Marquette Golden Eagles beat Norfolk State Spartans 59-57 in a thriller - NCAA Basketball Recap
Marquette Golden Eagles managed to hold their nerves in the ending moments to escape a probable defeat at the hands of Norfolk State Spartans, after they made a meal of their healthy lead midway in the second half.
Eagles were in a comfortable position and were leading by 47-33 with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game. However, two consecutive timely 7-0 spurts by the Spartans followed by a downtown strike by Pendarvis Williams helped
them in getting level at 57 all. Unfortunately for Spartans, Jae Crowder managed to pierce the defense and scored a pivotal dunk to get his team ahead with a minute remaining.
Spartans got a final chance to score when Kyle O Quinn found himself in a perfect position for a three after Odom had lost the possession of the ball with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game. However with the clock ticking
and the nerves jangling, he only managed to hit the rim. The rebound was clutched by the Eagles, who made sure to hold it until the final buzzer.
Marquette’s coach Buzz Williams was thrilled with the win and termed the recovery as a good omen for the future games;
"This was the first time this year and there will be many more times from here that we will be put to the fire a little bit," Williams said. "That's good for us. This experience will grow us up. I'm thankful we were able to win,
but this experience will be helpful for us later on."
Darius Johnson Odom was once again the most outstanding player for Marquette. He scored 20 points including 6 for 7 shots from the free throw line and 6 for 12 from the floor. Jae Crowder put up an all round performance and completed
a double-double by scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds across the board.
From the Spartans, Chris McEachin scored 10 points on an erratic 4 for 16 from the field and 2 for 10 from the free throw line. Quinn, who missed the last shot of the game, completed a double-double with 10 points and a game-high
13 rebounds.
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