NORFOLK, Va. — For 20 minutes on Thursday night, Delaware State didn’t look like its season didn’t have much left in it.

But the Hornets flipped the script in the second half.

After trailing by as many as 13, sixth-seeded Delaware State ran off 16 straight points before knocking off No. 3 South Carolina State, 71-58, in the quarterfinals of the MEAC men’s basketball tournament.

The upset puts the Hornets (14-17) in Friday’s second semifinal at The Scope Arena where it will face No. 2 North Carolina Central at 8 p.m. The winner advances to Saturday afternoon’s MEAC championship game with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line.

Thursday’s victory was DSU’s first in the tourney since 2020. The Hornets are in the semifinals for the first time since 2015.The Hornets’ 16-0 run included the first 10 points of the second half.

After trailing the Bulldogs 36-23 with 1:36 left in the first half, Delaware State out-scored South Carolina State, 48-22, the rest of the way.

“We are excited about the victory tonight,” DSU coach Stan Waterman said in a press release. “It didn’t come without a lot of hard work, and we knew it wouldn’t be easy.

"We knew we had to be prepared and play hard for 40 minutes. South Carolina State shot the ball well in the first half, but we were able to respond with an outstanding defensive effort in the second half.”

Freshman Deywilk Tavarez the MEAC Rookie of the Year, netted 23 of his 29 points in the second half with senior Martaz Robinson adding 22. The two players shot a combined 27-for-30 from the foul line.

Tavarez also had five steals while Robinson pulled down 12 rebounds. Alston Andrews added 10 points.

“The biggest thing was defense for us,” Tavarez said in the press release. “Defense wasn’t my main priority during the season, but I knew coming into the tournament, you don’t know if you’ll see another day. You don’t want your season to be over. So, my defense was something I knew I had to pick up.

"It starts with me as the point guard. Once I picked it up, the whole team picked it from the bench to the crowd.”

The Hornets led only 47-43 before a 9-0 run left them up 56-43 with 3:23 on the clock.

Delaware State shot 50 percent from the floor (11-of-22) in the second half and were 20-of-28 from the foul line in tallying 44 points..The Bulldogs shot just 4-for-21 over the last 20 minutes.

The Hornets lost both their regular-season meetings with South Carolina State but one setback came by just two points on a shot at the buzzer.

The last time DelState was in the MEAC semifinals was in 2015.

“We’re happy with the win, but not excited and thinking that’s it over,” Waterman was quoted. “We are looking forward to the opportunity that we have in front of us. (Being in the semifinals) is huge for our program.

"We are excited about the energy and momentum that we’ve had. It felt like a home game for us once we got it going. We want to continue to build.”

WOMEN, Drexel 57, Delaware 55: For the third time this season, the Dragons made all the big plays down the stretch to hand the Blue Hens another crushing loss.

A 9-0 run by seventh-seeded Drexel erased a 53-48 Delaware in the final three minutes of the CAA Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.

The Hens, who finish the season 11-20, lost three games to the Dragons by a combined margin of just eight points.

A jumper by Amaris Baker (19 points) with only 18 seconds remaining gave Drexel the lead for good at 55-53.

Rebecca Demeke (11), Andre’a Cherisier (10) and Sydney Boone (10) all scored in double figures for Delaware. Chloe Wilson and Darrion Howard had 11 rebounds apiece.

North Carolina Central 66, Delaware State 56: The No. 3 Eagles out-scored the sixth-seeded Hornets, 24-10, in the fourth quarter to rally for the MEAC quarterfinal victory on Thursday.

DelState, which ends the season with a record of 8-20, held a 46-42 advantage after three quarters.

Savannah Brooks and Denijsha Wilson both netted 16 points for the Hornets with Deyonce Thompson adding 11. The contest was tied 30-30 at halftime.
DSU made only 3-of-13 shots from the floor in the fourth quarter. N.C. Central (16-14) was 8-of-14.

The Hornets split two meetings with the Eagles during the regular season.