HAMPTON, Virginia -- The Hampton University men's basketball team got back into the win column Friday night, as the Pirates swept the season series with Tennessee State after a 66-54 win at the HU Convocation Center.The Pirates (5-6) have won four of their last five games.
Three Pirates finished the night with a team-high 15 points: junior guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.), guard Quinton Chievous (Chicago, Ill.), and junior guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.). Chievous also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
Powers also had seven assists, while Darden came off the bench to hit three 3-pointers.
Head coach Edward Joyner Jr., in his sixth season, is now four wins away from becoming the program's all-time winningest coach at the Div. I level. He has 87 wins during his tenure.
Hampton shot 34.3 percent (23-for-67) from the floor and hit four of 22 3-pointers (18.2 percent). The Pirates also turned 21 Tennessee State turnovers into 20 points and held a 44-39 advantage on the glass.
Tennessee State led for much of the first half, controlling from the opening tip, and the Tigers held a 24-15 lead with 4:38 left in the half after Christian Crockett hit a jumper. But that marked the last time Tennessee State scored in the half.
Meanwhile, the Pirates kicked off a 14-0 run to close out the half after Chievous hit four straight free throws. Those shots cut the lead to 24-19 with 3:18 left in the half, before Darden added a trey at the 2:20 mark.
Powers tied the game at 24-24 with two free throws with 1:32 left, before senior forward Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) converted an off-balance, reverse layup to put the Pirates up 26-24 with 53 seconds left in the half.
Powers hit a deep 3-pointer with eight seconds left to send Hampton into the half with a 29-24 lead.
A one-handed slam from redshirt junior guard/forward Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) with 18:22 left in the second half put the Pirates up 33-25, but the Tigers answered by scoring the next five points to cut the lead to 33-30 with 16:51 remaining.
Hampton answered with a 10-0 run, taking a 43-30 lead at the 14:48 mark after a Meikle jumper.
Tennessee State scored 19 of the next 29 points, cutting Hampton's lead to 53-49 with 7:52 remaining after Jay Harris hit a pair of free throws. But the Pirates scored the next six points to go up 59-49 after a fastbreak layup from junior guard Reginald Johnson (Chicago, Ill.).
The Pirates held control from them on, never leading by fewer than nine points.
Tennessee State (2-9) shot 34.7 percent (17-for-49) from the floor and hit three of 10 3-pointers, but the Tigers went just 17-for-30 (56.7 percent) from the free throw line.
Harris led the Tigers with 16 points.
The Pirates will play host to Northern Arizona on Sunday at 4 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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Northern Arizona
12/21/2014 - 4 p.m.
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