Hampton Pirates Pick Up Conference Win Over FAMU

HAMPTON, Virginia  -- The Hampton University men's basketball team picked up its first conference win of the season Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, defeating Florida A&M 72-62.

The Pirates (4-5, 1-0 MEAC) have won back-to-back games.

Sophomore guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) led three Pirates in double figures with 22 points, going 7-for-12 from the floor and dishing out a team-high four assists. Senior forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.) added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Junior center Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) added 10 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

The Rattlers had control early, leading 17-9 at the 10:13 mark after a layup from Muhammad Abdul-Aleem, but the Pirates answered with a 16-6 run to take a 25-23 lead on a jumper from Powers with 3:55 left in the half.

A FAMU free throw cut the lead to 25-24, before the Pirates jumped out to a 32-26 lead with 1:29 left in the half following a 3-point play from Okoroba. Meikle added a jumper with 45 seconds left in the half to put Hampton up 34-28.

The Pirates went into the half with a 36-31 lead.

FAMU scored the first six points of the second half to take a 37-36 lead with 17:44 remaining after a layup from Bobby King, before Hampton answered with a 14-1 run to take a 50-38 lead with 12:05 to play after Maxwell slammed in a one-handed dunk on a breakaway.

Sophomore guard Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga.) hit a 3-pointer with 8:22 to go to give Hampton a 57-41 lead, and Maxwell hit a jumper of his own with 5:42 to play to put the Pirates up 61-45, matching their largest lead of the night.

FAMU went on a 12-4 run to cut the lead to 65-57 with 1:44 left after Trey Kellum sank a layup, before a pair of Powers free throws at the 1:38 mark put the Pirates back up by double digits, 67-57.

Jamie Adams hit a 3-pointer with 1:07 left to cut Hampton's lead to 70-62.

Sophomore guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) and Meikle each added a free throw down the stretch to give the Pirates the final margin of victory.

The Pirates shot 43.3 percent (26-for-60) from the floor and made two of their 13 3-pointers. Hampton out-rebounded FAMU 46-40, and the Pirates turned 21 Rattler turnovers into 22 points. Hampton also outscored FAMU 32-22 in the paint.

FAMU (2-7, 0-2 MEAC) shot 37.3 percent (22-for-59) from the floor and made five of its 15 3-pointers. Lewis led the Rattlers with 19 points, while Adams added 15 points.

The Pirates will return to the HU Convocation Center on Monday to take on Bethune-Cookman at 8 p.m. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

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