NSU basketball players feeling at home, finally

On Sunday afternoon, Norfolk State's men's basketball team won a home game in front of only 375 people.

There are possible explanations for a crowd - uh, intimate gathering - that small:

Fans were still recovering from Norfolk State's loss the day before to Old Dominion in football.

The NFL was on TV.

Someone forgot to unlock the doors to Echols Hall.

Then again, maybe Norfolk State's fans simply didn't realize that their basketball team was playing at home.

You could hardly blame them. During past Novembers and Decembers, the Spartans were on the road more than a Commodores tribute band.

Touring the country to play bigger programs in guarantee games helps pay the bills, but has left Norfolk State's record - and morale - in shambles.

Falling to 1-12 and 1-10, as Norfolk State has in recent years, is no way to fire up the fans or instill confidence in the team for the MEAC season, so this year coach Anthony Evans sought a more balanced approach to the early going.

Tonight's game against Elizabeth City State is the second of a four-game home stand for the Spartans, giving them an opportunity to build on their 4-2 record before venturing out again to Virginia Tech, Illinois State, Toledo, St. Francis of Brooklyn and Navy.

"We have financial obligations," Evans said Tuesday. "We've had to go where the biggest guarantee is. But this year, we've been a little more selective with who we're playing and where we're playing."

The schedule needed adjusting. The 14 on-campus games this season are the most since 1991-92. In the future, Evans wants to arrange more home-and-home series against "teams we can be competitive against."

But Norfolk State's quick start - which includes victories in the Paradise Jam over Drexel and TCU - is more a product of inspired play against teams from higher-rated conferences. Even the two-point loss in the Virgin Islands to 16th-ranked Marquette of the Big East felt like a victory to the Spartans, who only a few days earlier had lost to Marquette in Milwaukee by 31.

"Confidence-builders," Evans said. "When you play the 16th-ranked team to the wire, it can't do anything but help."

The senior-dominated Spartans already are a third of the way to last winter's 12 victories.

"It's a long season," Evans said. "We've only played six games."

But they've left Norfolk State in better shape psychologically.

"Our confidence level is good; there's no comparison to other years," Evans said.

It started with Drexel, the preseason No. 1 pick in the Colonial Athletic Association. Usually faced with hostile crowds for its early season games, Norfolk State showed what it could do against a supposedly superior opponent on a neutral court.

"Going on the road so often against top-tier teams, playing in their places and losing consistently, it affects your mentality," Evans said. "By the time you get back to conference games, you've taken eight or nine losses."

Norfolk State intends to enjoy the homestand before running another gantlet of games in unfriendly places. The basketball team does what it has to do - what financial considerations demand - but however bumpy the road becomes, the Spartans' character has solidified, Evans believes, because of what took place in the Virgin Islands.

With three more home games coming up, fans can see for themselves.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com