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NORFOLK, Va. – Host Norfolk State shot 65.7 percent from the field on its way to a 70-63 win over the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team Sunday afternoon in Echols Hall.

Norfolk State improved to 4-2 overall, its best start since the 1995-96 season. The Colonels now stand at 3-4.

Spartan center Kyle O’Quinn, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, posted his fifth straight double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. The 6-10 senior also added five blocked shots.

Four players posted double-figure points for Eastern Kentucky led by senior guard Joshua Jones with 13 tallies. Fellow senior Jaron Jones added 10 points and a team-high four rebounds.

Norfolk State ran off seven straight points midway through the first half to take the lead for good, 16-9. The Spartans went ahead by 11 points following a Marcos Tamares three-point play, 28-17. However, the Colonels chipped away at the deficit and trailed by just four points at the break, 38-34, thanks to a Jaron Jones jumper right before the halftime buzzer.

A three-pointer from senior Jeff Allgood put the visitors within two points, 47-45, but that would be as close as EKU would get the rest of the way. The Colonels only made one basket over the next eight-plus minutes allowing Norfolk State to stretch its cushion to 12 points, 60-48.

EKU entered the game 2-0 against MEAC teams under head coach Jeff Neubauer. The seventh-year coach earned his first ever win at EKU against Norfolk State in 2005 U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam.

Eastern Kentucky concludes its East Coast swing Tuesday night at Delaware State. Game time is set for 7 p.m.