Bison and Spartans Split

Ron Bailey, Publisher

Spartan men and Bison ladies prevail.

February 15, 2010 - Yesterday Howard University's Burr Gymnasium hosted a bi-gender hoops double header, as both the men's and women's teams of Norfolk State University came to town. The two contests would be each's near inverse.

Women's Game

Howard 71 Norfolk State 41

Leading 31-16 at intermission, the Lady Bison (12-12, 7-5 MEAC) never trailed Norfolk State (3-18, 0-12), who were also held to 36.7% from the field and made just 15.4% of their three-pointers. Howard notched marks of 43.1% and 28.6% from the floor and arch respectfully, out-rebounded the Spartans 42-30, and committed just nine giveaways, while Norfolk doubled that mark with 18.

Saadia Doyle (13) and Julee O'Neal clamp down on a Spartan shooter.

Redshirt freshman forward, Saadia Doyle, contributor of 17 points and 11 caroms was the game's MVP, while junior guard Zykia Brown supplied 17 points herself, also adding six boards. Cheyenne Curley-Payne, a freshman guard, also reached double figure scoring with 13 points, while also snagging seven rebounds.

Norfolk saw two players score double digit points, as freshman forward Marian Brooks dropped 10, a mark equaled by sophomore guard Whitney Long. Freshman forward Batavia Owens had a game high 11 boards, five offensive.

Men's Game

Norfolk State 72 Howard 52

With junior guard Aleek Pauline accounting for a career high 20 points (and adding 6 rebounds), all while controlling the game's tempo, Norfolk State uses several breakouts - the Spartans would score 19 fastbreak points in the game, 10 in the second stanza - to expand their 13 point, halftime lead. Pauline was critical in that regard, tallying two of his three takeaways after intermission, as was sophomore forward Marcos Tamares, who logged 4 steals.

Fueling these fastbreak opportunities, and generally flummoxing the Bison throughout, were multiple defensive changes: The Spartans started out with an effective 3-2 matchup, while also employing a 2-3 zone, man to man sets, and an increasingly rare 1-3-1 zone, which more or less was the game's closer.

Game MVP, Aleek Pauline (3) looks to find a teammate.

"We've worked on it...We tried to switch it up a bit" said head Spartan, Anthony Evans of his team's defensive plan. Along with the score, stats illustrate it's effectiveness, given the Bison shot only 31% from the field and 30% from three point land.

Gil Jackson, Howard's head coach on the Spartan's defense and it's impact: "They got their separation on some runouts, which you want to do. Their defense created turnovers, they made the layups and they got some separation".

For exclusive audio of Evans commenting on his team's defense, Pauline, of whom he said "He's the key to our team...He's a floor general", and the importance of this win, click here. Pauline, can be heard talking about controlling the tempo, teammate Kyle O'Quinn (14 points, five rebounds), and creating turnovers, by accessing this link.

Jackson's interview session is also presented, where he discusses Pauline - "We knew his matchup would be a little bit of a problem, but we didn't expect him to go off like that" - his team's guard situation, Norfolk's Mike DeLoach (16 points, seven boards, four dimes) and O'Quinn, plus the overall situation his team faces.

Norfolk State, which shot 50% from the floor and made 31.3% of it's three pointers is now 7-17 overall and 6-6 in the MEAC, while Howard has dipped to 7-20 and also, 6-6 in league play.

The Bison were led in scoring by freshman forward Dadrian Collins' 11 points, to which he added six rebounds. Junior forward Adam Walker finished with 10 points and eight caroms, while sophomore guard Calvin Thompson and senior guard Curtis White both contributed eight points.

Next On Tap: Norfolk state hosts Winston-Salem State Saturday, and Howard travels to the Sunshine State, facing the FAMU Rattlers that same day. Both school's women's and men's programs play on those dates.