Hampton Pirates Remain Unbeaten in MEAC after Beating N.C. A&T Aggies

GREENSBORO, North Carolina – The Hampton University men's basketball is still undefeated in MEAC play after Saturday afternoon's 79-62 win over North Carolina A&T at the Corbett Sports Center.

The Pirates, winners of four straight, are now 9-7 overall and 5-0 in the MEAC.

Reginald Johnson, Jr. led three Pirates in double figures with 29 points, going 11-for-20 from the floor and hitting six 3-pointers. He also dished out a team- and career-high seven assists and grabbed a team-high (and career high-tying) nine rebounds. Brian Darden chipped in 17 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

Quinton Chievous added 10 points and six boards, going 4-for-7 from the floor.

The Pirates shot 46.6 percent (27-for-58) from the floor – including a 53.3 percent clip (16-for-30) in the second half – hitting 14 of their 34 3-pointers (41.2 percent) and out-rebounding the Aggies 41-36.

Hampton scored 20 points off of 10 Aggie turnovers, and the Pirates also had the edge in second-chance points (11-8), bench points (18-11), and fastbreak points (12-8).

The Aggies held an early 5-3 lead, but the Pirates responded by scoring 11 of the next 15 points, going up 14-9 at the 14:32 mark of the first half when Darden hit a trey. The Aggies fought back to within one, cutting the lead to 14-13 on a Denzel Keyes layup, but a 5-0 Hampton spurt gave the Pirates a 19-13 lead after a pair of Kalin Fisher free throws.

Keyes cut the lead to one again, 24-23 at the 4:42 mark with a fastbreak dunk, but the Pirates went on an 11-2 run to take a 35-25 lead with 45 seconds left in the half on a fastbreak layup from Charles Wilson-Fisher.

The Pirates held a 35-26 lead after the first 20 minutes, with Darden scoring 12 points in the opening frame.

The Aggies opened the second half on a 9-3 run to cut Hampton's lead to 38-35 with 13:22 left to play. A jumper from Ahmad Abdullah at the 11:38 mark cut the lead to 40-38.

But the Pirates responded with a 16-2 run, taking a 56-40 lead with 8:23 left to play after a fastbreak layup from Johnson. Hampton led by double figures for the rest of the game, at one point taking a 77-57 lead after a trey from Fisher with 2:07 remaining.

That basket capped off a 13-6 Hampton run.

The Aggies (5-14, 2-3 MEAC) shot just 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the floor – including a 27.6 percent clip (8-for-29) in the first half. They went just 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) from behind the arc.

Sam Hunt led the Aggies with 16 points.

The Pirates will be in Durham, N.C. on Monday to take on North Carolina Central at 9 p.m. on ESPNU. 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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