Jan. 8, 2007

Final Stats

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Tony Murphy hit a three-point basket with 17 seconds remaining in the game to help lift visiting Norfolk State to a big Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Bethune-Cookman College by the score of 68-65 inside Moore Gymnasium on Monday night in Daytona Beach, Florida.

With Bethune-Cookman (2-11, 0-4 MEAC) trailing 67-63 with 17 seconds left, the Wildcats' Damitrius Coleman drove the length of the court for a lay-up, bringing the lead down to 67-65.

On the ensuing possession, B-CC abruptly fouled NSU's Calvin Brown, sending him to the foul line for two shots. Brown hit the front end, but missed the second shot, allowing B-CC time to set up the final play with five seconds showing on the clock.

With a good look at the basket, Jimmy Hudson squared up, but failed to connect on a long-range shot that would have sent the game into overtime. Hudson, having failed to hit a three-point basket in his last two outings, bounced back and connected on six three-point shots in this game. Norfolk State (3-10, 3-1 MEAC) led by one at the half giving the Spartans the slightest edge possible, 36-35.

In a game where the lead swapped sides nine times, and saw the game tied on four other occasions, turnovers and missed lay-ups became key in the late stages of the game. NSU capitalized for 19 points, while B-CC scored 25 points off Spartan turnovers. It was second chance points, however, that allowed NSU to take the ultimate advantage--a 19-6 edge in that department.

The Spartans dominated the boards with a 38-27 advantage, including a 15-11 edge on the offensive glass.

Aaron Nelson sank back-to-back free throws to give the Wildcats a one-point lead (57-56) with 5:07 left in the game. Just under a minute later, NSU's Tynell Dunkley scored on one of his six field goals in the game to put the Spartans back up by one.

B-CC grabbed the lead back again when Hudson spotted up for another three-point shot on a pass from Coleman on the left elbow. Tony Murphy helped to put NSU back up for good when he exploded to the basket to grab an offensive rebound and get the lay-up.

B-CC's woes continued tonight as they have now dropped six consecutive conference games dating back to last year, as well as their 10th straight game one the year. For Clifford Reed, Jr., in his fifth year at the helm of the Wildcats program, this is his second-longest losing streak having lost 11 consecutive games from the end of the 2002-03 until 10 games into the 2003-04 campaign.

The Spartans of NSU were led on the night by Dunkley with 19 points and seven rebounds. Calvin Brown followed him up with 18 points and nine boards, while Murphy collected a double-double with an impressive 17 points and 10 rebounds--including five three-pointers.

B-CC was led by Jimmy Hudson with a season-high 23 points, after bouncing back from a scoreless performance against Hampton two days ago. Coleman added 11 points and a game-high seven assists for the `Cats in the loss.

B-CC will look to bounce back and try to stop the bleeding with a key MEAC contest against North Carolina A&T at 2 p.m. on Saturday inside Moore Gymnasium.