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Brandon Wheeless
Jerry Altares

Men's Basketball Matt Michalec, SID

Spartans’ Balanced Attack Too Much for WSSU, 74-50

Wheeless scored a career-high 15 points in 14 minutes.

Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. — Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.) led all scorers with 18 points and Brandon Wheeless (Stone Mountain, Ga.) scored 15 off the bench as Norfolk State won its third straight game and fifth out of its last six, 74-50 over Winston-Salem State on Saturday afternoon at Echols Hall.

Deloach and Wheeless were two of five Spartans in double figures. Kyle O'Quinn (Jamaica, N.Y.) had 13 and Rob Hampton (Queens, N.Y.) and Tim Zephyr (Bronx, N.Y.) added 10 apiece for NSU (8-17), which never trailed.

Paul Davis led WSSU (10-15) with 15 points, but was the only Ram in double figures.

The Spartans jumped out to a big early lead and never looked back. Deloach scored seven quick points as NSU outscored the Rams 12-2 over the first seven minutes. The lead would stretch to as many as 13 in the first half. The Rams cut it to five, 27-22, after a 3-pointer by Andrew Jackson, but the Spartans scored the next four points to take a 31-22 advantage into halftime.

NSU would lead by at least eight points the entire second half. After a jumper by Davis got WSSU within 47-39 with 9:29 left in the game, the Spartans put it away with a 13-3 run over the next four minutes. Deloach hit four free throws, O'Quinn had four points and Wheeless hit a 3-pointer in the spurt.

The Spartans shot 53 percent (29-of-55) from the floor and turned the ball over just nine times, matching their season-low from Monday's 72-52 win at Howard. NSU also outrebounded the Rams 32-29 and held the visitors to 33 percent shooting (17-of-51). The result was the Spartans' second straight 20+ point victory, the first time the program has achieved that feat since the 1996-97 season (25-point wins over Bridgeport and West Virginia Wesleyan).

Wheeless was perfect in 14 minutes of play. He was 4-of-4 from the floor, 2-of-2 from behind the arc, and 5-of-5 from the foul line. Zephyr was 5-of-8 from the floor en route to his first career double-figuring scoring effort, and he also tied O'Quinn for team-high honors with six rebounds. Deloach had a game-high five assists, while Aleek Pauline (Jamaica, N.Y.) added four assists, three steals and did not turn the ball over.

The Spartans play their final home game of the season on Monday night when they host South Carolina State at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPNU and will also be Senior Night for Deloach, Antoine Perry (Norfolk, Va.) and Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys (Bronx, N.Y.).

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