HAMPTON, Va. – In scratching out a 64-61 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday evening at the HU Convocation Center, the Hampton University men's basketball team snapped its six-game losing streak.
 
The Pirates improved to 9-14 overall and 5-5 in the MEAC on the season.
 
Head coach Edward Joyner Jr. won his 91st career game in the process, becoming the program's all-time winningest Div. I coach – surpassing Steve Merfeld.
 
Junior guard Reginald Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) registered his second straight 20-point game, leading all Pirate scorers with 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting. Redshirt junior guard/forward Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) added 16 points and a team-high 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
 
Junior guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) added 11 points and four assists.
 
The Pirates shot 44.2 percent (23-for-52) from the floor – thanks in large part to a 14-for-25 effort (56.0 percent) in the second half. Hampton scored 25 points off of 16 UMES turnovers, and Hampton held a 26-22 edge in points in the paint.
 
A layup from Devin Martin with 2:14 left in the game tied the contest at 58-58, before Johnson answered with 1:11 left by converting an acrobatic 3-point play to put the Pirates up 61-58. Dominique Elliott cut that lead to 61-60 with a jumper with 55 seconds left.
 
But Meikle put his stamp on the game with 42 seconds left, finding space on the fastbreak before floating in the air, making it look as if he would finger-roll the ball into the hoop, before slamming the ball home with one hand to give the Pirates a 63-60 lead.
 
The two teams traded free throws down the stretch, but Martin missed both of his 3-pointers in the closing moments to hand the Pirates the hard-fought win.
 
UMES led much of the night, though – particularly in the first half. The Hawks opened the game with six straight – thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from Ryan Andino – before the Pirates cut the lead to 6-5 on a jumper in the paint from junior forward Jervon Pressley (Charlotte, N.C.).
 
The Hawks opened the game back up, taking a 22-10 lead at the 8:37 mark after a 3-pointer from Martin. A dunk from Michael Myers and a layup from Devon Walker gave UMES a 29-16 lead with 2:39 left in the half.

But Hampton scored the last seven points of the frame – a jumper and 3-pointer from Meikle and a jumper from Powers – to cut UMES' lead to 29-23 at the break.
 
That momentum carried into the second half, as the Pirates cut UMES' lead to one on three separate occasions before taking their first lead of the night on a Johnson layup with 15:12 left – putting Hampton up 36-35.
 
Johnson then hit a trey to put the Pirates up 39-35 at the 13:32 mark.
 
Johnson added a layup with 13:14 remaining to give the Pirates a 41-37 lead, before UMES went on a 10-1 run to take a 47-42 lead with 10:39 left to play after a dunk from Elliott. Elliott later gave UMES a 53-48 lead at the 6:29 mark with a free throw.
 
After a pair of Martin free throws gave the Hawks a 55-50 lead, the Pirates went on a 7-0 spurt, taking a 57-55 lead with 3:13 left to play after a jumper from Powers.
 
UMES (13-12, 6-4 MEAC) shot 40.0 percent (20-for-50) from the floor and hit eight of 16 3-pointers. The Hawks out-rebounded the Pirates 36-32.
 
Myers led four Hawks in double figures with 18 points.
 
The Pirates will return to the Convocation Center on Monday to take on Howard at 8 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.