Box Score

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Darrion Pellum scored a career-high 33 points as he led the Hampton University men's basketball team to a 70-64 win over the Panthers of High Point University at the Millis Center on Sunday.

 

With the win, the Pirates made it five wins in a row as they improved 5-1 on the season, while the Panthers dropped to 2-3.

 

Hampton was led by Pellum with 15 points and Mike Tuitt with 10 points in the first half and was able to head in the half with a 41-33 lead. Hampton made 16 of 31 shots taken in the first half to shoot an impressive 51 percent from the floor. The Pirates were also 71 percent from the charity stripe in the first half.

 

Down by eight points, High Point went on a 16-5 run to get within one at 56-55 when the Panthers' Xavier Martin made a shot with 7:12 left in the game. That would be the closest the Panthers would get, as Hampton would go on a 8-0 run to go back up by eight with 4:06 left to play.  

 

“Basketball is a game of runs and High Point has a really good team,” Pirates coach Ed Joyner said. “We knew that they were going to make a few runs, but we had to make some of our own to stay in the game.” 

 

In the end, the game came down to free throw shooting; the Pirates were 23 of 31 from the charity stripe, while High Point made just 14 of 18 free throws. Pellum went 19-for-23 from the free throw line.

 

“Free throws are a very important part of basketball, and good teams make their free throws,” Joyner said. “We were 73 percent from the free throw line and I will take that from this team.”

 

Hampton made just 19 of 50 shots (38 percent), but was able to out-rebound the Panthers 38-31. The Pirates defense held High Point to just 38 percent shooting and forced 12 turnovers – scoring 16 points off of them.

 

Hampton scored 22 points in the paint and 16 points off the bench. Pellum led all Pirates in scoring with a career-high 33 points; also scoring in double figures for Hampton were Tuitt, who finished with 13, and Kwame Morgan, who scored 11 points in the victory.

 

Pellum, Morgan and Danny Agbelese each had a team-high seven rebounds for the Pirates.

 

The Pirates will hold their home opener against the Panthers of Georgia State University on Tuesday at the HU Convocation Center. Tip-off will be 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.