Box Score

NEW YORK – A dunk from Paul Kirkpatrick with five seconds to play helped Howard push past the Hampton University men's basketball team 56-54 Saturday night at Madison Square Garden to close out the 2009 Big Apple Classic.

Howard picked up its first win of the season, going to 1-8 with a 1-0 mark in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play.

The Pirates held a 54-51 lead with 36 seconds to play after Adam Walker hit a jumper for the Bison, but Vincent Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) tied the game with 16 seconds left with a 3-pointer. Kirkpatrick's dunk came 11 seconds later, and Simpson let a 3-pointer fly with two seconds remaining, but the shot fell short.

There were four ties in the second half alone, with Hampton and Howard switching the lead back and forth a combined seven times in the period. The Bison never led by more than six in the second half, when Kirkpatrick gave Howard a 52-46 lead with 2:06 to play on a jumper.

Hampton (2-7, 0-1 MEAC) led by no more than three in the second half, going up 30-27 with 14:42 remaining on a Simpson jumper. Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) led the Pirates with 14 points on 4-for-10 shooting and a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line, while Simpson had 10 points.

Charles Funches (Bayonne, N.J.) led Hampton with eight rebounds.

Kirkpatrick led the Bison with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Calvin Thompson added 11 points.

The Pirates shot 44.7 percent (21-for-47) from the floor, while also going 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) from behind the arc. Howard shot 32.7 percent (18-for-55) from the floor, but the Bison did hold a 42-31 advantage on the boards.

Both teams turned the ball over 20 times, each squad scoring 16 points off those miscues.

Howard opened the game on an 11-2 run, before the Pirates responded with eight unanswered points to close within 11-10 on a layup from Christopher Tolson (Laurel, Md.) with 12:43 left in the half. Hampton took its first lead of the game with 7:16 left in the first half, when Koron Reed (Philadelphia, Pa.) sank a layup to put the Pirates up 16-14; that basket led to a 7-0 run, culminating in a 3-pointer by Pellum with 5:06 left.

Howard closed the half on an 8-2 run, and Hampton held a 23-22 lead at intermission. Pellum scored nine points in the first 20 minutes, as did Thompson for Howard.

The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Newark, Del. to take on the University of Delaware 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.