NORFOLK, Virginia -- After coming out flat to start the second half, Hampton University spent the remainder of Saturday’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship game playing from behind. The Pirates eventually caught up, and the score was tied at the 3-minute mark.
You’d think that would be the underdog’s cue to play its role. Instead, sixth-seeded North Carolina Central countered with 11 consecutive points and pulled away for a 71-63 win at Scope Arena.
The Eagles (19-15) won their second consecutive championship, although last year’s was as the No. 1 seed. Hampton (19-15) took home the runner-up trophy in its MEAC exit and will await word Sunday night on its National Invitation Tournament opponent.
“Everybody remembers your first, and everybody remembers your last,” said HU coach Buck Joyner, who was going for his third title in four years. “This was our last time in the MEAC, and we wanted to go out the right way. We didn’t go out with the goal we wanted, and that’s tough.”
So was how it happened. After finally digging out, Hampton tied the game at 58 on Kalin Fisher’s 3-pointer with 4:24 remaining. The Pirates wouldn’t score again for more than four minutes.
Central’s Raasean Davis, all 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds of him, backed Charles Wilson-Fisher in to put the Eagles ahead 60-58. Fisher missed a 3 on the other end, and Pablo Rivas went 2 of 2 from the free-throw line to make it a four-point game.
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