NORFOLK, Va. - Playing at home for the third time in a four-game stretch to start the year, and just two days after a loss at Ole Miss, the Norfolk State men's basketball team will host The Apprentice School on Thursday evening at Joseph Echols Hall.
It will be part of a doubleheader with the NSU women's team, which plays at 6 p.m. The NSU men will start their game approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion of the women's contest.
But after Thursday, NSU will be at home only once over its next 11 games through the end of December.
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Series History
NSU has never played The Apprentice School, located across the water in Newport News and members of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division I.
Scouting The Apprentice School
The The Builders started off their year with wins over Blue Lights College (81-69) and Appalachian Bible (112-58) before falling in an exhibition against Hampton on Tuesday, 95-63. They are coming off a 13-14 season a year ago.
Drew Walton had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the win over Blue Lights College, while Caleb Mielewski added 15 points. Marion Moore scored 11, and he also had 18 against Appalachian Bible.Walton secured another double-double of 12 points and 10 boards in that game as well.
The Apprentice School shot a combined 48 percent from the floor in those two wins and was +21.0 in the rebounding column as well. They also forced an average of 22 turnovers per game. The contest against Hampton did not count towards the Builders' overall record or stats.
Last Time Out
The Spartans led for slightly more than 11 minutes in the first half, but Ole Miss overcame that to top NSU 68-55 on Tuesday night at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. Norfolk State held its own against the SEC school despite shooting just 33 percent from the field. The Rebels connected on 51 percent overall.
Devante Carter led NSU with 12 points while grabbing seven rebounds. Both
Joe Bryant Jr. and
Jermaine Bishop each cashed in with 11 points, and
Steven Whitley added eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Ole Miss got a pair of 20-point performances from KJ Buffen (23 points, 9-of-13 shooting, nine rebounds) and Breein Tyree (21 points). The Rebels held advantages in points in the paint (38-20), points off turnovers (24-8) and fastbreak points (14-2). The Spartans lost the rebounding battle by two but outscored Ole Miss 9-4 in second-chance points.
Cleaning Out the Notebook
 • NSU last played three of its first four games of the season at home in 2014-15.
 • The Spartans are trying to make it two years in a row with three 30-point wins during the year.
 • They recorded back-to-back 40-point wins for the first time in their Division I history following the 93-53 victory over Penn State Wilkes-Barre. The previous best was back-to-back 25-point wins last year.
 • Wilkes-Barre also had 28 turnovers, the most by an NSU opponent since Morgan State had 29 on Jan. 21, 2013.
 • NSU has not started a season 2-0 since 1998-99.
 • NSU shot 35-of-79 against Greensboro College, which included 12 3-pointers on 31 attempts. The latter three (field goal attempts, 3-pointers, 3-point attempts) all rank in the top 10 for the most in a single game in NSU's Division I history.
 • The team's 57 rebounds are tied for the fourth-most in D-I records as well.
 • The Spartans reached the 100-point plateau for the third season in a row.
