WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team defeated No. 10 seed Maryland Eastern Shore 77-55 in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament on Wednesday at the Joel Coliseum.

The No. 2 seed Pirates (22-8) picked up their third straight win and have won 17 of the last 18 games against UMES. Hampton advances to Friday's semifinal, where they will take on either No. 3 Coppin State or No. 6 Norfolk State at 8 p.m.

Junior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) led the Pirates with 23 points on 8-for-18 shooting, while junior guard Kwame Morgan II (Largo, Md.) added 17 points, going 11-for-12 from the free throw line. Junior guard Christopher Tolson (Laurel, Md.) scored 11 points off the bench.

Senior forward Charles Funches (Jersey City, N.J.) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. Pellum, Morgan and sophomore forward Wesley Dunning (Washington, D.C.) each pulled down seven boards.

Dunning also had a career-high five blocks.

The Pirates opened the game on a 6-0 run, punctuated at the 17:24 mark of the first half with a fast-break dunk by Pellum. The Hawks kept it close, cutting Hampton's lead to 18-14 at the 10:53 mark on a Diyaaldin Kelley layup, but the Pirates answered with an 11-2 run to take a 29-16 lead with 7:24 left in the half after junior Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.) hit a free throw.

Tolson hit a pair of free throws at the 5:05 mark to give the Pirates their largest lead of the half, 36-19. Hampton would go on to take a 40-28 lead into the half; Pellum scored 15 points in the opening 20 minutes, while Morgan added 10.

UMES opened the second half on a 9-4 spurt to cut Hampton's lead to 44-37 with 17:18 to play on a layup by Freddy Obame Obame. Pellum sank a fast-break layup with 15:21 to play to cap a 5-0 Pirates run and put them back up 49-37.

Bradshaw immediately answered with a jumper to pull UMES to within 10, 49-39, but the Hawks would never get any closer. The Pirates out-scored UMES 28-16 over the final 15:08.

The Pirates shot 42.1 percent (24-for-57) from the floor and held a 45-43 rebounding edge. Hampton forced UMES into 22 turnovers, converting them into 24 points.

Hampton also outscored the Hawks 32-26 in the paint.

UMES (9-22) shot just 29.7 percent (19-for-64) from the floor and made only two of their 12 3-pointers. Hillary Haley led the Hawks with 17 points, while Dishawn Bradshaw added 10 points.

For more information on the 2011 MEAC Tournament, visit www.MEAChoops.com. 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.