67
Norfolk St. 20-10,9-5 MEAC
87
Winner Howard 19-12,11-3 MEAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norfolk St. | 25 | 42 | 67 |
| Howard | 52 | 35 | 87 |
The matchup between two of the top three teams in the MEAC , with potentially a share of the regular season title at stake, turned out to be rather one-sided as the Howard Bison used blistering shooing to build a first-half lead that proved to be insurmountable, in taking it to Norfolk State in a wire-to-wire 87-67 win.
Howard quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead off a three-pointer from Jordan Wood and a pair of layups from Shy Odom, just 91 seconds into the game. A Kris Bankston layup would cut the lead to three at 10-7, but Howard strung together nine straight points to push their advantage to 19-7. Dana Tate’s driving layup cut the lead to 19-9; Norfolk State would never get any closer in the first half , as the Bison outscored the Spartans 33-18 over the balance of the half, stretching their lead to as much 27 points as they would take a 52-27 lead into halftime. The Bison were locked in on the offensive end in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 58.8% ( 20-34) and a scorching 61.5% ( 8-13) from downtown.
The Spartans were only able to draw as close as 17 points at 71-54 on the front end of a pair of Dana Tate free throws at the 7:17 mark of the half. Howard pushed the lead back to twenty-three points at 78-55, just two minutes later, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Kris Bankston and Dana Tate were the only Norfolk State players to reach double figures with 18 points apiece. Joe Bryant struggled on the evening, misfiring on seven of his ten shot attempts in scoring just 9 points, down nearly half from the 17.3 points per game he averages on the season.
Bryce Adams led the way for the Bison with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Three other Howard players reached double figures, Jordan Wood and Marcus Dockery each had 12, and Khalil Robinson chipped in with 10 points.
The win secured the regular season MEAC crown and the no. 1 seed in next week’s MEAC Basketball Tournament. The Bison will face the no.8 seed South Carolina State Wednesday, March 8 at 6pm.
Howard is the no.3 seed in the MEAC Tournament and will face the no. 6 seed Coppin State , Thursday, March 9 at 8 pm.
Next Game: vs. Coppin State 3/9/2023 | 8 p.m.
Team Statistics
| Game Stats | Norf | HOW |
|---|---|---|
| FG% | .367 | .526 |
| 3FG% | .357 | .538 |
| FT% | .621 | .722 |
| RB | 38 | 37 |
| TO | 9 | 10 |
| STL | 6 | 5 |
