ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – A late run by the Spartans sent the game into overtime, and the Norfolk State men's basketball team prevailed in the extra session over Bowling Green on Friday night, 72-67, in the Boardwalk Battle at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.
 
NSU scored the last 11 points of regulation in less than three minutes, eight of those points coming from junior Kashaun Hicks. The Spartans knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in overtime, then held off the Falcons at the free throw line for the win.
 
The Spartans will play for the tournament championship on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Drexel, a winner earlier in the day over Quinnipiac.
 
Norfolk State broke an eight-game skid, improving to 4-9 on the season.
 
Hicks played spoiler in the late going, and senior Jermaine Bishop heated up with a pair of treys in the extra session. Hicks finished with 13 points after making all three attempts from beyond the arc, and Bishop added 11 points with six assists. They helped NSU make 8-of-16 from deep after halftime after going just 3-of-12 in the first half.
 
Bowling Green, ranked in the top 10 in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll, fell to 8-3 on the year.
 
The Spartans had a couple of cold streaks in the second half, the second of which led to an 11-point deficit with three minutes remaining. Hicks got the late run going by making an off-balanced, desperation 3-pointer from the right wing with 2:45 to go.
 
The bucket was originally called a two-pointer before a review changed it. Hicks later made two free throws and another trey, and Bishop sank one of his own with 35.4 to go after a slow personal start to the game. That tied things up, and BGSU had a couple of chances but could not convert. NSU's last second try in regulation was blocked.
 
But in overtime, Bishop had another 3-pointer to give NSU the lead with 3:23 to go. He and Hicks made back-to-back treys for a six-point edge, but the Falcons eventually closed the gap to one with less than 20 seconds to go. Hicks and sophomore Joe Bryant Jr. combined to go 6-of-6 from the line in the last 25 seconds to hold on.
 
Neither team started off hot. A pair of 3-pointers from junior Efstratios Kalogerias and Spirit Ricks allowed the Spartans to go up 10-5 eight minutes into the game. The Falcons tied the score at 12-12 three minutes later. But another 3-pointer, this one from freshman Yoro Sidibe, allowed NSU to go up 17-12 with 7:21 to go in the half.
 
Senior Steven Whitley had a 3-point play and another bucket for another five-point edge, but Bowling Green scored seven in a row after that. A bucket by junior Devante Carter on the team's last possession tied the score at 26-26 going into the half.
 
Whitley finished the game with 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting with five rebounds.
 
NSU led for slightly more than 14 minutes in the first stanza but less than four minutes the rest of the game.
 
Bryant scored the first points of the second half, and Whitley gave NSU another two-point edge a few minutes later. He had two more buckets to keep the game even, but BGSU scored seven in a row as the Spartans went six and a half minutes without scoring.
 
Bishop and Carter had back-to-back buckets to get to within three, but the Falcons scored the next eight as NSU went scoreless for four and a half minutes. Hicks' 3-pointer after that began that final push.
 
Bryant finished in double figures as well with 10 points. NSU held a 20-7 edge in points off turnovers and shot 40 percent overall.
 
Bowling Green made 41 percent but just 8-of-29 from deep. The Falcons also held the rebounding edge, 43-36. Caleb Fields totaled 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and Daeqwon Plowden made 5-of-8 for 15 points with 11 rebounds. Dylan Frye had an off shooting night, 6-of-19 overall, despite finishing with 13 points and seven assists.