WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hampton University men's and women's basketball teams will close out the 2008-09 regular season on Thursday, when they travel to the nation's capital to take on the Bison of Howard University.

After losing 81-72 in overtime to North Carolina A&T on Monday, the Lady Pirates (13-14, 9-6 MEAC) sit in a tie for fourth with Morgan State and Maryland-Eastern Shore. Hampton holds the tiebreaker over UMES, but Morgan State swept the season series with the Lady Pirates. Howard (7-21, 6-9 MEAC) is tied for seventh with Florida A&M.

The Lady Bison beat Norfolk State 72-54 on Monday to break a two-game losing streak.

The Pirates (14-15, 7-8 MEAC) are coming of a 59-58 win over North Carolina A&T on Monday and sit in seventh in the conference. Howard (8-18, 6-9 MEAC) sits in eighth after falling 85-71 to Norfolk State on Monday. The Bison have lost five of their last six games.

This will be the 28th meeting between these two teams since the 1995-96 season, when the Pirates made the transition to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). The Pirates lead the series 23-4, winning 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams, including a 45-39 victory at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 6 in the 2008 Big Apple Classic.

Senior guard Eugene Myatt leads the Bison in scoring this season, averaging 16.3 points a game and 19.1 points a contest in MEAC play. Sophomore guard Kyle Riley is averaging 12.7 points a game in conference play (9.1 ppg overall), though Myatt is the only player averaging in double figures for the season. Sophomore forward Adam Walker leads the team in rebounding, pulling down 5.3 boards a contest.

Howard is averaging 61.9 points a game on offense, while giving up 65.5 points a night on defense. Opponents are outrebounding the Bison by an average of 32.3-31.1 a game.

The 2009 MEAC basketball tournament will be held March 9-14 in Winston-Salem, N.C. For more information on the tournament, visit www.meachoops.com, and 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.