Game Notes

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will face its first true conference road game on Saturday, when the Pirates take on Coppin State at the Physical Education Complex at 4 p.m.

The Pirates (6-10, 2-1 MEAC), in their third season under head coach Edward Joyner Jr., lost on the road to James Madison 74-67 on Monday, snapping the Pirates' two-game winning streak. Senior guard Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.), the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, led the way with 15 points and five assists, while sophomore center David Bruce (Linden, N.J.) added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Senior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) added 12 points.

The Eagles (7-9, 2-1 MEAC) won for the third time in their last four games on Monday, defeating South Carolina State 82-61 in Orangeburg, S.C. Senior guard Michael Harper led Coppin State with 25 points, while senior forward Logan Wiens added a career-high 23 points and senior forward Akeem Ellis poured in 13 points.

The Eagles went 16-14 last season, finishing tied for second in the MEAC with a record of 11-5 before falling to Norfolk State in the quarterfinals of the MEAC Tournament. Coppin State, under 26th-year head coach Ron “Fang' Mitchell, returns four starters and 10 letterwinners (including seven seniors) from last season, and the Eagles were picked to finish third in the MEAC this season.

Senior guard Tony Gallo leads the Eagles in scoring, averaging 17.4 points a game, while Ellis is the only other Eagle in double figures with 13.9 points per contest – to go along with 5.4 rebounds a night. Senior forward Antonio Williams is the team's top rebounder, pulling down 6.4 boards a contest.

Coppin State is scoring 70.2 points a game, while giving up 74.0 points a night.

Since moving up to Div. I in 1995, the Pirates are 14-13 against Coppin State. Hampton has won the last two meetings, but before that, the Eagles had won four straight against the Pirates. The teams first met on Jan. 11, 1997, with Coppin State winning 76-69; in fact, the Eagles won the first seven in the series, before Hampton won 61-60 on Jan. 8, 2001. Hampton would win nine straight – and 14 out of 16 – against the Eagles. Hampton is 6-6 against Coppin State in Baltimore.

Hampton is 193-110 all-time as a Div. I program (since 1995) against teams currently in the MEAC, including an 11-5 mark in the conference last season. North Carolina Central, in its first year in the MEAC, is the only team currently in the conference that the Pirates have not faced since moving to Div. I.

Hampton is 17-9 against Bethune-Cookman; 14-13 against Coppin State; 17-13 against Delaware State; 17-11 against Florida A&M; 29-5 against Howard; 20-6 against Maryland Eastern Shore; 20-10 against Morgan State; 19-14 against Norfolk State; 21-10 against North Carolina A&T; 2-1 against Savannah State; and 17-17 against South Carolina State.

Since joining the MEAC in 1995, the Pirates have won two regular-season conference titles (2000-01, 2001-02) and four MEAC Tournament crowns (2001, 2002, 2006, 2011).

The Pirates went 8-5 on the road last season, winning three of their last four regular-season road games in 2010-11 – including the last two at Delaware State (71-64) and at Howard (83-72). The Pirates dropped their 2011-12 road opener on Nov. 17, falling 72-51 at Richmond before losing 66-52 at Rutgers on Nov. 20 and 54-53 to Fordham on Dec. 5, 74-72 to American on Dec. 7, 74-65 at Liberty on Dec. 17, 64-54 to Robert Morris on Dec. 20 and 74-67 to James Madison on Monday.

For his career as a head coach, Joyner is 14-21 on the road – 0-7 this season.

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.