NORFOLK, Va. – R.J. Cole sank a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to send Howard to a 98-95 win over the Norfolk State men's basketball team in the regular season finale on Thursday night at Joseph Echols Hall.
 
Cole scored 36 points on the night and finished with seven 3-pointers, including the last that came from the left wing and more than 30 feet out. Charles Williams also finished with 27 for the Bison in a game that featured 21 lead changes. They outscored NSU 62-55 in the second half.
 
The Spartans had five players in double figures, including two with 20. Sophomore Mastadi Pitt tallied his first career double-double with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting with a career-high 10 assists. Junior Nic Thomas also had 20 points with six rebounds, shooting 6-of-12 overall, including 5-of-8 from deep.
 
On his Senior Night, Alex Long made 7-of-8 from the field for 18 points with six rebounds and three assists. The loss broke a six-game win streak for the Spartans, and eight straight at home, dropping them to 19-12 overall and 14-2 in the MEAC. Despite the loss, NSU finished as the regular season champion and the No. 1 seed in the MEAC tournament.
 
Howard, meanwhile, closed the night with 15 3-pointers while hitting 21-of-23 from the free throw line. The Bison improved to 10-6 in the league and 16-15 overall. They secured the No. 4 seed in next week's tourney.
 
The Spartans led by four at the break and by as much as eight early in the second half. The Bison took the lead back and never trailed for almost exactly 12 minutes until the 2:34 mark.
 
Junior Steven Whitley and senior Derrik Jamerson Jr. each made 2-of-2 from the free throw line, and Thomas' fastbreak layup put the Spartans ahead 87-86 with two and a half minutes left. Cole and Whitley traded 3's before Williams made a pair from the line with 1:31 to go.
 
The Spartans missed a couple of treys on their next possession that took the clock to less than a minute. Long's 3-point play again put the Spartans ahead, this time with 51.9 left. But on the other end, HU's Kyle Foster knocked down one of his four 3-pointers in the game.
 
The Spartans had a turnover on their next possession, while Cole was only able to go 1-of-2 from the line with 26.9 seconds on the clock. Whitley drove the baseline for an easy layup with 11.0 to go, but Cole isolated himself for his last second shot.
 
Whitley added 11 points, making all three of his field goal attempts and all four of his free throw shots. Senior Armani Branch also had 11. Jamerson (seven points, five rebounds) and Jordan Butler (six points, seven rebounds) also celebrated Senior Night on Thursday.
 
A total of 14 of the 21 lead changes came in the first half.
 
Branch had three early buckets to get NSU going at the start of the game. Treys from Jamerson and later Pitt helped the Spartans take an 18-13 lead with 11 and a half minutes left in the half. But the Bison turned around and took the lead on the heels of a 9-2 run
.
The teams began to trade scores as the first half came to its closing stretch before the Spartans scored seven in a row late in the half. Thomas made 3-of-4 from the foul line in one trip, thanks to a technical foul on Howard, and the Spartans went into the locker room up 40-36.
 
They an eight-point advantage early in the second half after Thomas made his fourth 3-pointer of the game. But the Bison immediately countered with a 20-5 run to pull ahead by seven, 63-56, with more than 13 minutes still to go in the game.
 
Thomas and Pitt scored nine straight points for the Spartans to keep the game close, and Butler and Long each time the game thanks to a pair of free throws. But NSU could not take the lead right away, as HU surged ahead by 10 thanks to a 12-2 run that took the game to less than five minutes to go.
 
Long made his first career 3-pointer to begin an 11-0 spurt, a run that was capped by Thomas' layup.
 
For HU, Foster had 15 points thanks to 4-of-8 3-point shooting. The Bison made 31-of-69 overall (44.9 percent), including slightly better than 50 percent from 3-point range.
 
NSU, on the other hand, was nearly identical at 31-of-67 shooting (46.3 percent). The Spartans sank 11-of-31 from 3-point range as well as 22-of-25 from the free throw line. They also held a slight advantage in points in the paint (30-20).
 
NSU will play either Maryland Eastern Shore or South Carolina State – a first-round matchup – on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the MEAC tournament quarterfinals at Scope Arena.