Updated Bracket

NORFOLK, Va., March 5, 2018 -- With the opening day of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament in late night territory, it was a good thing Norfolk State put Maryland Eastern Shore away early.

Steven Whitley’s 16 points led five Spartans in double figures as they used a strong start to dispatch the Hawks  78-68 in a first-round match-up at the Scope.

The fifth-seeded Spartans (14-18) will meet fourth-seed North Carolina A&T State, which eeked out a 62-61 overtime victory over No. 13 Delaware State in the quarterfinals Thursday.

Maryland-Eastern Shore’s season concludes at 7-25.

Whitley nearly Ice Cubed -- he also had nine rebounds and seven assists -- as Norfolk State raced out to a 14-3 lead on Preston Bungei’s lay-up with 13:41 remaining. The Spartans held 12-point advantages on three occasions; the last at 22-10 after Whitley answered a Colen Gaynor three-pointer that finally put the Hawks in double figures with a three of his own.

The Hawks closed to 37-27 on Cameron Bacote’s layup with 1:12 left in the half, but the Spartans scored the final five points for a 37-27 halftime advantage.

Maryland Eastern Shore closed to 42-35 on a Tyler Jones lay-up with 17:18 remaining, but the Spartans went on a 15-6 run to take a 57-39 lead and got it to 20 on Derrick Jamerson’s three-pointer with 7:39 left that made it 68-48. It never got closer than 10 points after that.

Jamerson finished with 15 of 5-7 three-point shooting, Kyle Williams 13 and Alex Long 12 and Mastadi Pitt 12 each for the Spartans.

Bacote led the Hawks with 14. Logan McIntosh and Miryne Thomas each added 12.