NORFOLK, Va. (AP) Patrick Cole scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, Dajuan Graf added 17 points, and North Carolina Central beat Norfolk State 67-59 on Saturday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game for the Eagles' second NCAA Tournament spot in four years.

"We had won by large margins in the previous two games, so when Norfolk came out and hit us early, it woke us up," said Cole, the MEAC player of the year and tournament MVP.

After a back-and-forth first half, NCCU used a 19-0 run in the second half to pull away as the Spartans missed 14 straight shots and committed five turnovers during an 11-minute stretch. Bryan Gellineau hit a foul-line jumper with 3:20 left to finally end the drought at 62-48 with 3:29 to go.