HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team fought back in the second half to force overtime Monday night, but Coppin State emerged with a 67-65 win at the HU Convocation Center.

Junior guard Ramon Mercado (Hollywood, Fla.) led the way with a career-high 24 points, while junior guard/forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.) added 15 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore center Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) also had a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

Freshman guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) had a career-high 11 assists.

Mercado got the overtime period started with a 3-pointer in the corner to put the Pirates (5-12, 2-2 MEAC) up 61-58, but Coppin State tied it at 61-61 with 3:47 left on a Patrick Cole 3-pointer. Maxwell hit a layup with 3:24 left to put Hampton back up 63-61.

Andre Armstrong tied the game at 63-63 with free throws, before senior guard Aaron Austin (Newport News, Va.) hit a jumper with under three minutes to play to give Hampton a 65-63 lead.

Cole hit two free throws with 51 seconds left to tie the game at 65-65, then he was fouled on his shot attempt with one second left. He hit both free throws to push the game to its final margin.

The Pirates took a 13-9 lead with 12:39 left in the first half following a pair of free throws from Mercado, then later took a 19-16 lead after Okoroba sank a jumper at the 8:56 mark. But Coppin State took a 27-22 lead with 6:37 left in the half after back-to-back 3-pointers.

An Okoroba layup with 3:13 left in the first half cut Coppin State's lead to 31-30, but the Eagles closed the half on a 7-0 run, taking a 37-30 lead into the locker room after Cole hit a layup with 1:01 left for the last basket of the half.

Coppin State hit five of 12 3-pointers in the first half.

Mercado cut Coppin State's lead to 37-34 with a layup at the 16:27 mark of the second half, but the Eagles answered with a 12-3 run to take a 49-37 lead with 11:27 remaining after a layup from Taariq Cephas.

The Pirates answered with a 7-2 run, closing the gap to 51-44 with 8:38 to play after a stickback from Austin. Maxwell hit a stickback of his own with 7:41 to play to cut Coppin State's lead to 51-46.

Mercado hit two free throws with 6:07 to play, cutting the Eagles' lead to 53-50.

After Coppin State took a 55-50 lead, Maxwell sank a layup with 3:53 to play and made the free throw to cut the Eagles' lead to 55-53. Mercado then drained a trey from the corner with 3:09 to play to put the Pirates up 56-55.

Cole gave the Eagles a 57-56 lead with two free throws with 2:03 to play, and Cephas added a free throw with 23 seconds left to give Coppin State a 58-56 lead. Maxwell answered with 11 seconds left, hitting both of his free throws to tie the game at 58-58 and force the extra session.

The Pirates shot 34.4 percent (21-for-61) from the floor and hit seven of their 31 3-pointers (22.6 percent), while also going 16-for-22 (72.7 percent) from the free throw line.

Coppin State (5-15, 2-3 MEAC) shot 32.9 percent (23-for-70) from the floor and hit seven of its 26 3-pointers (26.9 percent). The Eagles held a 48-42 advantage on the glass, including 18-11 on the offensive end.

Cole led the way with 29 points.

The Pirates will return to action on Saturday, when they cross the James River to face rival Norfolk State at 6 p.m. in Echols Hall. 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.