NSU Spartans defy convention, beat Navy for 10th victory

ANNAPOLIS, Md.

Norfolk State had to go unconventional Sunday afternoon as it faced a pesky Navy squad at Alumni Hall on the hallowed grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy.

The Spartans had to take star center Kyle O'Quinn off Navy's best inside threat, J.J. Avila. And they had to play zone defense.

Both moves were about as painful for O'Quinn and coach Anthony Evans as having teeth pulled.

But the Spartans are determined to put pride aside.

And it's working.

After weathering some torrid marksmanship by the Midshipmen in the first half - Navy shot 62.5 percent in the opening 20 minutes to grab a 36-30 lead - the Spartans roared back for a 71-65 victory.

The win, which came in front of a cozy announced crowd of 1,312, improved Norfolk State's record to 10-5, its best start since the 1996-97 season, the Spartans' last year in the Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association when they started 13-5.

In the last three seasons, Norfolk State, which has won three straight, has had to wait until March to notch its 10th win.

"This is a much different feeling than the last couple years when we were scratching and clawing just to try to get to .500," said O'Quinn, who turned in his nation's best 10th double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The Midshipmen (3-11) didn't go down without a fight. The 6-foot-7 Avila did his best to venture to the perimeter in hopes that O'Quinn would follow. And that worked for a while.

The 6-10 O'Quinn was taken out of position so often that Evans benched him for 11 minutes of the first half. When the Spartans came out for the second half, Evans had assigned 6-7 Marcos Tamares to guard Avila and put O'Quinn on whatever other post player Navy had in the game.

Avila finished with 18 points, but only had six after intermission.

The other tweak Evans made at the half was to urge 6-6 sophomore guard Pendarvis Williams to get aggressive.

"We don't need Penny standing around passing the ball," Evans said. "We need him driving, creating and shooting."

Williams scored 18 of his game-high 20 points after the break and nailed all four 3-pointers he attempted.

Williams "is a really nice player and just took us off the dribble," Navy coach Ed DeChellis said. "And the big guy is just a handful. That's why we had to go zone in the second half."

Still, the Midshipmen hung tough and forced Norfolk State's hand as well.

"We had to do something to get them out of their comfort zone," O'Quinn said.

That something was a series of 2-3 and 3-2 half-court zones that counteracted Navy's desire to dribble penetrate, and then kick the ball out to open shooters when NSU pinched in.

"You want to know how hard it is for me to play zone?" Evans said. "Ask my assistant coaches. They have to beg me to do it."

Navy finished the game shooting 48.1 percent, much better than the 39.1 percent shooting Norfolk State had allowed its previous 14 opponents combined.

By game's end, however, Norfolk State had the hot hand: The Spartans made 12 of 16 shots from the field in the second half and finished with a team field goal percentage of 51.1 percent.

Rich Radford, (757) 446-2463, rich.radford@pilotonline.com