HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive 56-42 victory over the visiting Hawks of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at the Convocation Center on Monday in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) men’s basketball action.

 

The Pirates, who led at halftime by the score of 30-23, increased their season record to 11-12 overall and 5-5 in the MEAC.

 

“Sometime you have to slow things down for the kids, because you have to remember that they’re 18-or 19-year-old kids,” said Pirates head coach Kevin Nickelberry. “It was good for the guys to hear members of the administration talk to them before the game and give them words of encouragement.  Also, I told the players that tonight I wanted to step aside and just let them play.”

 

The Pirates responded well, never giving their fans any reason to doubt the final outcome.

 

After spotting UMES a 2-0 lead, the Pirates went on to lead by as many as eight points in the opening frame, that cushion coming on a Jordan Brooks layup at the 11:04 mark that put Hampton ahead 17-9.  From there, however, the Hawks clawed their way back into the contest, taking a 21-20 lead on a pair of Marc Davis free throw with 6:28 left before the break.  Eleven seconds later, Vinnie Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) connected on a 3-pointer that put the Pirates ahead 23-21.

 

The Pirates wouldn’t look back after that.

 

In the second half, the Pirates quickly escalated their lead, going up by 11 at 36-25 with 17:42 to play on a Simpson 3-pointer. That margin increased to 15 eight minutes later at 45 30, following a trey from Chris Tolson.

 

The Pirates’ largest lead of the game was a 17-point margin at 52-35 on Simpson’s fourth 3-pointer of the night with 6:26 to play.

 

The closest UMES could get after that was 14 points at the end of the contest.

 

Simpson was unquestionably the star of the game, scoring a game-high 16 points for the Pirates and connecting on 4-of-8 shots from 3-point range. Brandon Tunnel (Wilmington, Del.) added eight points, while Kwame Morgan (Largo, Md.) led all rebounders with 10.

 

UMES was paced by Neal Pitt, who scored 12 points, and Josh Bright, who netted 10 points to go along with seven rebounds.

 

Perhaps the most telling statistic of the game was the rebounding margin between the two teams.  The Pirates out-rebounded UMES 44-29.

 

Following a four-game home stand, the Pirates will take to the road again this weekend to face South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C. on Saturday and Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Monday.

 

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.