NORFOLK, Va. — Bahsil Laster scored 18 points and the Norfolk State University men's basketball team held Regent to 15 first-half points on its way to a 68-45 win in the season and home opener on Monday night at Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall.
The Spartans took the lead for good on a J.C. Riley Jr. layup with 14:34 left in the first half and led the rest of the way. A 13-0 run late in the half turned a five-point game into a 29-11 advantage, and NSU took a 35-15 lead into the break. Regent never got closer than 19 points in the second half.
Laster led Norfolk State (1-0) with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and went 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds and two steals without a turnover in 31 minutes, and 12 of his points came after halftime. Riley went 5-of-6 from the field for 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, four on the offensive glass. Jordan Skyers scored 11 points with three assists and two steals. Off the bench, Jamese Jordan scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting and Dramane Camara added seven points and four rebounds. Keon Mitchell dished out a game-high five assists and had a team-high three steals.
How It Happened
- Regent scored the game's first basket, and Chase Mullen's dunk tied it at 6 at the 15:08 mark. Riley's layup put NSU ahead to start an 8-0 run. Jordan added a tip-in and Laster scored four straight points to make it 14-6 with 11:37 left in the half.
- Chauncey Gilliam's layup cut the margin to 16-11 at the 10:00 mark. Regent didn't score again for almost six minutes. Norfolk State scored 13 straight points in that stretch, including a 3-pointer by Skyers, a putback dunk by Chris Walker and a Skyers steal that he turned into a fast-break layup. Riley's two free throws at 4:25 made it 29-11.
- Walker hit a 3-pointer at 3:05 and Jordan scored inside with 1:07 left to send the Spartans into halftime up 35-15. Regent shot 6-of-24 from the field and 2-of-15 from 3-point range in the first half.
- Laster opened the second half with a layup and Riley followed with a tip-in for a 39-15 lead. Laster and Camara then hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push it to 47-21. Laster's dunk off a Mitchell assist and two free throws at 12:42 gave NSU its largest lead, 51-23.
- Regent answered with a 7-0 run to get within 51-30 at the 10:07 mark, but the Spartans kept the margin at 20 or more the rest of the way. Laster capped his night with a steal and a fast-break three-point play that made it 68-42 with 2:33 left.
Inside the Numbers
- Norfolk State held Regent to 33.3 percent shooting from the field (17-of-51) and 19.2 percent from 3-point range (5-of-26). The Spartans shot 45.6 percent.
- NSU outrebounded the Royals 41-34 and held advantages in points in the paint (38-24), second-chance points (16-9) and fast-break points (8-0).
- The Spartans forced 19 Regent turnovers and turned them into 19 points. Norfolk State had 10 steals.
- All nine Spartans who played scored, and three finished in double figures.
- Mullen led Regent with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting, six rebounds and three blocks. Antoine Brown added seven points and five rebounds, and Gilliam also blocked three shots.
- Norfolk State improved to 4-0 all-time against Regent. All four meetings have been in Norfolk.
Coach's Comments
"It's always good to get back out and start the season, and of course, start the season out with a win," said head coach Robert Jones. "It's still early. We've still got a lot of kinks to work out, defensively and offensively. It's not a finished product by any means right now. That's why games like this are good for us, especially with us being a little banged up."
"I learned that we came out a little too nervous. You could see it with Keon. Four turnovers, that's a lot. Then you go to Justin. He was out there scoring in the preseason, and he came out real tight. It was a bad performance by both of them, but it was also good for them to get those jitters out of their system. We played the scrimmages with nobody in here, so it was easy to play. I was trying to tell them that the pressure of the game is totally different than practice. Even though the competition might not be the same, the pressure of the game is totally different. I think Keon and Justin both saw that today, and right now, until we get healthier, they've got to become key pieces for us. They both have to play better."
On the first-half run: "It's actually the first time we've had a double-digit lead in six contests. Every game has been close. So how do we handle a double-digit lead for the first time as this group? I thought we took some bad shots. Even a guy like Chris Walker, who's an older guy, didn't play as much in the second half because he took some bad shots. When we play against William & Mary, Old Dominion, Georgia State, we can't take those shots or we're going to get buried. Taking that shot against Regent, we can get back and recover. But sometimes we can't recover against some of those other teams, so we've got to practice taking quality attempts."
"In the preseason, we had five guys in double figures. Today we had three. Every game is going to be a learning experience for this group. Within the next two weeks, we might add two more pieces, so how do we reshape the team with two more pieces? This is a learning experience for them, for me, for everybody, but I'd rather be on the winning side than the losing side while we're learning."
Up Next
Norfolk State stays home to host Randolph on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at Joseph G. Echols Memorial Hall. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
For complete coverage of Norfolk State Athletics, please follow the Spartans on social media at @nsuspartans (X/Twitter), /NorfolkStateAthletics (Facebook), @NSUAthletics (Instagram), @nsuathletics (YouTube) or visit the official home of Norfolk State Athletics at nsuspartans.com.
