Darius Johnson-Odom scored 20 points for Marquette in a thrilling 59-57 victory over upset-minded Norfolk State in the championship game of the Paradise Jam Tournament on Monday.

Jae Crowder added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (5-0), who defeated the Spartans (3-2) for the second time in a week.

Marquette, which had won its first four games by an average of 34.3 points, routed Norfolk State by 31 points at home on Nov. 14 but received a far better effort from the Spartans this time around.

The contest followed much the same script as last week’s game as the Spartans’ star player, 6-foot-10 center Kyle O’Quinn, was forced to the bench after two early fouls.

With O’Quinn spending much of the first half on the bench, Marquette appeared well on its way to another laugher after jumping out to a 22-8 advantage midway through the first half and leading by as many as 16 points on two separate occasions.

However, the Spartans turned to a matchup-zone defense to cool off the Golden Eagles and make an unlikely comeback, eventually tying the game twice, the last coming on a 3-pointer by Pendarvis Williams to knot the game at 57-57 with 2:09 remaining.

Marquette answered with a dunk by Crowder off a steal from Vander Blue, but failed to stretch the lead when Johnson-Odom missed the front end of a 1-and-1.

Norfolk State had two opportunities to tie or win the game with 28 seconds left, but both shots went awry in the final seconds.

O’Quinn paced the Spartans with 10 points and 13 rebounds for his fourth consecutive double-double.