NORFOLK, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team stormed back in the second half and held a lead with less than five minutes to play, but rival Norfolk State came back for the 63-60 win Saturday evening in Echols Hall.
 
The Pirates fell to 8-13 overall and 4-5 in MEAC play.
 
Redshirt junior guard/forward Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) led the Pirates with 19 points on 9-for-13 shooting, while also grabbing nine rebounds and blocking a team-high three shots. Guard Quinton Chievous (Chicago, Ill.) added 11 points.
 
Junior forward Jervon Pressley (Charlotte, N.C.) grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
 
The Pirates shot 40.4 percent (23-for-57) from the floor and made five of their 23 3-pointers (21.7 percent). Hampton also won the rebounding battle 38-34, and the Pirates' bench outscored Norfolk State's 16-13.
 
After the Spartans opened the game on a 5-2 spurt, the Pirates answered with jumpers from Meikle and Pressley to take a 6-5 lead at the 15:58 mark of the first half. A layup from Chievous at the 10:49 mark gave the Pirates a 10-9 lead.
 
Norfolk State scored the next eight points, taking a 17-10 lead at the 7:08 mark after a pair of free throws from Hefeng Sun. Sun later added a turnaround jumper at the 5:09 mark to give the Spartans a 21-16 lead.
 
Pressley threw down a one-handed dunk with 2:55 left in the half to cut the lead to 23-20.
 
But the Spartans closed the half on a 5-2 spurt, taking a 28-22 lead into the locker room after a jumper from D'Shon Taylor with 27 seconds left in the frame.
 
Meikle led all scorers with 11 points at the half.
 
After Taylor gave the Spartans a 33-24 lead with a jumper with 18:21 left in the second half, the Pirates responded by going on a 10-0 run, taking a 34-33 lead with 15:41 remaining after a 3-pointer on the wing from Chievous.
 
Meikle gave Hampton a 36-35 lead with a jumper with 14:45 left to play.
 
Hampton used a 10-2 run to take a 49-42 lead with 8:29 left to player after junior guard Brian Darden (Hampton, Va.) drained a trey from the wing. Norfolk State answered with an 8-1 run to tie the game at 50-50 after a layup from RaShid Gaston with 6:36 left to play.
 
Meikle later gave the Pirates a 54-52 lead with a jumper with 4:14 left to play, before the Spartans went on an 11-2 run, taking a 63-56 lead with 1:57 left after a two-handed dunk from Gaston.
 
Darden scored the next four points – on a 3-pointer from the wing and a free throw with 50 seconds remaining – to cut Norfolk State's lead to 63-60 – but junior guard Ke'Ron Brown's 3-pointer at the buzzer fell off the mark.
 
Norfolk State (15-9, 8-1 MEAC) shot 42.4 percent (25-for-59) from the floor and made 11 of 16 free throws (68.8 percent) – including seven of 10 in the second half.
 
Taylor led three Spartans in double figures with 16 points.
 
The Pirates will head to Newark, N.J. to take on NJIT on Monday at 7 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.