The Pirates (18-11, 13-3 MEAC) have won seven straight games and 10 of their last 11.
Sophomore guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) led the way with 20 points for his third straight 20-point effort, hitting four 3-pointers and going 6-for-10 from the floor. Sophomore guards Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) and Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) each added 13 points.
Senior forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.) had 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds in his final home game.
Maxwell hit a layup with 14:56 left in the first half to put the Pirates up 8-4, before the Aggies scored the next five points to take a 9-8 lead. That was indicative of the entire first half, a back-and-forth affair in which not many shots were missed.
From 13:36 to 12:27, Darden hit back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Aggies kept answering on the other end, so when Darden hit his third trey, it only gave the Pirates a 17-15 lead.
N.C. A&T led 27-24 after a pair of Jeremy Underwood free throws with 7:45 left in the half, but the Pirates went on a 6-2 spurt to take a 30-29 lead with 5:13 left in the half following a free throw from sophomore guard Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga.).
Lamont Middleton gave the Aggies a 32-31 lead with two free throws at the 4:20 mark, before the Pirates scored eight of the next 11 points, taking a 39-35 lead on a dunk from sophomore guard Breon Key (Hampton, Va.) at the 3:00 mark.
A Maxwell dunk with 18 seconds left sent the Pirates into the half with a 45-40 lead.
Darden led all scorers with 11 first-half points.
The Aggies cut the lead to 45-43 to open the second half, before sophomore forward Jervon Pressley (Charlotte, N.C.) scored on a tip-in that kicked off an 11-4 run for the Pirates – and when Brown cleaned up a Key miss with 16:00 left, it gave the Pirates a 56-47 lead.
A trey from senior guard Ramon Mercado (Hollywood, Fla.) with 15:22 left made the run 14-4 and put the Pirates up 59-47.
But the Pirates weren't done making their point; Mercado drove the lane for a one-handed flush at the 11:53 mark to give Hampton a 65-52 lead, then Maxwell did the same thing with 10:24 left to put the Pirates up 67-56.
After Bruce Beckford received two technical fouls and was ejected with 9:57 left to play, Powers hit three of four free throws to give Hampton a 70-56 lead.
Powers added back-to-back 3-pointers to give Hampton a 76-59 lead with 7:51 to play.
Powers' second trey kicked off an 11-0 Pirates run, and Powers hit a jumper with 4:20 left to put Hampton up 84-59 and effectively ice the game; not even a game-ending 12-5 run from N.C. A&T could change the outcome.
The Aggies (9-22, 5-11 MEAC) went from the 11:06 mark of the second half to 3:29 without a field goal.
The Pirates shot 51.9 percent (28-for-54) from the floor and hit 10 of their 20 3-pointers.
N.C. A&T shot 40.4 percent (21-for-52) from the floor and hit seven of 17 3-pointers (41.2 percent) – though the Aggies did outrebound the Pirates 37-33.
Richaud Pack led the Aggies with 14 points.
The Pirates will go into the 2014 MEAC Tournament (Monday through Saturday at the Norfolk Scope) as the No. 2 seed, earning a first-round bye and a quarterfinal match-up on Wednesday 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.
Box Score
COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
No comments:
Post a Comment