DOVER (February 14, 2009) ? Donald Johnson scored 24 points to lead the Delaware State Hornets (7-19, 5-6 MEAC) to an 86-74 victory over the Norfolk State Spartans (8-14, 6-5 MEAC) on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Memorial Hall. Along with Johnson, four DSU players scored in double-digit figures as the Hornets shot a season-high 60.4 percent from the floor.
"It's good to see the kids bounce back from an extremely tough loss against Howard," said Jackson. "But, this is the way it has been for us all year long. We've been basically an up-and-down team. We showed, tonight, that is we just pay attention to detail, we can play with anyone in the conference. I thought our kids did an excellent job the first 15 minutes of this ball game. We were able to get out in transition. We did something we normally didn't and that was take advantage of early opportunities. "
Johnson (24), Arturo Dubois (17), Fred Bouie (13) and Marcus Neal (10) guided the Hornets to the team's highest point total since defeating Howard, 81-55, last season (Feb. 11, 2008). Johnson finished the night shooting, 8-of-13 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point land. The 20-point performance was the seventh of his DSU career. Johnson also grabbed four rebounds and registered two steals. Dubois broke into double-digit scoring for the first time in six games (18 vs. Bethune-Cookman on Jan. 24). The Harlem, N.Y., native also grabbed six boards and recorded two blocked shots coming off the bench. Bouie converted 3-of-5 shots from "downtown", shooting 5-of-7 from the field. Neal, who shot 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, also garnered a season-high five assists versus the Spartans. Forward Frisco Sandidge notched a game-high 12 rebounds on the night, scoring eight points with six assists, two blocked shots and two steals.
The Hornets not only had a hot hand from the floor, the team finished the night shooting 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the free-throw line. DSU held a slight edge in the rebounding category, 32-30, outing rebounding the Spartans on the defensive end, 23-15. Delaware State went 9-of-17 from 3-point land (52.9 percent), shooting 62.5 percent (5-of-8) in the first half.
The Spartans shot 42.6 percent from the floor and was 31.3 percent from beyond the arc. Shooting 50.0 percent in the first half, NSU struggled making just 38.5 percent of its shots in the final 20 minutes.
Norfolk State was led Aleek Pauline and Michael Deloach, who each poured in 20 points. Pauline shot 6-of-11 from the floor with six rebounds and four steals in the game. Deloach, the conference's leading scorer entering the game, drained 7-of-14 shots from the floor and was 6-of-7 from the free-throw line versus the Hornets. Brandon Monroe led all Spartans with seven rebounds. Monroe scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting in the contest.
The game was close through most of the first half until Delaware State 7-0 run, heading into halftime. The run was capped off by a jumper Sandidge with 00:06 on the clock. The run gave the Hornets a 37-29 halftime lead. DSU began the second half the way the first one ended, adding to the lead with a 5-2 run to take a 42-31 lead with 18:35. A layup by Trevor Welcher on a steal by Sandidge gave Delaware State the 11-point lead. Joe Dorsett-Jeffreys cut DSU's lead to single digits with a layup at the 17:28 mark. However, Johnson responded with a layup of his own to regain the 11-point advantage (16:54 on the clock). Pauline sank a 3-pointer with 16:40 left to play, reducing Delaware State's advantage to 44-36. The Hornets regained their double-digit lead with a Dubois layup (16:24) and never looked back. Extending its lead by as many as 19, Delaware State maintained its lead for the remainder of the contest, downing the Spartans, 86-74.
The win marked the fifth-straight home victory for the Hornets over the Spartans and improved Coach Jackson's record all-time versus NSU to 17-8. The win also avenges an earlier loss to the Spartans (72-61 on Jan. 17 in Norfolk, Va.).
Delaware State will host the North Carolina A&T Aggies on Monday, Feb. 16. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPNU.
