Oziyah Sellers scored seven of his 15 points in the last three minutes to lead Stanford to a 70-63 victory over visiting Norfolk State on Wednesday night.
Sellers, a transfer from Southern California, sank a 3-pointer to give the Cardinal a 63-58 lead with 2:34 to go. He subsequently made four consecutive free throws, and Stanford went up 67-60 with 35 seconds left.
After Norfolk State’s Sin’Cere McMahon made a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining, the Cardinal’s Jaylen Blakes made two free throws to help seal the win.
Stanford is 5-0 for the first time since starting 7-0 in the 2019-20 season.
Blakes made 10 of 12 free-throw attempts and tied his career high with 18 points. Maxime Raynaud led the Cardinal with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Norfolk State (4-2) got 24 points from Brian Moore Jr., 17 from Christian Ings and 10 from Jalen Myers.
Stanford scored 14 unanswered points to take a 14-2 lead five minutes into the game and never trailed thereafter.
Blakes, a graduate transfer from Duke, scored the first seven points of that run.
A 3-pointer by Ryan Agarwal gave Stanford a 30-15 lead, its largest of the game, with 8:25 left in the first half.
Stanford went more than seven minutes without making a field goal, which allowed Norfolk State to cut the gap to 35-31 with 1:28 left in the half.
The Cardinal missed eight consecutive shots from the field in that stretch.
Stanford led 38-33 at halftime behind Raynaud’s 12 points and six rebounds.
The Cardinal again had a field-goal drought in the first five minutes of the second half, allowing Norfolk State to go on a 9-1 run and take a 42-40 lead with 14:54 left.
Sellers snapped Stanford’s 0-for-6 start from the field in the second half by making a jumper with 14:32 left.
The basket ignited a 9-2 run that enabled the Cardinal to take a 49-44 lead with 8:52 remaining.
Moore scored 10 straight points for Norfolk State to help cut the deficit to 60-58 with 2:50 left.
Sellers made a 3-pointer on Stanford’s ensuing possession.
–Field Level Media
