game after the Spartans had scored the first five points. NSU countered by taking an 11-9 lead on a trey from senior Derrik Jamerson Jr. about six minutes in. The contest then went back and forth for the next six minutes until the Bulldogs scored eight straight for a 27-21 margin
 
Jamerson and Bryant each connected on 3-pointers to tie the score, but South Carolina State scored eight of the next nine points for a seven point edge with less than a minute to go. Bryant's 3-point play with 17.7 left in the first half cut the Bulldog lead to 35-31 going in to the intermission.
 
Ian Kinard and Jahmari Etienne each scored 12 points for South Carolina State, with Kinard shooting 5-of-9 with six rebounds. Janai Raynor-Powell added 10 points, and Damani Applewhite totaled 13 rebounds.
 
NSU senior Jordan Butler grabbed 10 rebounds with four blocks as well. He went over 200 blocks for his career.
 
For the game, the Spartans shot 43 percent (23-of-54), while the Bulldogs finished 23-of-58 (40 percent). South Carolina State was +5 on the glass, and the teams also combined for 28 offensive rebounds and 47 second-chance points.
 
NSU returns home to host Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall.