Box Score

HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team lost 63-52 to the Rams of Virginia Commonwealth Monday night at the HU Convocation Center.

Hampton (0-3) would get as close as four points in the second half, when Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.) scored on a layup with 19:34 left to play to cut the Rams' lead to 29-25 and cap off a 6-0 Hampton run. The Rams responded with a 7-0 run of their own to pull ahead 36-25 on a dunk from Bradford Burgess with 16:12 to play. A stick-back from Larry Sanders with 13:20 extended VCU's run to 12-2 – giving them a 41-27 lead.

Hampton would cut VCU's lead to five, 48-43, on a layup from Michael Freeman (Alexandria, Va.) with 6:16 to play, but the Rams again had an answer, as they did all night, on a Burgess 3-pointer.

Freeman led the Pirates with 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting; nine of those points came in the second half. Vincent Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) was the only other Pirate in double figures, pouring in 10 points. Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) led Hampton with nine rebounds.

Both teams had low shooting percentages; VCU shot just 26 percent (20-for-55), while the Pirates went 22-for-62 (35 percent) from the floor. The Rams held a 46-40 edge in rebounds, and shot 25 percent (6-for-24) from 3-point range. Hampton did force VCU into 15 turnovers, but the Pirates could only convert them into 12 points.

The Rams never trailed.

Burgess led five Rams in double figures with 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Larry Sanders and Joey Rodriguez each added 13 points for VCU, and T.J. Gwynn added 12.

The Rams (3-1) closed out the first half on a 6-2 run to go up 28-19 at the intermission, utilizing their pressing defense and rebounding advantage from the opening tip. VCU had 25 rebounds in the first half to Hampton's 21, including eight boards on the offensive end. The Rams shot 8-for-27 (29.6 percent) from the field, while also hitting 10 of 14 free throws.

The Pirates shot 27.6 percent (8-for-29) from the floor in the first half, though they only went 3-for-11 from the free throw line. Pellum and Freeman led the Pirates with four points each in the first half, while Gywnn led the Rams with nine points.

Both teams turned the ball over nine times in the opening 20 minutes, though neither team could take advantage; both teams managed just four points off turnovers in the first half.

The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they head up I-64 to take on William & Mary at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Va. at 7 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.