Spartans squander chance to share title
Dominant from start, Bison grab top seed for tourney at Scope
With the MEAC Tournament’s top seeding on the line and revenge on their minds, the Norfolk State Spartans quickly fell flat Thursday night in Washington.
Sophomore guard Bryce Harris scored a career-high 22 points as Howard claimed the outright regular-season championship, leading wire-to-wire and blowing out NSU 87-67 at Burr Gymnasium to sweep the season series.
The resurgent Bison (19-12, 11-3) ensured themselves of a National Invitation Tournament bid if they don’t win next week’s conference tournament at Scope.
Kris Bankston and reserve Dana Tate scored 18 apiece for the Spartans (20-10, 9-5), who have won the last two previous MEAC tourneys. They were looking for a share of their third consecutive regular-season title.
The storyline entering the game was juicy. During the clubs’ meeting at Echols Hall on Jan. 14, Norfolk State was assessed a technical foul after reserve players came off the bench to celebrate on the floor after Joe Bryant Jr.’s go-ahead layup with 1.2 seconds remaining. Howard capitalized, hitting two free throws to go ahead on the way to a 86-84 victory that ended NSU’s 19-game home winning streak.
Norfolk State coach Robert Jones was fined $500 by the MEAC for criticizing the officials after the game.
Despite that loss, the Spartans held the potential tiebreaker over Howard and North Carolina Central and would have gained the top seed if they had won. NCCU would up second, a game behind the Bison.
Thursday’s game, moved to a 9 p.m. start for ESPNU national coverage, never had drama.
Blessed with the return of post player Steve Settle, who had missed three games after a concussion, Howard set the tone on its first possession with a Jordan Wood 3-pointer, went ahead 7-0 and led 27-9 after eight minutes.
It was 52-25 at halftime, and though NSU outscored the Bison after halftime, the Spartans didn’t get closer than 17.
Harris hit 9 of 11 field-goal attempts and grabbed 10 rebounds. Wood and Marcus Dockery had 12 points each, and Settle had seven points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
NSU will enter the tournament on a two-game slide. The Spartans tied Maryland Eastern Shore for third place and got the third seed via two wins against the Hawks, who posted just UMES’ fourth Division I winning record in the last 50 years.
NSU will play sixth-seeded Coppin State at 8 p.m. next Thursday in a quarterfinal of the eightteam tournament. Coppin State will come to Scope on a two-game winning streak.