Julian Norfleet scored a career-high 31 points to lead Mount St. Mary's to a 104-84 victory at Norfolk State.The win was just the fourth of the season for the Mountaineers, against nine losses and their first road win in nine tries.
Just over four minutes into the game, Norfleet made the first of his four three-pointers to break an 11-all tie. The Mountaineers led the rest of the game, opening a 59-37 bulge by half time. Norfleet accounted for 15 points in the first half and knocked down another 16 in the second half as the Mountaineers cruised.
Norfleet, a 6'2" senior, was 11-for-13, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. He knocked down five of eight free throws and also had the presence to dish out 10 assists, snag three rebounds and make four steals.
Mount St. Mary's non-conference record of 4-9 may be misleading for the team from the Northeast Conference (NEC) which went 11-7 in the NEC last season and lost a chance to go to the NCAA tournament when they dropped the conference tourney final to LIU-Brooklyn, 91-70.
With the bulk of their games the season on the road, the Mountaineers played a heady schedule with losses at some tough venues, including West Virginia, BYU, Villanova, Michigan State, Penn State and Texas Tech. The team looks forward to starting conference play, which begins with their next game, at Farleigh Dickenson, January 9.
