Norfolk State's Christian Ings made one of two free throws with eight seconds remaining to send the Spartans to the NCAA tournament.

With a spot in the NCAA Tournament on the line, South Carolina State suffered a brutal beat Saturday in the finals of the MEAC Tournament as top-seeded Norfolk State escaped with a 66-65 win under bizarre circumstances.

South Carolina State purposefully fouled Norfolk State with 8.9 seconds left. There was just one problem: SC State was not trailing. Oops!

Kierra Wheeler scored 19 points, Diamond Johnson had seven points in the decisive third quarter and top-seeded Norfolk State beat No. 2-seed Howard 68-56 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship title game to clinch its third straight trip

Norfolk State makes HBCU history by winning their third straight MEAC championship and a 30 win season. Back to the Dance.

The Spartans stormed back to win and claim their first NCAA bid since 2022 and fourth in the school’s Division I era.