WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team held off the Bears of Morgan State in the opening round of the MEAC Tournament Tuesday morning at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
 
“It was a great win for the team, and it's always good to play that first game,” said Pirates head coach Edward Joyner Jr.  “Morgan State is a great team, and no matter the record, they always are a tough draw … it's always been us against them in the tournament.”
 
The Pirates (11-20) were led by senior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.), who scored a game-high 23 points, with 16 of those 23 coming from the free throw line. Pellum also grabbed seven rebounds. Junior guard Jasper Williams (Washington, D.C.) also scored in double figures with a career-high 20 points by going 5-for-7 from beyond the 3-point line.
 
Senior guard Christopher Tolson (Laurel, Md.) finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds to record his first double-double of the season. He also had five steals for the Pirates.
 
This year's rematch was as close as last season's MEAC championship game; the game saw 14 ties and 16 lead changes. Hampton held the largest lead, going up by nine points with 39 seconds left in the contest.
 
The Pirates opened the game on a 7-0 run, before Justin Black made two free throws at the 16:34 mark in the first half. The Bears would not get their first field goal until the 15:08 mark, when Blake Bozeman drilled a 3-pointer to tie the game up at 7-7.
 
From that point on, the two teams would go back-and-forth until the Pirates went up by five points, 21-16 following a Williams layup at the 8:27 mark.
 
Hampton headed into the half with a 26-24 lead.
 
Morgan State had just four field goals in the first half, but was an impressive 14-for-20 from the free throw line, which kept the Bears in the game in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The second half would be much of the same until the 2:22 mark, when Williams drilled another 3-pointer to kick off an 11-0 run for the Pirates that gave them a 65-58 lead with 28 seconds left to play.
 
Morgan State battled back, but the Pirates held on for their second straight win over the Bears, and their third in the last four meetings dating back to last season.
 
The Bears (9-20) shot just 28.6 percent (18-for-63) from the floor, but scored 30 points off the bench. Morgan State was led by Aric Brooks, who finished with a team-high 18 points. Black and Kevin Thompson scored 12 points each for the Bears. Thompson also grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds for a double-double.
 
Hampton finished the game making 19 of 46 shots from the floor (41.3 percent), scored 20 points in the paint and finished with 29 points off the bench.
 
The Pirates advance to face MEAC regular-season champion Savannah State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the 2012 MEAC Tournament. 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.