Norfolk State 74, Hampton 67
Pendarvis Williams scored 16 points and teammate Rob Johnson added 13 as Norfolk State came back to beat visiting Hampton 74-67 Saturday evening in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) contest.
Norfolk State (12-1, 7-0 in the MEAC) remained unbeaten in league play as the Spartans came back from a 7-point deficit at halftime. Malcolm Hawkins added 11 points for Norfolk State.
Hampton (5-13, 2-3) was paced by Deron Powers (20 points), Emmanuel Okoroba (13) and Du'Vaughn Maxwell, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds. But the Pirates had 18 turnovers and made just 13 of 21 free throws and four of 20 shots from 3-point range.
The Pirates led 49-45 early in the second half but Norfolk State battled back and took a 60-54 lead with 5:40 left in the game.
Rashid Gaston's score off an assist by Jamel Fuentes gave the Spartans a 64-54 lead with 5:00 left.
A basket by Powers pulled the Pirates to within 67-58 with 2:47 left and he made another basket to make it 67-61 with 1:55 to go. But with the score 68-61, Powers missed a layup with 1:19 to go and Ramon Mercado of Norfolk State hit a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left to make it 70-63. Williams made two free throws with 26 seconds left to give the Spartans a lead at 72-63 to put the game away.
Powers was nine of 13 from the field for Hampton while Maxwell was six of eight.
