WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team fell in the semifinal round of the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament to Bethune-Cookman 81-72 Friday night at the Joel Memorial Coliseum.

The No. 8 seed Pirates end the season 12-21 overall, while No. 4 seed Bethune-Cookman (18-16) advances to Saturday's championship game, where the Wildcats will face either No. 2 Norfolk State or No. 11 Florida A&M.

Senior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) led the Pirates with 24 points on 8-for-17 shooting. He ends his career with 1,584 points, 10th most in program history.

Senior guard Christopher Tolson (Laurel, Md.) added 16 points (thanks largely to an 8-for-8 effort from the free throw line), while senior guard Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.) chipped in 11 points to go along with a team-high five rebounds.

Senior forward Danny Agbelese (Lanham, Md.) also had five rebounds to go along with six points and three blocks.

The Pirates jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead after an Agbelese layup at the 18:09 mark, but the Wildcats answered with a 5-0 run to claw to within 7-5 at the 15:01 mark after an Adrien Coleman layup. Hampton scored five straight to take a 12-5 lead on a 3-pointer from junior guard Jasper Williams (Washington, D.C.) with 14:16 left in the half.

Hampton led 20-9 with 11:10 left in the half after another Williams trey, but the Wildcats went on a 24-7 run to take a 33-27 lead at the 3:38 mark following a Ricky Johnson 3-pointer.

The Wildcats went into the half up 39-31.

Bethune-Cookman scored the first four points of the second half, going up 45-31 at the 17:54 mark after a pair of Javoris Bryant free throws.  Kevin Dukes gave the Wildcats their largest lead of the game at the 12:11 mark with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 55-38.

Slowly, the Pirates clawed their way back; when Tolson hit three free throws with 2:01 to play, he cut the Wildcats' lead to 70-65. But on the following possession, after Agbelese recorded a block, the ball kicked out to an open Paul Scotland on the wing, and he hit the trey with 1:11 left to put Bethune-Cookman back up 73-65.

From that point on, the Pirates would get no closer than to within six.

The Pirates shot 53.3 percent (24-for-45) from the floor and hit four of their 13 3-pointers, as well as 20 of their 27 free throws. Hampton shot 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the floor in the second half alone, holding a 32-30 edge in points in the paint and a 23-22 edge in points off turnovers.

The Wildcats shot 49.0 percent (25-for-51) from the floor and hit eight of their 16 3-pointers. Bethune-Cookman also out-rebounded the Pirates 33-22, holding a 15-8 edge in second-chance points and a 17-8 advantage on the offensive glass.

Six Wildcats ended the night in double figures, led by 16 points from Coleman and 15 from Bryant.

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.