O'Quinn puts on a show as Norfolk State beats Hampton 70-62

NORFOLK, Va. -- With scouting personnel from the Orlando Magic looking on, Norfolk State senior center Kyle O???Quinn put on a prime-time show.

O???Quinn scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds despite near-constant double teams as the Spartans defeated cross-town rival Hampton 70-62 on Saturday night.

???I get double-teamed in practice, too, so I do it every day,??? said the 6-foot-4, 240-pound O???Quinn, who came into the game averaging 16.3 points per game and 10.4 rebounds, 15th-best in the country.

???When we do workouts, we simulate the double-team. In my younger years, I used to get frustrated. I used to get mad sometimes and say something to Coach. He???d be like, ???What do you want me to do???? Now, I???ve just got to handle it and get the best out of it. I???m so used to it now; it???s just like an everyday thing.???

NSU senior guard Chris McEachin added a career- and game-high 27 points on 8 of 16 shooting and a 5 of 7 performance from 3-point range. The Spartans (18-8, 10-2 MEAC) opened up a 60-51 lead on McEachin???s fallaway three-pointer with 5:15 left in the game and weren???t threatened down the stretch.

???He???s turned it up the last two times we???ve played (Hampton),??? NSU coach Anthony Evans said. ???He???s definitely been the difference.???

Norfolk State, which has seen three of its losses come in its last five games, solidified its hold atop the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings, while Hampton, the preseason pick to finish second in the conference after winning the MEAC tournament title last season, fell further back in the standings.

The Pirates (8-16, 4-7 MEAC), losers of six of their last eight, were led by 16 points from senior guard Christopher Tolson, who had 14 first-half points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range but picked up his fourth foul early in the second half. Tolson and senior point guard Mike Tuitt each had three fouls going into halftime.

Hampton opened up a 10-point lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Tolson midway through the first half, but the Spartans answered with a 10-0 run ??? with seven of those points coming from O???Quinn and McEachin.

After McEachin???s personal 8-2 run made it a 55-47 game with 9:53 to play, O???Quinn???s rebound and stickback pushed NSU???s lead to double digits with 8:40 to go. HU closed within six with 5:52 left before the Spartans??? final run, highlighted by McEachin???s fallaway three with the shot clock winding down and capped by two free throws from O???Quinn.

???(O???Quinn) has seen it,??? Evans said. ???He???s been battling. He???s going to try to find an open shot. He???s going to be aggressive at times. The maturity of him understanding what???s going on is the biggest difference. He???s a great rebounder, shot blocker. If people are looking for someone to do that for them, then they have themselves a gem.???

Hampton shot 36.4 percent, while the Spartans shot 37.3 and 43.8 percent from 3-point range. NSU also shot 83 percent from the free-throw line and outrebounded the Pirates 48-35.

Senior guard Darrion Pellum, leading the league with 18.2 points per game, had just three at halftime and finished with 10. He made an early exit after picking up two technical fouls and being ejected with 12 seconds left.

Pellum???s season-low scoring total is six, and he has been held to single digits just three times in the Pirates??? 24 games.

Pellum???s two technicals were one of four issued all at once. NSU forward Rob Johnson also picked up a T, as did HU coach Ed Joyner.

???I???m not going to make a comment, because I don???t want to get fined. We???ll leave it be,??? said Joyner, who said his guards??? foul trouble affected his team???s strategy in a second half that saw the Spartans score the first seven points. ???That???s why we ended up having to go into the zone a little bit more early, and then they hit a few shots and got an early lead. Then we had to fight back because both of our guards had three fouls.???

The game was also marred by a brief fracas in the stands, in which plastic bottles and an umbrella were thrown before security stepped in to restore order.

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