Box Score
NORFOLK, Va., December 1, 2007 – A year ago, the Norfolk State men’s basketball team was victimized by the heroics of Steven Rush on its home floor at Echols Hall. Saturday night, the Spartans were able to avoid the Rush heroics to earn an 82-76 win over the Aggies at Echols Hall.

Rush had 16 points to lead the Aggies. Jason Wills exceeded the 1,000-point mark plateau for his career; he had 11 points and nine boards. Thomas Coleman came off the Aggies bench to record 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

Last February, Rush hit three 3-pointers in a span of 91 seconds to help the Aggies rally from a nine-point deficit to eventually win in double overtime. This time the Spartans were aware of his every movement as they sent multiple defenders at him to prevent him from shooting. Rush was 1-for-6 from 3-point range, and the Aggies were just 3-for-16 as a team.

“Other guys have to step up and hit shots,’’ said N.C. A&T head coach Jerry Eaves. “People are going to take him away. People are going to scout him. They’re not going to let him shoot the ball the way he did last year. He has to be more unselfish and take the ball to the basket more. The bigger issue is that we haven’t played with intensity in our first eight games.”

Eaves added that for the first time in five seasons, he felt like his team was outplayed. Norfolk State used dribble penetration and capitalized on Aggie errors to end the Aggies three-game winning streak over them.

“They played their guts out,’’ said Eaves. “You have to give Norfolk State a lot of credit. They came hard at us tonight and we didn’t respond. We gave up too many easy shots.”

Neither team led by more than seven points the entire night. The Aggies took a 64-61 lead with 9:38 remaining in the game. But three consecutive turnovers allowed the Spartans to quickly tie the score. Michael Deloach, who had a career-high 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting, penetrated into the lane with 7:30 remaining to tie the game at 64.

Although Deloach did most of his damage at the rim on Saturday, his 3-pointer with 6:13 remaining gave the Spartans the lead for good as the Spartans took a 67-64 lead. The Spartans lead grew to five, 75-70, on another Deloach layup. 

The Aggies fought back with a Wills jumper and a Coleman free throw. But the Spartans kept attacking the basket. Tony Murphy was fouled going to the basket, Deloach scored going down the lane and the Spartans went to the line twice more thanks to dribble penetration.

The Spartans aggressiveness led to their biggest lead of the game at 77-70. The Aggies flirted with another comeback at Echols as Austin Ewing hit a three with 4.4 seconds left to cut the Spartans lead to 78-76. But the Spartans wouldn’t allow it to happen, knocking down free throws to seal the win.

“I want my team to better from the beginning,’’ said Eaves. “When we’re hitting shots and playing well, I don’t think there are too many teams that can beat us. When we’re hitting shots, but not outplaying people we can be successful from time to time, we can beat teams like DePaul, but we’re not winning the right way. You have to win and do it the right way.”

The Aggies (4-4, 0-1 MEAC) return to action on Wednesday when they host Southern Virginia from Corbett Sports Center at 7 p.m.