LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Hampton University men's basketball team led in the closing minutes on Tuesday in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic at Orleans Arena, but Nicholls State came back to take an 84-81 win.
 
The Pirates fell to 4-6 on the season.
 
Quinton Chievous recorded his third double-double of the season with a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds, going 11-for-16 from the floor. Brian Darden added 21 points, going 6-for-12 from the floor and hitting three 3-pointers.
 
Darden has three 20-point games so far this season.
 
The Pirates shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the floor – including a 58.6 percent clip (17-for-29) in the second half – despite hitting just six of 23 3-pointers. Hampton held a 38-27 edge in rebounding, including 11-6 on the offensive end, and the Pirates held a 15-4 edge in second-chance points.
 
Darden hit two free throws with 6:56 left to play, giving the Pirates a 68-64 lead and capping off a 12-4 Hampton run that erased a 60-56 Nicholls State lead. The Colonels answered with five straight points to take a 69-68 lead, before a Chievous jumper put Hampton up 70-69.
 
Another 5-0 spurt gave Nicholls State a 74-70 lead following a trey from Ja'Dante' Frye with 3:51 remaining, and T.J. Carpenter hit a trey of his own with 1:36 left to give the Colonels an 80-74 lead.
 
A Chievous 3-point play with 29 seconds remaining capped off a 5-0 Hampton run and cut Nicholls State's lead to 80-79. A layup from Darden with 16 seconds left cut the gap to 82-81, but Johnathan Bell hit two free throws with nine seconds left.
 
Reginald Johnson, Jr. put up a three in the closing seconds, but the shot missed.
 
There were six total lead changes in the second half.
 
Hampton jumped out to a 17-8 lead with 15:45 left in the first half after a trey from Chievous, and he added a layup at the 14:33 mark to put Hampton up 19-10. Nicholls State responded with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 21-17.
 
But a Charles Wilson-Fisher layup gave the Pirates a 25-17 lead with 11:58 left in the half, before the Colonels went on an 11-2 run to take a 28-27 lead following a Luka Kamber trey at the 6:18 mark. A Chievous layup 13 seconds later gave the Pirates a 29-28 lead.
 
But Nicholls State went on an 8-2 run to take a 36-31 lead with 4:24 left in the half, and the Colonels led 37-36 at the break.
 
Chievous had 11 points at the first half, and Darden had 10.
 
Nicholls State (4-7) also shot 50.9 percent (29-for-57) from the floor and made 13 of its 26 3-pointers.
 
Frye led three Colonels in double figures with 21 points.
 
The Pirates will conclude the Las Vegas Classic on Wednesday against either Canisius or Louisiana Monroe. 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.