Game Notes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will look for its second straight win on Monday, when it takes to the Lawson Center for its final road game of the season to face the Rattlers of Florida A&M at 7:30 p.m.

The Pirates (9-17, 5-8 MEAC) snapped a two-game skid on Saturday with a 71-44 road win over Bethune-Cookman. Four Pirates scored in double figures, led by Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) with 16. The Rattlers (7-19, 4-9 MEAC) needed overtime to beat Howard 72-67 on Saturday for the second win in their last three games.

Since joining the MEAC in 1995, the Pirates are 20-5 against Florida A&M, despite last season's 76-75 double-overtime loss in Tallahassee. Overall, Hampton has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two teams, including all three meetings during the 2004-05 season. Hampton won the first meeting in the 1996-97 season in overtime, 81-79 at the HU Convocation Center. The Pirates won seven straight games against the Rattlers from 1999-2003, and Florida A&M has never won more than three in a row against Hampton.

The Rattlers went 10-21 last season, finishing in a tie for eighth in the MEAC with a 6-10 mark. Florida A&M received one first-place vote in the preseason, predicted before the start of the season to finish eighth in the MEAC.

Senior guard Brandon Bryant leads the Rattlers in scoring with an average of 9.5 points per game, while junior forward Larry Jackson is pouring in 9.3 points per contest while grabbing a team-high 6.2 rebounds per game. Junior guard Christopher Walker and sophomore forward Yannick Crowder are each averaging 6.0 rebounds per game.

The Rattlers are averaging 63.2 points per game on offense, while giving up 73.8 points per game on defense. Florida A&M is being out-rebounded by an average of 34.2-38.6 per game.

The Pirates are 5-9 so far this season in true road games, thanks to victories at Wyoming (Nov. 28, 78-67) and at North Carolina A&T (Jan. 18, 65-55). Ten of Hampton's first 12 games were away from the HU Convocation Center, including a stretch of games from Nov. 25 through Dec. 23. Hampton is also 1-2 on the season in neutral-court games, including a 56-54 loss to Howard in the Big Apple Classic in Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5. So far this season, the Pirates are 3-3 on the road in MEAC games so far this season.

Pirates basketball games can be heard live on WHOV 88.1 FM, with Shemar Woods and Rod Pinkney calling all the action.

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.