NORFOLK, Va. – Five players scored in double figures for Coppin State, which earned a weekend split with the Norfolk State men's basketball team following a 74-64 win over the Spartans on Monday night.
 
The Eagles shot 43 percent and held NSU to less than 33 percent shooting in a game shown live on ESPNU from Joseph Echols Hall. Spartan senior Devante Carter led NSU with 16 points and nearly had a triple-double with nine rebounds and eight assists.
 
Norfolk State fell to 10-7 overall and 5-4 in the MEAC after leading for just two minutes the entire night. Senior Kyonze Chavis tied his career high with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and sophomore Daryl Anderson made 3-of-7 from deep for a 13-point effort.
 
Coppin State made 11 3-pointers, with Kyle Cardaci hitting 5-of-11 from 3-point range to lead all players with 17 points. Koby Thomas and Dejuan Clayton each scored 14, and Thomas completed the double-double with 11 rebounds. The Eagles rebounded after falling by 12 points on Sunday in game 1.
 
They ran their record to 7-12 overall, 6-4 in the league despite attempting 26 less shots than the Spartans. Both teams are chasing Morgan State, which has just two losses so far in MEAC Northern Division play.
 
The Spartans only led for those few minutes early in the game and fell behind by 12 at the break. They had a much stronger second half, sinking eight of their nine 3-pointers in the last 20 minutes of play. They were able to rally and tie the game midway through the second period before CSU took the lead for good.
 
Chavis had more than half of the team's scoring throughout much of the first half, although NSU went six and a half minutes without scoring. Even then, the Spartans never trailed by more than six. He hit a jumper to get the Spartans to within two, and a 3-pointer from senior Kashaun Hicks made it just 21-19 in favor of CSU with five and a half minutes left before the half.
 
The Eagles, however, closed the opening period on a 14-4 run to take a 35-23 lead into intermission.
 
Down 12 early in the second half, the Spartans got a pair of 3-pointers from Anderson during a 10-0 run that turned the game around. Carter scored six straight for NSU, and Anderson later made two free throws and another 3-pointer to tie the score at 48-48 at the 9:57 mark.
 
Cardaci hit two free throws with a pair of 3-pointers as CSU built its lead back up to eight. Hicks sank another 3-pointer before the Eagles scored eight straight over more than three minutes for a 13-point advantage, the largest of the game, with just a few minutes to go.
 
Along with Carter, senior J.J. Matthews also had nine rebounds as NSU finished +6 on the glass, including a 16-5 advantage on the offensive side.
 
The Spartans got to the free throw line for just seven attempts, four of those coming off a pair of Coppin State technical fouls. The Eagles held a 24-8 edge in fastbreak points.
 
NSU will head to Morgan State this weekend for a pair of games against the first-place Bears.