Showing posts with label Norfolk State Spartans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Norfolk State Spartans. Show all posts

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Pendarvis Williams Leads Norfolk State over Newberry with 38 Points

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The Spartans of Norfolk State won their first game of the season Wednesday night, breaking open a tight contest in the second half for a 115-95 win over the Newberry Indians.

Leading by just three points at the half, 51-48, the Spartans pulled away with 64 second half points, led by Pendarvis Williams, who led all scorers with a career-high 38 points, tying Richard Carter of Drake for the most scored in a single game this season. Carter's effort was just four days ago, on November 9.

Williams, a 6'6" senior from Philadelphia who averaged 14.3 points per game, was 14-for-19 from the floor, canning five of eight threes and knocking down five of six from the stripe. He added four assists and seven rebounds to his impressive totals. Williams is tied with Eddie Morales in team assists, averaging six per game.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Kyle O'Quinn, CJ McCollum Lead Norfolk State, Lehigh Past #2 Seeds, Missouri, Duke

College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, March 16, Month, 2012

Norfolk State's enormous, 86-84, upset over Missouri, the number two seed in the West region, was a monumental achievement that hasn't occurred since 2001, when Hampton defeated Iowa State, 58-57, in 2001.

Prior to Friday, a 15 seed beating a number two had only happened four times in the history of the NCAA tournament since expanding to 64 teams (now 68) in 1985. To get some perspective, that's four times in 28 years, out of a total of 112 2-15 match-ups.

Through Friday's games, mark that number up to six times in 116 2-15 meetings, because the Lehigh Mountain Hawks turned the trick on the Duke Blue Devils, knocking the #2 seed in the South region - along with coach Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest college basketball coach of all time, and all of Duke's storied history - out of the 2012 tournament with a smashing, 75-70, victory.

Never mind that sportswriters and sport bloggers won't have to scramble to rediscover how to spell coach K's name for the duration of the tourney; Lehigh's win was monstrous, and to think that two 15 seeds would beat two number two's in the same tournament, on the same day, well, that's one for the history books, an eventful day that may never happen again.

The tin-foil hat brigade will point to the unusual feat as a precursor to the Mayan calendar's prediction that the world will end on December 21, 2012, an omen of sorts, along with the record-setting warm winter and other assorted oddities and anomalies.

Whether or not the wins by the Spartans and Mountain Hawks (formerly the Engineers) have predictive or astronomical or numerological value can be debated another time. For now, the dual triumphs for the "little guy" remind us that anything is possible when men or women act together and execute on a plan.

The stars of the two games, Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn (St. Patrick's Irish eyes must surely be smiling today) and Lehigh's CJ McCollum, the co-players of the day, may have to share the spotlight for now, and the pair will be forever linked within the lore of collage basketball.

The two share some similarities and some differences. Both are big time scorers for little colleges, but McCollum is a 6'3" guard from small town Canton, Ohio while O'Quinn is a 6'10" center from big city Jamaica, New York, part of the New York City metropolis.

McCollum is more the run-and-gun type, as evidenced in his 30 point, 9-for-24 shooting spree against the Blue Devils, which included two three-pointers in seven attempts. But he also played the complete game, dishing six assists and grabbing six rebounds. McCollum also was 10-for-16 from the foul line.

O'Quinn did his work mostly around the rim, scoring 26 points for the Spartans against the undersized Tigers, powering inside for 10 buckets on 16 attempts, with a three-pointer (only his sixth of the season) in two attempts from outside the arc. O'Quinn had 14 rebounds for his 20th double-double of this season, was 5-for-9 from the stripe, blocked two shots and had a pair of assists.

When the celebration and laudatory remarks begin to fade sometime on Saturday, McCollum and O'Quinn will get back together with their teammates and coaches and start planning to see if they can write a little more history into this tournament. No #15 which had defeated a #2 has ever won their following game. On Sunday, the Mountain Hawks will face Xavier, the #10 seed, and the Spartans will go after Florida, a mere 7-seed.

Win or lose, Mayan predictions or otherwise, Friday, March 16 was a day for the record books.

Here are the previous 15-over-2 wins in NCAA history:

#15 Richmond beat #2 Syracuse 73-69 in 1991
#15 Santa Clara beat #2 Arizona 64-61 in 1993
#15 Coppin State beat #2 USC 78-65 in 1997
#15 Hampton beat #2 Iowa State 58-57 in 2001

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Conference tournaments UPDATE, afternoon games, 3/10/12; Norfolk State Reaches first NCAA; Kentucky, Tar Heels Prevail

SEC: Kentucky 74 Florida 71 - It was a struggle for the #1 Wildcats, but they outlasted a determined Gator team to advance to the SEC tourney final. Kentucky will face the winner of the Mississippi-Vanderbilt semi-final game on Sunday.

ACC: North Carolina 69 North Carolina St. 67 - Playing without center/forward John Henson, North Carolina trailed early, built a six-point second half lead but gave it up down the stretch to the Wolf Pack, a team they've beaten 12 straight times. Kendall Marshall's banked shot with 10.2 seconds remaining provided the slim winning margin for the #4 Tar Heels who will face the winner of the today's Duke-Florida St. game on Sunday.

Mid-Eastern: Norfolk State 73 Bethune-Cookman 70 - Winning their way to the school's first ever NCAA tournament, Norfolk State's Spartans held on for a game win in the conference tourney final and get the automatic bid. Kyle O'Quinn led the way with 18 points and 7 boards.

Big Ten: Michigan State 65 Wisconsin 52 - Draymond Green scored 14 points and ripped down 16 rebounds to lead the Spartans to the Big Ten final. On Sunday afternoon, Michigan State will face the winner of today's Ohio State-Michigan semi-final.

In the Atlantic-10 semi-finals, St. Bonaventure held on against UMass for an 84-80 victory. They will face either Xavier or St. Louis in Sunday's championship game.