Radford finally took the lead in the final two minutes, but Norfolk State got some big stops late on its way to a 57-54 win over the Highlanders on Saturday evening at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on the campus of James Madison.
The Spartans (2-0) led 34-20 at the break, after forcing the Highlanders (0-2) to miss their first 12 shots.
Radford opened the second half on a 10-2 run, and finally took the lead on a Dante Moses layup with 1:55 to go for RU’s only lead.
Mustafa Lawrence hit two free throws with 1:20 to put NSU back on top, and Efstratios Kalogerias’ layup with 23.5 seconds on the clock forced Radford to take a desperation three-pointer at the end.
“It was a hard-fought win, and when you’re on the road an ugly win is better than a pretty loss,” Norfolk State coach Robert Jones said. “We’ve been preaching defense the whole time, and today our defense carried us to the win.”
The Spartans connected on 9-of-18 from the three-point line. Senior Kashaun Hicks and sophomore Daryl Anderson each went 3-of-5 from deep with 12 points to lead all scorers.
Quinton Morton-Robertson led RU with 12 points, one of three players in double figures.
The Spartans will host ODU on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall, NSU’s first home game against the Monarchs in more than 50 years.
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