NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - Rob Johnson and Jamel Fuentes scored 18 points apiece to bring Norfolk State back from a nine-point second-half deficit and beat St. Francis (N.Y.) 85-79 on Thursday night.
Brandon Goode had 13 points, Kris Brown 12 and Malcolm Hawkins 10 for Norfolk State (3-5), the defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion, in its home opener.
Jalen Cannon had 16 points and nine rebounds, Akeem Johnson scored 15 and Ben Mockford 13 for St. Francis (2-3).
St. Francis led 54-45 on Cannon's layup 5:45 into the second half, but Norfolk State closed to 66-63 on Johnson's 3-pointer with 8:15 remaining.
The Spartans took a 67-66 lead on Johnson's two free throws. They pushed it to 73-70 on Fuentes' layup at 4:29 and 78-70 on Malcolm Hawkins's three-point play at 2:52. Brent Jones' 3-pointer pulled the Terriers to 83-79 with 23 seconds left, but they came no closer.
| Scoreboard | |||
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
| St. Francis (N.Y.) (2-3) | 37 | 42 | 79 |
| Norfolk State (3-5) « | 36 | 49 | 85 |
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| St. Francis (N.Y.) Terriers | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| J. Cannon, F | 33 | 8-13 | 0-0 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| A. Johnson, F | 31 | 6-8 | 3-3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| B. Mockford, G | 33 | 4-10 | 2-2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| K. Douglas, G | 23 | 3-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| B. Jones, G | 21 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| D. Calloway | 19 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| A. Isailovic | 11 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| A. White | 9 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| L. Ulmer | 8 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| M. Milk | 5 | 2-2 | 0-1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| P. Santavenere | 5 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| T. Nichols | 2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 34-64 | 5-8 | 29 | 12 | 18 | 79 | |
| 53.1% | 62.5% | ||||||
| Norfolk State Spartans | |||||||
| STARTERS | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| R. Johnson, F | 32 | 4-7 | 8-8 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 18 |
| B. Goode, F | 24 | 6-9 | 1-3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| M. Hawkins, G | 38 | 2-8 | 6-7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| J. Fuentes, G | 36 | 8-14 | 2-6 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 18 |
| K. Brown, G | 30 | 5-11 | 1-2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 |
| BENCH | M | FG | FT | TR | A | PF | PTS |
| R. Gaston | 17 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Z. Estime | 10 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| A. Rogers | 7 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| K. Lila-St. Rose | 6 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 31-59 | 18-26 | 34 | 15 | 12 | 85 | |
| 52.5% | 69.2% | ||||||
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