Norfolk State delivers memorable 200th career victory for coach Robert Jones with second-half comeback at Howard
Norfolk State rallied past Howard 65-61 on Saturday in a rematch of last season’s MEAC title game, giving Spartans head coach Robert Jones the 200th victory of his career.
NSU improved to 12-8 overall and 2-1 in the conference with the victory in Washington.
Howard nearly led wire-to-wire, staying in front for 37 minutes and 34 seconds. But the Spartans never gave up.
After being down by 15 at one point in the second half, Norfolk State was able to claw back into the game and cut the lead to one with just under three minutes left.
Freshman Chris Fields delivered the game-tying free throws with 55 seconds left. And with the clock running down, Jones turned to his leading scorer to deliver the dagger.
Jamarii Thomas, fresh off missing Monday’s matchup with a nagging back injury, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 25 seconds left to give the Spartans a 64-61 lead. It was their first since 3-2 at the start. A free throw from Christian Ings shortly after iced the game.
Jones becomes the second coach in Spartans history to win 200 games. Ironically, his 100th career victory also come against Howard.
“It’s crazy because when I won my 100th here, we were down by 24 and came back and won,” Jones said. “So maybe we need to be down and come back to win here. It was a good win, it was good competing with these guys. 200 is a lot of wins. man. Hopefully, we can get to 300.”
Thomas and guard Allen Betrand led Norfolk State with 14 points each. Both also tallied four rebounds, while Thomas logged three assists and two steals and Betrand had two assists and a steal.
Norfolk State’s improved second-half shooting helped lead the comeback. After shooting 35.7% in the first half, the Spartans shot 48.1% in the second half. Norfolk State also improved its 3-point and free-throw percentage from 33.3% and 37.5% in the first half to 50% and 61.5% in the second half.
Junior guard Jaylani Darden returned on Saturday after missing the past three games with a foot injury he sustained against Tennessee on Jan. 2. Darden finished the game with eight points and three rebounds.
“Jaylani does a lot that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” Jones said. “He gets deflections, he gets rebounds … he does a lot that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet and we were happy to have him back. He’s still probably not 100%, but he’s close to it and we’re happy that probably by the next game, he’ll be 100%.”
The Spartans will return to Echols Hall to face Coppin State at 4 p.m. next Saturday.
Michael Sauls, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com, (757) 803-5774
