NORFOLK, Va. (March 7, 2019) – Howard University men's basketball team downed Norfolk State (NSU), 98-95, after a last second shot from sophomore guard
RJ Cole (Union, N.J.) with 1.1 seconds remaining.
After NSU's Steven Whitley tied the contest with only 14 ticks remaining, 95-95, the New Jersey native came up the court and delivered a 30-foot three-pointer on the wing to give the Spartans their first conference home loss of the year.
"Taking the game-winning shot felt amazing," said Cole after the game. "Once Norfolk [State] made the game-tying layup, I had my mind set on taking the final shot. My teammates played great tonight, I'm just so happy we pulled out the win."
Cole finished the night with a season-high 36 points and seven dimes in 36 minutes of action.
Overall, HU shot 45-percent (31-of-69) from the field, including 52-percent (15-of-29) behind the arc.
Junior
Charles Williams (Richmond, Va.) netted 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Hampton Road native sophomore
Kyle Foster (Hampton, Va.) added a career-high 15 points off the bench.
"The guys were huge," said Howard men's basketball head coach
Kevin Nickelberry. "Kyle [Foster] and RJ [Cole] shots were big and CJ [
Charles Williams] made big free throws."
Howard shot 91-percent at the charity stripe (21-of-23), including 16-of-18 after intermission.
With the victory, HU went a perfect 8-0 away from The Burr in league play.
Additionally, the Bison finished tied for third with North Carolina Central in the conference standings (10-6).
Howard's next stop is the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament in Norfolk, Va. (March 11-16) at the Norfolk Scope Arena.
Thursday (March 14), HU will serve as the No. 4 seed where they will take on No. 5 Bethune-Cookman in the MEAC Quarterfinals. Tip-off at 8 p.m.
"Entering into the tournament, we're going to continue to lock in," Cole concluded. "[We're going to] take it one game at a time because now, it is win or go home."
For more information, visit the Bison Athletics website at
www.HUBison.com.
