Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Hampton Pirates Win Crazy, High Scoring Affair at UMES

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – In a contest that was best described as crazy at times Monday evening, the Hampton University men's basketball team raced past Maryland Eastern Shore for a 104-89 win in the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.

The Pirates (16-11, 11-3 MEAC) have won five straight games and wound up 7-1 in road MEAC games this season. Hampton eclipsed the 100-point mark for the second time this season. The Pirates also scored 100 points on Dec. 29 when they defeated Winthrop 101-95 in double overtime.

Sophomore guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) led five Pirates in double figures with 20 points.

Senior forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.) recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) poured in 14 points, thanks to four 3-pointers.

Sophomore forward Jervon Pressley (Charlotte, N.C.) and sophomore guard Breon Key (Hampton, Va.) each added 12 points. Pressley also had a team-high 12 rebounds.

Maxwell also had a team-high seven assists and two blocks.

In a game that featured nine technical fouls (five on UMES), the Pirates maintained control throughout much of the second half, despite UMES holding a 54-49 lead with 16:36 left. Hampton answered with a 7-0 run to take a 56-54 lead at the 15:33 mark after a fastbreak layup from Key.

Sophomore guard Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga.) added two free throws with 10:10 left to give the Pirates a 65-57 lead. Some of the oddities began at the 8:31 mark, when Kyree Jones was assessed a technical foul and ejected.

Double technical fouls were called at the 8:18 mark, and for the rest of the game, it seemed as if technical fouls were being handed out like candy.

Once things began to calm briefly, Maxwell added a pair of his own free throws at the 7:33 mark to give the Pirates a 75-61 lead, and Pressley slammed home a monster dunk with 6:51 left to give Hampton a 79-66 lead.

Devon Walker cut Hampton's lead to 83-75 with 4:19 left in the contest with a pair of free throws, and a Troy Snyder tip-in with 2:59 left cut the lead to 87-79. But the Pirates answered with another Pressley dunk, and he added a free throw for a 3-point play, giving Hampton a 90-79 lead with 2:50 remaining.

Maxwell dunked on his own with 1:32 left, putting Hampton up 94-79, but he was called for his second technical of the evening and ejected. Walker hit both free throws to cut the lead to 94-81.

Sophomore guard Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) gave the Pirates a 96-83 lead with a layup with 1:23 left, before back-to-back baskets from UMES cut that lead to 96-87 with 54 seconds left. Key stopped the momentum with a pair of free throws, and he added two more with 33 seconds left to give Hampton a 100-89 lead.

Meikle added a dunk two seconds later, before sophomore guard Miles Jackson (Silver Spring, Md.) hit two free throws with six seconds left to clinch the win.

The Pirates led 44-42 at halftime.

The Pirates shot 50.0 percent (33-for-66) from the floor and hit six of 15 3-pointers (40.0 percent). Hampton also went 32-for-43 from the free throw line, clocking in at 74.4 percent. Hampton also held a 45-30 edge in rebounding.

UMES (4-22, 2-11 MEAC) shot 43.8 percent (28-for-64) from the floor. Snyder led four Hawks in double figures with 23 points.

The Pirates will return to the HU Convocation Center on Saturday to take on rival Norfolk State at 6 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 ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

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