ORANGEBURG, S.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team suffered its fourth straight loss on Monday evening at the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center, as the Pirates fell 65-56 to South Carolina State.
 
The Pirates dropped to 8-12 overall and 4-4 in MEAC play.
 
Redshirt junior guard/forward Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) led the way with 16 points and a team-high nine rebounds, going 6-for-11 from the floor. Junior guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) added 14 points, hitting four 3-pointers.
 
The Pirates shot 36.4 percent (20-for-55) from the floor and hit five of their 21 3-pointers (23.8 percent).
 
The Pirates opened the game on a 6-0 run, taking that lead on a trey from Darden, and another Darden 3-pointer at the 14:15 mark of the first half gave Hampton a 9-1 lead. Guard Quinton Chievous (Chicago, Ill.) added a trey at the 12:58 mark to put Hampton up 12-3.
 
But the Bulldogs answered with a 17-9 run, cutting the lead to 21-20 with 5:05 left in the first half. Gabe McCray hit two free throws at the 3:35 mark to give South Carolina State its first lead of the game at 24-23.
 
Jalen White added a jumper in the paint to put the Bulldogs up 26-23.
 
South Carolina State went into the half with a 31-25 lead, responding to Hampton's early 12-3 lead with a 28-13 run to close out the opening frame.
 
The Bulldogs led by as many as 10 in the second half, taking a 41-31 lead with 14:13 left after a jumper from Darryl Palmer. But the Pirates started chipping away, using a 15-6 run to close the lead to 47-46 with 8:33 left to play after Darden hit a trey.
 
White stopped the run with a layup to pull the Bulldogs ahead 49-46, slowly pulling away in the final minutes. The Bulldogs led 63-54 with 39 seconds remaining after White sank a pair of free throws. Ty Solomon added two free throws of his own 17 seconds later to give South Carolina State a 65-54 lead.
 
South Carolina State (7-15, 5-3 MEAC) shot 40.0 percent (22-for-55) from the floor and went 2-for-8 (25.0 percent) from behind the arc. The Bulldogs held a 39-37 edge in rebounding, and South Carolina State turned 18 Hampton turnovers into 19 points.
 
White and McCray led the Bulldogs with 14 points each.
 
The Pirates will be in Norfolk, Va. on Saturday to take on Norfolk State at 6 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.