Norfolk State leans on ‘next-man-up mentality’ to outlast N.C. Central in MEAC rivalry

It was a game worthy of one of the MEAC’s perennially most compelling matchups.

And Norfolk State needed its full toolbox to somehow escape it.

Dana Tate scored 21 points and the Spartans survived a pair of comebacks Monday in a 77-71 win over fellow league powerhouse North Carolina Central at Echols Hall.

NSU (15-7, 5-2 MEAC) won for the second straight time and the third time in four games. The Spartans did it shorthanded.

Star guard Joe Bryant and physical forward Kris Bankston both spent much of the second half on the bench with foul trouble, forcing NSU to demonstrate its considerable versatility.

“That just shows the depth we have on our team,” said Bryant, who scored 18 points in 22 minutes. “It’s always a next-man-up mentality with us. Injuries happen. Foul trouble happens. Next man up. The guys that came off the bench, they did a great job of keeping the lead and playing hard.”

The Spartans shot 46.8% despite a lengthy cold stretch that spanned both halves. N.C. Central (10-11, 3-4) shot 39.7% and made 6 of 20 from 3-point range, many of them in the tense closing seconds.

Justin Wright scored 21 points for the gritty Eagles, who won the rebounding battle 33-31 while grabbing 16 offensive boards.

An ESPNU audience and an announced crowd of 3,437 — enough to get a decent wave going during a second-half timeout — watched as N.C. Central chipped away at an early deficit and nearly won it in the end.

NSU held a 66-58 lead with just over four minutes left before the Eagles, behind a trio of Wright 3-pointers, trimmed the deficit to 73-70 with 49 seconds remaining.

Bryant, back in the game after watching most of the second half, slashed for a layup to give the Spartans a crucial cushion.

Cahiem Brown made a pair of free throws with 6.8 seconds left to account for the final margin and give him 17 points off the bench.

NSU coach Robert Jones was pleased with his team’s complete effort in keeping the lead.

“It just shows the perseverance,” Jones said. “Basketball’s a game of runs. No lead is really safe with the 3-point line. The 3-point line is the equalizer for all.”

After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, N.C. Central finally took a 38-36 lead on Brendan Medley-Bacon’s three-point play with 16:51 left in the game.

Newton’s cradle was then activated.

From that point on, there were eight lead changes, including seven on consecutive buckets.

Bryant, who entered second in the league with 16.7 points per game, said he didn’t mind not carrying the bulk of the load.

“I’m the leading scorer. That’s no secret,” Bryant said. “But I try not to take all the shots. I share the wealth. Tonight, it was Dana Tate’s night. It was Cahiem’s night. Both them guys played well.

“We needed all those 21 and 17 points.”

Indeed, the 6-foot-9 Bankston, guarded by the 7-foot Medley-Bacon, was held to four points on 0-for-4 shooting.

The contest pitted recent league royalty against each other. The teams have combined to win the past five MEAC Tournament titles, with N.C. Central winning three straight before the Spartans won the last two.

One of the two teams has won at least a share of the regular-season title every season since 2018-19.

Eagles coach LeVelle Moton said some of his players have dealt with recent deaths in their families. George Williams, an assistant coach for N.C. Central’s women, died Monday at 71.

“It’s tough. We’ve got some tragedies on this team,” Moton said. “For these kids to just show up and fight, I’m just proud of that. It’s so much bigger than basketball right now. I’m just happy we played well. We moved the ball. The difference is they made shots. We didn’t.”

The Spartans took a 34-27 lead into halftime following a late N.C. Central push. The Eagles closed the half with a 7-2 spurt.

The Spartans used an early 16-2 run, including nine straight points, to take a 19-6 lead with 10½ minutes left in the first half.

The Eagles built their comeback on tight defense, rebounding and an epic NSU drought.

In about a 12-minute span that began in the first half and ended in the second, the Spartans made just one field goal.

But they found their stroke, shooting 48% in the second half.

“It’s always good to beat Central,” said Bryant, a former Lake Taylor High star and the reigning MEAC Player of the Year, adding that he was OK after an ugly second-half spill caused as he went up for a layup. “It’s a good rivalry. They beat us sometimes. We beat them sometimes. This is a good matchup. We just so happened to come out with the win. We’ll take that.”

The women’s game between N.C. Central and the Spartans, scheduled to tip off before the men’s contest. was postponed Monday afternoon in the wake of Williams’ death.

David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com