CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Hampton University men's basketball team lost its fifth straight game on Friday, falling 70-53 to Liberty in the Corpus Christi Challenge at the American Bank Center.

The Pirates fell to 2-5 on the season.

Senior forward Du'Vaughn Maxwell (Manhattan, N.Y.) led the Pirates with 17 points on 6-for-14 shooting, and he tied for the team lead with four rebounds – along with sophomore guard Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.).

Both teams started off slow, with the first field goal coming at the 18:13 mark after sophomore guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) hit a jumper to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Junior center Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) later gave Hampton a 9-6 lead with a 3-point play at the 15:07 mark.

Liberty went on a 6-0 run to take a 12-9 lead, and Meikle tied the game at 12-12 with a jumper with 10:35 left in the first half. The Flames answered with a 9-2 run, taking a 21-14 lead with 7:38 left in the half after a layup from Tomasz Gielo.

Liberty (2-5) took a 32-25 lead into the half.

Liberty opened the second half on a 9-0 run to take a 43-25 lead with 16:30 left to play after a layup from Davon Marshall. Hampton's first field goal of the second half came at the 15:03 mark, when Maxwell stuffed home a dunk to cut Liberty's lead to 43-27.

A free throw from sophomore guard Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga.) with 12:26 left cut the Flames' lead to 47-32.

Maxwell hit a free throw with 10:55 left, cutting Liberty's lead to 49-36, but a Liberty 12-7 run gave the Flames a 61-43 lead with 4:59 to play. A 3-point play from sophomore guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) cut Liberty's lead to 61-46 with 4:36 left.

John Caleb Sanders answered with a trey at the 4:08 mark, the first of back-to-back 3-pointers for Liberty to put the Flames up 67-46 with 3:09 to play.

The Pirates shot just 33.3 percent (17-for-51) from the floor and made two of 12 3-point attempts. Hampton scored 17 points off of 18 Liberty turnovers.

The Flames shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the floor and hit seven of 14 3-pointers. Liberty also out-rebounded the Pirates 46-24, and the Flames scored 12 second-chance points.

Antwan Burrus led Liberty with 17 points, while Sanders added 15.

The Pirates will wrap up the Corpus Christi Challenge on Saturday against either Sam Houston State or Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 1 p.m. EST. 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.