The win snapped a two-game skid for the Pirates (9-10, 4-2 MEAC).
Senior forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.) led three Pirates in double figures with 21 points on 9-for-18 shooting, and he fell one rebound shy of his third double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) added 17 points.
Sophomore guard Breon Key (Hampton, Va.) came off the bench to score a season-high 14 points.
A Jyles Smith dunk with 5:12 left in the game cut the Pirates' lead to 66-60, but Hampton withstood the pressure with a 6-1 run that ended with a dunk from Maxwell to put the Pirates up 72-61 with 2:15 left to play.
Key added a free throw with 1:38 left to give Hampton a 74-63 lead.
Savannah State answered with an 8-2 run, cutting the Pirates' lead to 76-71 with 38 seconds left after a clutch 3-pointer from Jeremiah Hill. But the Pirates hit all four of their free throws down the stretch – all from Key, who went 8-for-11 from the charity stripe – to ice their second MEAC road win.
The Pirates led for most of the game, despite being tied 2-2 early – mostly because Hampton answered that with a 7-0 run to take a 9-2 lead with 16:56 left in the first half after a layup from sophomore guard Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga.).
Darden added a 3-pointer at the 14:57 mark to put Hampton up 15-4.
Savannah State scored 10 of the next 13 points, cutting Hampton's lead to 18-14 with 11:44 left in the half following a jumper from Patrick Hedley. The Pirates scored the next seven points after that, taking a 25-14 lead at the 8:33 mark after a Maxwell jumper.
Sophomore guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) hit two free throws at the 4:58 mark to give the Pirates their largest lead of the half, 33-21, before Savannah State went on a 13-1 run to tie the game at 34-34 on a Deven Williams free throw with 17 seconds left.
A Maxwell layup 15 seconds later sent the Pirates into the intermission with a 36-34 lead.
Savannah State opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take a 42-38 lead with 17:24 left, before the Pirates answered with a 10-0 run, taking a 48-42 lead with 15:01 remaining after a jumper from Maxwell.
After the Tigers cut the lead to 48-45, the Pirates scored the next seven points to take a 55-45 lead after a free throw from junior center Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) with 11:35 left to play. Sophomore guard Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) added a trey with 9:24 left to put Hampton up 58-48.
The Tigers scored the next five points, cutting the lead to 58-53 with 8:48 left, but another 10-0 Hampton run put the Pirates up 63-53 with 8:00 left after Key hit a pair of free throws. Alante Fenner hit a layup with 7:28 left to cut that lead to 63-58, but the Tigers never sustained a long run to catch the Pirates.
The Pirates shot 40.0 percent (24-for-60) from the floor and hit four of their 13 3-pointers (30.8 percent). On top of out-rebounding the Tigers 47-42, Hampton also hit 28 of 44 free throws (63.6 percent) and turned 19 Savannah State turnovers into 15 points.
Savannah State (7-13, 5-1 MEAC) shot 40.9 percent (27-for-66) from the floor, but the Tigers only went 6-for-22 (27.3 percent) from behind the arc and 11-for-20 (55.0 percent) from the free throw line.
Hill led four Tigers in double figures with 15 points.
The Pirates will be in Orangeburg, S.C. on Monday, when they take on South Carolina State at 7:30 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.
COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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