Las Vegas, Nevada – Norfolk State survived a late push from North Carolina A&T to beat the Aggies 70-66 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday afternoon in the Boost Mobile HBCU Challenge hosted by Chris Paul.
Dana Tate Jr. led the Spartans to their third straight win. He hit six 3-pointers en route to a career-high 24 points. NSU finished the weekend’s event with his 2-0 record, and this season he has wins over A&T, Hampton, William & Mary and Monmouth, and in non-conference play he has scored his 4th against CAA opponents. -0 record secured.
Chris Bankston dominated both ends of the floor for the Spartans as well. He finished with 16 points and 8 rebounds while shooting 7/8 from the field, knocking down two go-ahead free throws in the final minute. His outstanding performance earned him All-Tournament honors.
North Carolina’s A&T started the game hot, jumping out to an early 10-2 lead. Back-to-back buckets from Joe Bryant Jr. helped the Spartans turn back, and Tate’s first deep shot of the day pushed NSU up two.
Nyzaiah Chambers made a contested layup in the paint to give NSU a 7-point lead late in the first half, tightening to 6 points by the break. Tate’s back-to-back scoring and Terrance Jones’ 3-point shot sent the Spartans rolling in the second half.
Jones enjoyed a career night playing a career-high 33 minutes against point guard Christian Ings on Friday. His sophomore season recorded his seven points and his two assists, stepped up defense on and off the ball, and recorded his career-high eight rebounds.
Another combination of Tate and Jones jumpers gave NSU a nine lead before Tate knocked down the final three-pointer of the night with just over six minutes on the clock.
The Spartans took an eight-point lead into the NC A&T timeout in the final minutes, but the Aggies got out of the break firing, quickly hitting a three-pointer and knocking down another after an NSU turnover.
NC A&T evened the game on 66 on a fastbreak layup, forcing an error on the other side, but bankston A foul was drawn while going for an offensive rebound. The 6-9 forward showed his clutch genes by sinking his throws in both frees, and the Spartans scored the defense he needed from subsequent timeouts.
Bryant hit two freebies after securing the rebound, wiping out any chance of a comeback in the final second. It was the highest score of the season (92.3{ea2cba5bdf6fe62bbe85e24807814144a71e77d3ae7311fbc27a008558d1372c}).
The Chris Paul HBCU Challenge is over, but Norfolk State isn’t done with the Silver State yet. The Spartans head to Reno Wednesday night for a matchup against the Nevada Wolf his pack at 5 p.m. ET tip.
