Norfolk State has returned to the NCAA Tournament after a nine-year absence following a 71-63 victory over Morgan State in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship game.

Joe Bryant led the Spartans (16-7) with 17 points in being named tournament MVP and Kashaun Hicks tallied 14 points and seven rebounds while Devante Carter had an excellent all-around game with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

De'Torrian Ware led Morgan State (14-8) with 16 points and five rebounds while Lagio Grantsaan added 13 points and eight rebounds as the Bears were seeking their first NCAA appearance since 2013.

Norfolk State cruises past Morgan State to book spot in field of 68

In the first half, Morgan State started by hitting a 3-pointer in the first nine seconds of the game. The Bears would go on to get their largest lead of the game when Ware scored on a layup with 14:14 left, giving Morgan State an early 11-7 lead. 
 
After several lead changes, Norfolk State's Nyzaiah Chambers scored on a dunk with 10:44 left before intermission, giving his team a one-point lead at 16-15. The Spartans never trailed the rest of the way and took a 37-30 lead into the locker room at the half. 

Norfolk State's Devante Carter tries to drive between two Morgan State defenders during the MEAC Championship game/Photo: Mike Caudill/Associated Press
Norfolk State's Devante Carter tries to drive between two Morgan State defenders during the MEAC Championship game/Photo: Mike Caudill/Associated Press


 
Norfolk State opened the second half with Bryant scoring 10 points in the first four minutes as the lead grew to 13. The Spartans held their biggest lead of the contest at 56-40 with 13:27 to play after a bucket by Chambers.

The Bears managed to cut the Spartans' lead down to nine at the 3:02 mark on a pair of free throws by Sherwyn Devonish, but Norfolk State went back up by double-digits at 67-57 with 2:10 left in the ballgame.

Morgan State cut the deficit to six in the closing minutes of the game, but Norfolk State held on to punch their ticket to March Madness for the first time since 2012 when upset Missouri as a 15 seed.

"We talk about it all the time", said Spartans head coach Robert Jones. "We're trying to create our own history.

"We knew Morgan State wouldn't go away", he added. "Coach (Kevin) Broadus is a good friend of mine, and we said all year that we were the two best teams in the league. We showed it tonight.

"It was a dogfight the whole time. We watched their first two games, and they were down by nine at the half, so we just said this wasn't going to be the third game in a row."

Broadus said after the defeat "they were the better team. They played a helluva game and they were the better team today. We had our chances to make a run and we just couldn't get over the hump."

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