Nansemond-Suffolk Academy boys’ basketball team grabbed a conference win Friday night.

The Saints are coming off of back-to-back games Thursday night and Friday night. Prior to that, the Saints had not played a game since Dec. 19. They fell to Christ Chapel Academy by three points on Thursday but were able turn it around against Steward School and grab a 51-43 win.

“I think we have had flashes of being a real good team, but sometimes we haven’t been able to follow it up in the second half,” Saints coach Larry Ward said. “This team is starting to get a little bit better each and every day and every week.”

Jaden Freeman led the Saints with 20 points. George Pettaway returned from injury and added 13 points to go along with 12 assists.

As long as the Saints can make shots and limit their turnovers, Ward believes his team will be sticking around in a lot of games. The defensive end is where the Saints strive, but getting their offensive output on par with their defensive output will be something Ward and the Saints are striving toward.

Against Steward School, Ward liked how NSA made them work. They were scoring the ball well in the first half but in the second half struggled a bit and turned the ball over more. These past two games should have helped NSA knock off whatever rust they had from the winter storm.

NSA will play Norfolk Collegiate on the road at 7 p.m. Tuesday. For NSA to be in contention, they have to win their conference games.

“This is a solid conference,” Ward said. “We have to be able to compete with those big guys. Our guys aren’t scared of competition at all. A key to us being successful is knocking down shots. We are getting good looks, but we aren’t knocking as many as we can down yet.”

NSA 51, Steward School 43

NSA—Freeman 20, Pettaway 13, White 7, Spencer 5, Eberwine 3, Salmon 3

SS—Rosenthal 12, Reid 10, Lacy 8, Fabiato 5, Watkins 3, Buccall 3, Hayes 2