Box Score NORFOLK, Va. – Senior Pendarvis Williams scored 25 points to lead the Norfolk State men's basketball team to a 75-49 victory over Howard on Monday night at Joseph Echols Hall.

Williams hit 9-of-15 from the field and was one of four Spartan players in double figures. NSU improved to 8-2 in conference play, maintaining second place in the league standings along the way, as well as 14-10 overall.

The Spartans held Howard to 15-of-46 shooting (32.6 percent), with freshman James Daniel scoring 25 of the team's 49 points on 8-of-15 shooting. NSU also thrived off 24 Howard turnovers, outscoring the Bison 25-8 on the night in points off turnovers.

Junior Jamel Fuentes totaled 11 points and seven assists, while senior Marese Phelps and Anell Alexis each added 10 points. Phelps had a strong game with five assists, five rebounds and three steals as well.

Nothing signified NSU's defensive prowess better than the latter part of the first stanza, when Howard (6-19, 4-6 MEAC) failed to convert a field goal for the last 11 minutes of the half. The Spartans took an 18-point lead into the break, and only a short spurt early in the second half for the Bison kept NSU from pulling away by even more.

Howard got on the board first to start the game, but NSU quickly erased that Bison lead thanks to a bucket from senior Brandon Goode and a pair of free throws from Alexis. Daniel drained a trey to keep HU within one, 13-12, nine minutes into the game before NSU clamped down on defense.

Following that make by Daniel, the Spartans went on a methodical 13-4 run, covering seven minutes, to push the lead up to 14, 30-16, with four minutes left in the half. Williams, who had 15 in the first half, completed a four-point play during that run, and Alexis capped it off with a trey from the right wing.

After Damon Collins hit a pair of free throws for Howard, the Spartans scored the last six points of the half for a 36-18 lead at the break. Daniel's trey at 11:09 served as HU's last bucket of the half. The Bison shot 5-of-25 in the first half.

NSU pushed the lead to 22 early in the second half, but the Bison responded with a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 10 at the 15:15 mark. Alexis canned a 3-pointer to end that run, but Daniel hit a pair of treys, the latter with 10:49 to go to keep HU within 11.

The Spartans finally put the game away, stretching the lead to 28 thanks to an 18-1 run over a five-minute span. Fuentes capped it with a drive to the bucket as NSU cruised the rest of the way.

Aside from Daniel, no other player had more than seven points for the Bison.

Goode finished with eight points and eight boards for NSU, which outscored HU 28-14 in points in the paint. The Spartans finished 28-of-60 (46.7 percent) from the field, including 8-of-24 from 3-point range, with 19 assists on those 28 buckets.

NSU also had a 39-31 edge on the boards.

NSU will host the first Battle of the Bay this year when the Spartans take on Hampton next Saturday at 6 p.m. at Echols Hall.