Melo Baines putting up a 2-point jumper. (Matthew Patterson/NSU Athletics).
Spartans Men’s Basketball defeated the Washington Adventist Shock 105-42 on January 20th for the Spartans’ Martin Luther King Jr. home game. This win would be their last non-conference game before the MEAC season begins.
“It was good to bounce back after the tough loss we had a week ago against Morgan State,” said Men’s Basketball Head Coach Robert Jones. “Today was the first game that we actually matched the output from the first half–that was a step in the right direction.”
Within a minute of the game starting, Spartan forward Kulel Mading knocked a three down, which he followed with a dunk to put the Spartans on the board.
The Shock got their first points of the game by a 2-point jumper from shooting guard, Jalen Anderson, but struggled to get their footing on the game with the Spartans going on a 10-0 run.
With a powerful offense and dominating defense, the Spartans more than doubled their opponents score and ended the first half 52-23.
“It’s not all just about the black and white stats that we have in front of us, it’s also about the eye test,” said Jones. “Are we passing the eye test to be a championship team– and that’s what we talked about at halftime.”
Coming off halftime, the Spartans got their first points from two free throws by Mading, but the Shock responded with a three-point shot from guard Emanuel Hylton.
There was a moment of hope for the Shock when their defense put the Spartans in a tough position in the paint, but Spartan guard, Brian Moore Jr., recovered an almost out of bounce ball with a bounce pass to Mading, where he was fouled and made a free throw for the Spartans.
Soon after, the Spartans took the momentum of the game by going on a 20-0 scoring run that included baskets by Mading, Moore, forward Chris Fields, and forward Melo Baines towards the end of the run with 12 points, reaching his career high of 16 points.
The Shock put a stop to the Spartans’ run with a layup by forward Jaylin McNeil, but the Spartans had the advantage of the time, and a strong lead, to end the game 105-42.
The Spartan leaders of the game were Brian Moore with 20 points; eight rebounds; seven assists; and two steals, and Kulel Mading with 16 points; 11 rebounds; and three blocks. The Shock leaders of the game were Emanuel Hylton with 15 points; five rebounds; one assist; and one steal; and Jayden Rowe-Perry with eight points; six rebounds; and two steals.
“This is an easier week to prepare in a sense because it is only one game,” said Jones. “We can put all our focus on that game on Saturday and do what we have to do to try and win that basketball game.
The Spartans next game will be against the Howard University Bison on Saturday, January 25th in Joseph Echols Hall. This will be their first game of the conference, and it will be broadcasted on ESPN U at 12:30 pm.
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