ATLANTA – The Pirates of Hampton University advanced to 4-3 on the season, while the Panthers of Georgia State fell to 2-5 on the year after Hampton pulled off a 62-53 road victory Wednesday night.

 

Hampton’s defense was able to hold off the Panthers late in the second half to claim another tough win on the road in hostile environment. The Pirates’ win over Georgia State is Hampton’s second win of the season over a team from the Colonial Athletic Association.

 

“The guys came out and followed the game plan that the coaches laid out for them and they shot the ball well and held Georgia State under 60 points, which was a goal coming into the game tonight,” said Pirates head coach Kevin Nickelberry.  

 

In the first half the Pirates defense held the Panthers to just 16 total points. Hampton’s defense held Georgia State to 26.9 percent shooting in the first half, making only 7-of-26 shots taken from the floor. The Pirates only shot 36.8 percent from the floor, as they made 7-of-19 shots that were taken. Hampton was led by sophomore Brandon Tunnell (Wilmington, Del.) in the first half, as he had seven total points. Leading the Panthers was Trea Goldston who scored seven points on 3-of-6 shooting in the half.

 

Hampton scored 41 points in the second half on 10-of-18 shooting to shoot 55.6 percent from the floor, while holding the Panthers to 13-of-32 shooting for only 40 percent in the second from the floor. The Pirates were led by freshman Kwame Morgan (Largo, Md.) with eight points in the second half of play. Hampton never lost the lead in the second half, but the Panthers would get as close as a point early in the second half and would cut the lead to two points on four different occasions before the Pirates went on to win by nine points.

 

Hampton finished the night with three players in double-figure scoring, led by Tunnell’s 14 points, then junior guard Vincent Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) with 13 and closed out by Morgan with 12 points on the night. The Pirates shot 45.9 percent from the floor on the night and 50 percent from beyond the three point arc. A change for the Pirates was the fact that they shot 69.7 percent from the charity stripe on the night.

 

In the way of keeping every game the same, Hampton scored 45 points off the bench.

 

“Every night I am amazed by the number of points that we scored off the bench,” said Nickelberry. “Our three top scores came off the bench tonight and sometimes players play better coming off the bench, but that shows the drive that the team has to get better each night.”

 

The Panthers closed out the night shooting 34.5 percent from the floor and only 26.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Georgia State was led by Joe Dukes, who finished with a game-high 19 points and he was assisted by Goldston who finished the night with 17 points.

 

“We wanted them to make tough two’s and hold them outside the perimeter but we allowed them to score too many points in the second half,” said Nickelberry.

 

The Pirates will be off until Saturday, when they travel to the Big Apple to take on the Bison of Howard University in the 2008 Big Apple Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Game time is set to tip-off at 7:30 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.