March 13, 2008

Final Stats |  2008 MEAC Men's Basketball Quarterfinals (Florida A&M vs. Norfolk State) 

RALEIGH, N.C. - The 2007-2008 Florida A&M Men's Basketball season came to end in a 69-61 loss to Norfolk State in the quarterfinal round of the 2008 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament, here Thursday evening at the RBC Center.

"We got beat by a fine basketball team tonight. Norfolk State did an outstanding job in taking way some of our offensive set plays. They were more physical, than us inside," said FAMU head coach Eugene Harris.

FAMU (15-17) was led again by Lamar Twitty with a team high 19 points, followed by Leslie "L.C." Robinson with 18 points. Twitty led the team in assists with four, while Akini F. Akini finished with a team high eight rebounds.

NSU would take their largest lead of night on a Tony Murphy field goal at the 8:57 mark, giving the Spartans a 18-10 lead with 8:57 left to go in the first half.

The Rattlers would then cut the Spartans' to 18-17 on a Robinson field goal with 7:03 left in the half, capping a 7-0 run.

A Darryl Demps jumper with 1:41 remaining in the half, would tie the game at 28-28, but NSU would go into the break with a 31-28 lead.

FAMU finished the first half shooting 37.5 percent (9-of-24) from floor, while NSU shot 40.6 percent (13-of-32).

To begin the second half, a pair of three pointers by Twitty and Robinson and an Akini tip-in put the Rattlers ahead briefly, 36-31.

Norfolk tied the game at 36-36 at the 18:11 mark after a Murphy trey and a Corey Lyons jumper.

A Twitty jumper would tie the game at 40-40 with 14:28 remaining. Then FAMU would go on a 5-0 run taking a 45-40 lead on an Akini dunk with 10:56 to go. Akini would then be tagged for a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

"That was the turning point of the game, we had just made a five-point run and now they are able to get the ball and knock down a pair of free throws," said Harris.

That would spark a NSU 6-0 run, to give the Spartans a 46-45 lead on a Larry Vickers layup with 9:41 left to in the game.

The Rattlers would tie the game at 51-51 on a Robinson three pointer with 6:55 to go, and tied the game again, 55-55, on an Akini tip-in with 4:48 left.

A Michael Deloach tip-in at the 2:57 mark would give the Spartans a 61-55 lead, before baskets by Ballard and Robinson would cut NSU's lead to 61-59 with 1:00 remaining.

However, the Spartans went an 8-2 run to close out the game for the 69-61 final.

FAMU finished the game shooting 37.9 percent (22-of-58), while NSU shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56). The Spartans out rebounded the Rattlers 38-37.

NSU (16-14) was led by Murphy with a game high 29 points. Vickers led the Spartans on the boards with a game high nine rebounds, while Deloach finished with a game high five assists.