SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Hampton University men's basketball team suffered a cold shooting performance Sunday afternoon at the JQH Arena, opening the Corpus Christi Challenge with an 81-67 loss to Missouri State.

The Pirates fell to 2-3 on the season with their third straight loss.

Sophomore guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) led the Pirates with a career-high 29 points on 10-for-15 shooting, while junior forward Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) added 12 points. Senior forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.) grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds.

The Pirates opened the game on an 8-0 run, taking that lead on a fast-break layup from Powers at the 17:47 mark of the first half. Missouri State scored the next seven points to cut the gap to 8-7, before Okoroba hit two free throws to put Hampton up 10-7 with 14:46 left in the half.

A 7-0 Bears run put Missouri State up 14-10 at the 11:39 mark, before Hampton went on a 10-4 run to take a 20-18 lead at the 8:10 mark with a jumper from Powers.

Sophomore guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) hit a 3-pointer with 7:06 left in the first half to put the Pirates up 25-23, but Missouri State closed the half with a 19-6 run to go into the locker room with a 42-31 halftime lead.

Powers had 11 points at the break.

Missouri State took a 56-44 lead with 13:30 left in the second half on a jumper from Emmanuel Addo, then the Bears scored eight of the next 11 points to go up 64-47 with 9:34 to play. The Bears' largest lead of the game came with 4:23 left, when Jarmar Gulley gave Missouri State a 77-56 lead with a trey.

From that point on, the Pirates could never close the gap to less than 14, when sophomore guard Reggie Price (Charlotte, N.C.) hit a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left to push the game to its final margin.

The Pirates shot just 37.5 percent (24-for-64) from the floor and hit just eight of their 24 3-pointers. Hampton held a 38-32 edge on the glass, but Missouri State scored 15 points off of 17 Hampton turnovers.

The Bears (4-0) shot 52.5 percent (31-for-59) from the floor. Gulley led Missouri State with 23 points, while Christian Kirk added 21 points.

The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday, when they head to Charlottesville, Va. to take on Virginia at 7 p.m. in the Corpus Christi Challenge. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.com. 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.