FORT WORTH, Texas – Norfolk State saw its season come to a close on Thursday afternoon with a 85-49 against No. 1 seed and defending national-champion Baylor in the NCAA Tournament First Round at Dickies' Arena.

"First off, hat's off to Baylor University. They played a great game," said head coach Robert Jones. "They came out and played tough, physical. They show why they're the defending national champs. I think I told my guys during the game, we've had a heck of a season. Walk out that locker room, don't hold your head low. We've done some things that is hard to do at our level with the amount of games that we've won and the record that we've had."

The Spartans kept the score close through the early part of the game. After the Bears opened up with the first five points, Joe Bryant Jr. hit a shot from beyond the arc for three of his team-leading 15 points. A Baylor three put the lead back to five before Kris Bankston slammed his 74th dunk of the season to pull within three once again.

Midway through the first half, NSU held Baylor scoreless for over two minutes, and nearly three minutes without a basket.

A pair of free throws by Bryant followed by a three by Terrance Jones nearly pulled the Spartans within 14 of the Bears, but a dunk by Matthew Mayer put the lead at 16 at the break.

Tyrese Jenkins got things started for NSU in the second half with a three just 17 seconds into the period. The Spartans kept the score within 20 until a layup by Flo Thamba at 16:33 put it above for the first time. Another three by Bryant with 15:12 on the clock pulled the lead back within 19 but 22 seconds later Thamba hit another layup.

Baylor would go on a 7-0 run over four minutes in the midway point of the period to take a 67-39 lead. Over the final 5:25, the Bears score 14 of the next 18 points to finish the game with the 85-49 margin.

Bryant led the Spartans' offense with 15 points and Chris Ford pulled down five rebounds on the afternoon.Kris Bankston, who finished with three points and three rebounds, got into foul trouble early and had to sit for more of the second half. 

Jones scored a career-high nine points against the number four team in the country. His 24 minutes and four field goals made were also career bests.

The Bears out rebounded NSU 39-28 throughout the game. 

"We thought that we just needed to win the rebound battle, which we didn't," added Jones. "We needed to attack the whole glass, which we did. We had 15 offensive rebounds. So we did it in that aspect, but we didn't win the rebounding battle.

"I always say no rebounds, no rings. And we didn't win the rebounding battle at all. We didn't play with the physical edge that we needed to play against a team like that."

When asked about how hard it was to come back from Baylor hitting six fo their first eight three-point attempts, Jones said its difficult to dig out of that hole.

"Yeah, they were doing something that obviously -- they came into the game shooting 34.6 percent from three," said Jones "They came out shooting six for eight, so that's 75. So they've already doubled -- more than doubled their output in the first two medias. And that was tough to come back."

Baylor's Mayer led all scorers with a game-high 22 points and finished with six rebounds. Five Bears finished in double figures. James Akinjo was the only player with a double-double, notching 10 points and 10 assists. The Bears advance to take on North Carolina who defeated Marquette 95-63 in the game following NSU and Baylor

The Spartans finish the season with a 24-7 record after winning both the MEAC regular season and tournament titles. This was NSU's third appearance in the NCAA Tournament and are now 2-3 overall in the big dance after upsetting Missouri in 2012 and picking up a win over Appalachian State in the First Four just a season ago.