Norfolk — The Bethune-Cookman basketball team pulled out a dramatic 70-68 upset victory over regular season MEAC champions Norfolk State on Wednesday night in the Conference Tournament.

The Spartans, who played the role of Cinderella in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament by defeating the #3 ranked Missouri Tigers, finished the MEAC’s regular season with an unblemished conference record.  The Wildcats came closes to defeating NSU during the regular season but came up 1 point short (61-62) when the two teams squared off eleven (11) days ago in Norfolk. Interestingly, the last four contests between the Wildcats and Spartans have come down to the final possession.  The Spartans prevailed in the previous three (3) contests but Wednesday night belonged to Bethune-Cookman.

Gravelle Craigs’ squad trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and seemed unable to overcome the hostile, pro-NSU crowd or the regular season champs.  But a second half energy boost from senior Paul Scotland and a bit of sharp shooting from the entire squad helped the Wildcats erase the double-digit halftime deficit and force the game into overtime. 

BCU shot 59% from the field in the second half and 50% in the overtime session.  The Cats are now two games away from making their first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament

Full story to be updated soon.