Worcester, Mass. – Trailing 46-44 with 7:58 remaining, the Pirates of Hampton University went scoreless for the next four minutes, allowing Holy Cross to build a 10-point lead and eventually walk away with a 62-47 win Wednesday night at the Hart Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.  Hampton was hoping to pull off the victory for coach Kevin Nickelberry who spent three seasons as an assistant at Holy Cross, but the Pirates’ 20 turnovers and woeful 27% (13-of-49) shooting effort were too much to overcome.

 

Behind 30-24 at the half, the Pirates used back-to-back three-pointers by Kevin Clark and Rashad West to take their first lead of the game, 32-30 with just under 17 minutes to play.  For the next 10 minutes the game was a see-saw battle as neither team led by more than five points.

 

Junior Pehoua (16 points) knocked down two free throws with 7:58 to play to bring the Pirates to within two (46-44), but Hampton missed it’s next four shots and turned the ball over twice as the Crusaders slowly added to their lead.

 

Holy Cross went on an 8-0 run behind a jumper from Colin Cunninham and five points from Alex Vander Baan, three coming from the free throw line.  By the time Hampton walk-on Kevin Sumner’s layup went through the hoop with 3:35 on the clock, the Pirates were staring at a 54-46 deficit which was increased by two on Keith Simmons’ basket. 

 

The Crusaders added several free throws down the stretch to provide the final 62-47 margin.

 

Holy Cross’ Keith Simmons led all scorers with 19 points and six rebounds and Torey Thomas added 10 points for the Crusaders who improved to 2-0.

 

The Pirates (1-2) were once again forced to play without several key players who are injured, including their leading scorer freshman Mike Freeman who came in averaging 18.5 points per game.  Coach Kevin Nickelberry was limited to seven scholarship players and the four Pirate walk-ons combined to play a total of 29 minutes.

 

Hampton returns to the court on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. when they host Maryland-Baltimore County in the Pirates home opener at the HU Convocation Center.