Game Notes

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will take on top seed Savannah State in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Joel Memorial Coliseum.

The Pirates (11-20), in their third season under head coach Edward Joyner Jr., beat No. 9 seed Morgan State 69-65 in the first round of the MEAC Tournament on Tuesday. Senior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) led the way with 23 points, thanks to a 16-for-20 effort from the free throw line, while junior guard Jasper Williams (Washington, D.C.) added a career-high 20 points (on five 3-pointers) and senior guard Christopher Tolson (Laurel, Md.) added 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Tigers (21-10) closed out the regular season with their 13th straight win on March 1, beating Maryland Eastern Shore 73-54. Junior guard Deric Rudolph led the way with 21 points, while junior forward Rashad Hassan added 18 points and sophomore forward Jyles Smith pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds.

Savannah State, in its first year in the MEAC, went 12-18 last season as an independent program. The Tigers, under seventh-year head coach Horace Broadnax, return four starters and 11 letterwinners from last year's squad and were picked to finish 11th in the conference out of 13 teams.

Instead, Savannah State won the MEAC regular season title, going 14-2 in conference play. 

Hassan leads the team in scoring with 12.9 points per game, while Rudolph is averaging 11.2 points a contest. Junior forward Arnold Louis is the team's top rebounder, pulling down 7.9 boards a night.

The Tigers are scoring 64.3 points a game, while giving up 58.9 points a contest.

The Pirates are 2-1 all-time against Savannah State, with the Tigers winning the only regular-season meeting 65-49 at the HU Convocation Center on Dec. 1. Hampton won the first meeting in Savannah, Ga. 70-52 on Nov. 21, 2004, before beating the Tigers 100-57 at the HU Convocation Center on Jan. 23, 2006 – the last time the Pirates scored at least 100 points in a game.

Hampton is 198-119 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. 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 4-2 on neutral courts so far this season, having split a pair of games in Cancun, Mexico on Nov. 22-23 (beating SIU-Edwardsville 68-64 and falling 78-71 to Sacred Heart) and defeating arch-rival Howard 71-53 in the Big Apple Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 4. The Pirates also split a pair of games in the Dr. Pepper Classic on Dec. 29-30, falling 42-40 to Utah Valley before beating Longwood 82-79.

For his career as a head coach, Joyner is 14-6 on neutral courts.

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.