NORFOLK, Va. – A huge second half surge gave the Norfolk State men's basketball team a 93-53 win over Penn State Wilkes-Barre on Friday night in a non-conference game at Joseph Echols Hall.
 
The Spartans led by just five at the half but shot 65 percent in the second while outscoring the Mountain Lions by 35 after the break. NSU forced 28 turnovers to help turn the tide in its favor.
 
Five players reached double figures for NSU (2-0), which posted its second straight 40-point win to start the season. The Spartans hit 50 percent for the game while holding Wilkes-Barre to just 25 percent shooting.
 
Senior Jermaine Bishop hit 5-of-10 from the field for 15 points with six assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Junior Devante Carter made 5-of-9 field goals for 14 points with three assists.
 
Thanks to those 28 turnovers forced, NSU outscored the Mountain Lions 41-11 in points off turnovers, as well as 48-8 in points in the paint.
 
The Spartans led by 12 in the early part of the game after 3-pointers from Bishop and junior Kashaun Hicks. Later in the half, Wilkes-Barre got to the free throw line and knocked down a couple of treys for a 28-26 lead. That capped a 14-2 run. Clifton Tracey later made two free throws to put the Mountain Lions up 30-28 with 2:17 to go, but NSU scored the last seven points for the lead going into the half.
 
That was all she wrote for the game, as NSU turned an eight-point lead into a 21-point advantage in less than four minutes during the first part of the second half. The advantage went to 30 with less than seven minutes to go and the 40 in the last few minutes. Carter had 12 of his 14 points after intermission.
 
For the game, NSU also held the advantage in fastbreak points, 24-7, and second-chance points, 11-0.
 
Junior Spirit Ricks finished with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, and sophomore Chris Ford made all four of his field goal attempts for a career-high 11 points with five rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore Joe Bryant Jr. also reached double figures for the Spartans with 10 points.
 
Both teams made exactly 7-of-23 from deep. Overall, the Mountain Lions shot 12-of-48, compared to 35-of-70 for the Spartans.
 
Tracey and Khalil White each had 15 points for Wilkes-Barre, and Kevin Major added 11 points thanks in part to 9-of-10 free throw shooting. The team shot 22-of-24 from the charity stripe for the game.
 
The Spartans will take to the road to face Ole Miss next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.