ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team overcame a late second-half deficit en route to a 64-60 win over South Carolina State Wednesday night at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

The Pirates (6-13, 3-3 MEAC) snapped their three-game skid and picked up their second road win of the season. SCSU has lost its last 13 games.

Junior guard Ramon Mercado (Hollywood, Fla.) led the Pirates with 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while freshman guard Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) added 13 points. Sophomore center Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds.

South Carolina State led 16-9 at the 13:49 mark of the first half, capping a 10-1 run with a jumper from Matthew Hezekiah. The Pirates answered with an 8-2 run, closing the gap to 18-15 after a 3-pointer from Mercado with 7:52 left in the first half.

Mercado added a layup at the 5:31 mark to cut SCSU's lead to 20-19.

From there, though, the Bulldogs closed the half out-scoring the Pirates 13-7, taking a 33-26 lead into the half after a 3-pointer from Chasen Campbell with nine seconds left on the clock.

Hampton opened the second half on a 10-4 run to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 37-36 with 16:59 to play after a tip-in from Okoroba. Darryl Palmer gave SCSU a 42-38 lead at the 13:12 mark with a 3-pointer, but Hampton answered with a 12-3 run to take a 50-45 lead with 8:23 to play after a layup from junior guard/forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.).

SCSU fought its way back, taking a 60-58 lead with 2:40 to play after a 3-pointer from Henry Phillip. The Bulldogs were held scoreless the rest of the way, though, as Hampton took a 62-60 lead with 1:33 to play on a pair of free throws from freshman guard Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga.).

Okoroba and Brown each added another free throw in the final seconds to push the game to its final margin.

The Pirates shot 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the floor and hit six of their 16 3-pointers (37.5 percent). Hampton was also 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from the free throw line, and the Pirates held a 43-35 edge on the glass.

Hampton also out-scored SCSU 24-13 off the bench and held an 11-2 edge in second-chance points.

South Carolina State (4-16, 0-7 MEAC) shot 34.5 percent (20-for-58) from the floor and hit six of its 15 3-pointers (40.0 percent).

Hezekiah led three Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points.

The Pirates will be back in action on Saturday, when they head to Baltimore, Md. to take on Morgan State at Talmadge Hill Field House at 4 p.m. 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.