The men’s basketball team secured the win against the North Carolina Central Eagles 75-68 on February 7th at Joseph Echols Hall. This was their “This Game is No Secret” basketball game, which is an annual initiative in honor of Coach John McLendon and his 1944 interracial “secret game.”
Central was always an intense game – this might be the biggest victory in a while, 7 points for either team,” said Spartan men’s basketball head coach, Robert Jones. “It was a regular North Carolina central, Norfolk State bond burner- atmosphere, as we’ve seen plenty of times. We’re happy to come out on top.”
Eagles guard Dionte Johnson made the first basket of the game with a layup, and Spartans guard Adrean Newton responded with a layup of his own. Soon after, the Spartan forward Keyontae Lewis made a good thing out of a bad situation when he dunked the rebound of his teammate’s missed a layup and tied the Eagles 4-4.
Both teams had serious fouls throughout the half. While the Spartans were trying to stretch their lead, Eagles guard Gage Lattimore received a goal tending foul, and Spartan guard My’kel Jenkins still received his two-points for the layup. Things got heated between the two teams over a play, and a double tech was called on both coaches.
Not letting the situation disrupt the game, Eagles forward Kelechi Okworogwo made an and-one shot after catching his own rebound mid-air. Lattimore followed in his footsteps making an and-one three-pointer to tie the game 21-21, then making another three-pointer during the Eagles’ next possession and took the lead 21-25.
The last five minutes of the first half was a combination of ties and lead changes, but the Spartans were able to hold onto the lead and end the half 36-31.
“Tempers flared a little bit. I mean, that’s just basketball, just testosterone,” said Jones about the teams clashing. “I think the referees were making it a bigger deal than some instances were because it was just, you know, battling, just rivalry. No punches were thrown, nothing was too egregious, but I know the referees got to do their job trying to keep it clean as well.”
Coming out of halftime, Eagles guard Jae Slack made the first basket of the second half with a mid-range jumper. After the Spartans got their first points of the second half, their ball movement and play execution led to guard Elijah Jamison hitting a three-pointer.
There was another clash within the first three minutes of the half, but this time it was between the players. It involved Eagles guard Tekao Carpenter and Jamision, then ended with Jamison making two shots and his opponent receiving a technical foul. The Eagles responded going on an 8-0 scoring run to take their first lead of the second half 48-49.
As the teams fought again to take control of the game, the Spartans successfully executed a play for Jenkins to make a wide-open dunk, giving them momentum. It worked, because they went on a 9-2 scoring run with Jenkins making a three-pointer as their last basket of the run.
Newton was carried off the court by his teammates because of a cramp, and the Spartans balled out for him with a few free throw shots and Jamison making two three pointers, winning the game 75-68.
“For me, it’s just like the 2nd half of the season. I was looking at a zero, zero (record). Right now, I just say we want to know for this final seven (game),” said Jones. “We got to figure out how to win basically 10 games – maybe 10 games straight. We’re still in a fight, and tonight the biggest thing was that we needed to win that game to stay in the fight, and we did just that.”
Spartan leaders of the game were Elijah Jamison with 28 points and three assists, Jaquel Morris with seven rebounds and two steals, and Devon Ellis with three assists and one block. Eagles leaders of the game were Gage Lattimore with 19 points and three steals, Kelechi Okworogwo with eight rebounds, Dionte Johnson with four assists, and Kyric Davis with four rebounds
Another home game is next for the Spartans against the Delaware State Hornets on February 14th at 4:30 pm in Joseph Echols Hall for Alumni Night.
Spartan Echo 