Norfolk State pulls away late for season-opening win at JMU
Norfolk State started the season by finishing strong.
The result was what many would consider an in-state upset.
J.J. Matthews scored 18 points and proved rock-solid from the free-throw line in his NSU debut, and the Spartans pulled away late Friday in an 83-73 season-opening victory over James Madison in Harrisonburg.
Trailing by three with four minutes to play, NSU (1-0) scored eight consecutive points to start a decisive 16-4 run over the next 3 ½ minutes to close the deal.
Matthews, a 6-foot-9 forward who transferred from Arkansas State before the season, made all eight of his free throws in the final 2:33.
The win came despite an abbreviated preseason interrupted by a series of injuries and quarantines due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We haven’t played in a long time,” eighth-year Spartans coach Robert Jones said. “Not bad for a team that’s only had four fullteam practices in 42 days.
“I’m nothing but proud for these guys.”
Matt Lewis scored 27 points for the Dukes (1-1), who were held to 36.2% shooting. NSU shot 49% and made 10 of 22 from 3-point range.
Kashaun Hicks’ 3-pointer from the left wing gave the Spartans a 77-69 lead with 1:07 to play, and JMU was left to foul and hope Matthews missed.
He did not oblige, and NSU stretched its lead.
“I thought it was a highly competitive game,” first-year Dukes coach Mark Byington said. “I don’t think the score at the end kind of showed the type of game it was.”
Newport News native Devante Carter scored 17 points for the
Spartans, who got 13 points from Hicks and 11 from Tyrese Jenkins.
NSU was without top returning scorer Joe Bryant, a former Lake Taylor High star who watched from the bench with a mild thigh injury. Jones said Bryant could return for Saturday’s game against Radford, which will also be played in Harrisonburg.
The veteran Spartans, who returned 10 letter-winners, trailed by as many as four points midway through the second half before a 3 by Jenkins made it a nip-and-tuck game.
The Dukes led for a total of more than 14 minutes, but NSU wouldn’t go away.
“The one thing that was good, and it probably helped having some older guys, is that we didn’t fold,” Jones said. “We just kept battling and battling and battling.”
After the Spartans dominated the first few minutes, opening the game on a 12-3 run, JMU soon used a 9-2 run to narrow the lead to 22-18 with just over nine minutes left in the first half.
The Dukes then scored eight straight points to take a 31-30 lead, their first of the game, on a pair of Lewis free throws with 2:35 remaining before halftime.
The teams then exchanged leads on five consecutive possessions before JMU took a 38-35 lead into halftime.
Byington, who came to JMU from Georgia Southern, viewed the loss as a mere stumble.
“We’re going to keep learning and keep getting better,” he said. “I don’t think anybody is celebrating a Nov. 27 win with cutting nets down or a trophy.”