Lithuanian senior forward Laimonas Chatkevicius scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds to help South Carolina hold off Norfolk State 84-69 in the season opener for both teams Saturday night at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.

Chatkevicius was one of four Gamecocks to reach double figures, with junior guard Duane Notice scoring 14 points, junior guard Sindarius Thornwell adding 14 and freshman forward Chris Silva contributing 12 points and nine boards.

Jeff Short, a junior guard whose 19.1 points per game on 49.8 percent shooting ranked second in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season, struggled to the tune of an 4-for-11 night from the floor and finished with 16 points for Norfolk State.

Spartans redshirt senior guard Charles Oliver led all scorers with a 21-point effort while redshirt junior guard Jonathan Wade added 10.

South Carolina held a 40-34 lead entering halftime, but Norfolk State cut the Gamecocks' advantage to 68-61 in the second half but couldn't bridge the gap.