Monday
Florida A&M at NSU, 8 p.m., Joseph Echols Hall
Radio: WNSB Hot 91.1 (Ross Gordon, Play-by-Play; Maguell Davis, Color) | Listen Live
Live Stats | Live Video | Game Notes

NORFOLK, Va. - With just two games left in the regular season, the Norfolk State men's basketball team is one step closer to finishing with a perfect record in the MEAC. NSU will look to go to 15-0 on the year Monday against Florida A&M at 8 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall.

Monday's game is designated Community Day. All municipal workers from the seven cities in Hampton Roads get in for $5 with their city ID.

Media Coverage: The game can be heard live on WNSB Hot 91.1, with Ross Gordon and Maguell Davis on the call. Live stats and a live video feed will be available as well. The video feed will carry the WNSB radio call with it.

MEAC Standings: NSU currently sits atop the conference at 14-0 ahead of North Carolina Central (13-1), Savannah State (10-4) and Hampton (10-4). NSU has already locked up a top-2 finish in the MEAC and needs to win just one of its last two to earn the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

The Spartans also enter the contest riding a 13-game win streak with a 19-10 overall record. NSU is one of four schools in the country - Memphis, Louisiana Tech and Gonzaga being the others - that has yet to lose a conference game this season. Florida A&M sits ninth in the conference at 5-9, including 8-20 overall.

Last Time Out: Bethune-Cookman's upset bid fell just short at the end, and NSU kept its perfect conference record alive with a 62-61 win over the Wildcats Saturday night. Jamel Fuentes broke a 59-59 tie with 44.6 seconds left with a putback layup, and B-CU was unable to convert in the waning seconds despite the Spartans missing 3-of-4 from the foul line in the last 20 seconds.

Pendarvis Williams led NSU with 14 points, while Rashid Gaston had 10 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. Malcolm Hawkins added 13 points, and Fuentes also reached double figures with 10. Paul Scotland added 16 points for B-CU.

Series History: NSU has won eight in a row over Bethune-Cookman dating back to the 2006-07 season and now leads the all-time series with the Rattlers, 13-9.

About Florida A&M: The Rattlers suffered a nine-point setback at Hampton on Saturday after winning their two previous at home against Howard and South Carolina State. Jamie Adams leads the team in scoring (14.5), assists (3.3) and steals (2.0), while Reggie Lewis also scores in double figures at 10.9. Jamari Bradshaw and Muhammad Abdul-Aleem each average 9.4 for a team that scores 66.5 a game, gives up more than 72 per contest and gets out-rebounded by four and a half boards per game.

Winning: The Spartans are attempting to become the first MEAC school to go undefeated in conference play since Coppin State did it in back-to-back years in 1992-93 and 1993-94 (16-0 both times). North Carolina A&T (16-0, 1987-88) is the only other school to accomplish the feat. NSU has already set a team record for most MEAC wins in a season.

NSU's 14-0 start in the MEAC stands as the best start in conference play during the Division I era and the best since going 14-0 in the CIAA to start the 1989-90 season. The team's current 13-game win streak is the longest in the D-I era and the best since winning 14 straight during the 1994-95 season. The 13-game streak also ranks fourth in the nation for the longest current win streak (through games of March 2). Only Louisiana Tech (18), Middle Tennessee State (16) and Davidson (14) have longer streaks.

NSU has already guaranteed itself a winning record for this year, marking just the fourth time overall since moving to Division I in 1997 NSU has had a winning record and the first time doing it in back-to-back years. Just one more win would also give NSU back-to-back 20 win seasons for the first time since the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons.

Home Sweet Home: NSU owns a 9-0 record at home this season and has won 10 straight dating back to last season. The Spartans have not gone undefeated at home in the regular season since going 12-0 during the 1988-89 season.

Catching Fire: Pendarvis Williams has scored in double figures in 15 of the last 16 games, and in the last nine games alone he is averaging 16.7 points, 4.7 boards and 1.9 assists while shooting 52.7 percent (48-of-91) from the field and 55.0 percent (22-of-40) from 3-point range. He's also averaging 14.9 points in conference games.

Looking for Win No. 100: Head coach Anthony Evans needs three more wins to reach 100 for his NSU coaching career. He would join the ranks of Charles Christian (319), Ernie Fears (147), John Turpin (136) and Mike Bernard (141) as coaches who got to 100 career wins at NSU and the only one to do it solely during the Division I era.

Stepping Up: Brandon Goode has averaged 11.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks while shooting 27-of-44 (61.4 percent) in the last six games and has scored in double figures in seven of the last 11. Malcolm Hawkins has scored in double figures in 11 of the last 14 as well and averaged 18.0 points over a three-game stretch from Feb. 9-18.

Solid 3-Point Defense: The Spartans have held 11 of their last 12 opponents to 33.3 percent shooting or worse from 3-point range. Collectively, opponents are hitting 50-of-193 (25.9 percent) during that time. On the season, NSU rankes 28th in the nation in 3-point field goal defense at 30.2 percent.

NSU also ranks in the top 100 in the nation in blocks (57), steals (88) and field goal percentage defense (89).

Making It Interesting: NSU has had a double-digit lead in the second half of 17 of the team's 19 wins this season, with the B-CU and the Feb. 4 Morgan State games the exception. The final margin in 14 of those wins was 10 points or less. NSU's 18-point win over Delaware State on Feb. 9 marked the first time in 14 conference games dating back to last season that the Spartans won by more than 10 points. NSU is 14-4 in games decided by 10 points or less this season.

In fact, aside from NSU's wins over Delaware State (18 points) and UMES (22) at home, NSU has won its 12 other conference games by an average of just 5.4 points despite having an average high second half lead of 13.3 points.

Taking Care of the Ball: Just four times in the last 17 games has NSU committed more turnovers than its opponent. In the last 13 games alone since Navy, NSU has outscored opponents by a 236-180 margin in points off turnovers, topping 15 points in 10 of those 13 games.

Leading the Way: NSU is averaging 3,148 in attendance for its home games, tops among all MEAC teams and ahead of Hampton (2,854) and UMES (2,173), the only other schools above 2,000. NSU had a sellout crowd of 6,191 against Hampton.

Better in the 2nd: NSU is averaging 30.8 points per game in the first half but bumps that up to 36.1 points in the second half. Opponents are the same, averaging 29.4 in the first stanza but 36.7 in the second.

The MEAC, NCAA Leaderboard: Several players stand in the top 5 in the MEAC statistics, including Brandon Goode and Pendarvis Williams. Goode ranks first in field goal percentage (60.4), while Williams sits third in free throw percentage at 81.9 and 3-point field goal percentage (39.9), fourth in 3-point field goals per game (2.0) and fifth in scoring (14.0).

Jamel Fuentes ranks third in assists (5.2), assist-turnover ratio (1.8) and steals (1.9). Fuentes also sits 43rd in the nation in assists per game. Rashid Gaston ranks fourth in field goal percentage (56.7) and fifth in offensive rebounds (2.8).

As a team, the Spartans rank second in 3-point field goal percentage (32.4) and third in scoring offense (66.9), scoring margin (+0.7), field goal percentage (42.0), rebounding (36.3), defensive rebounds (23.6), and assist-turnover ratio (0.8).

Halftime Lead: The Spartans carry a 14-0 record when either leading or tied at the half. NSU has overcome halftime deficits of seven points (UMES and Hampton), five points (Rhode Island), three points (Savannah State) and one point (St. Francis Brooklyn) this year in their other victories.