HAMPTON, Va. – Of the four conference games the Pirates have played so far this season, three of them have gone to overtime. Following Monday night's 71-65 overtime win over Florida A&M at the Convocation Center, the result has yet to change.

With the win, the Pirates improved to 8-7 overall and 4-0 in MEAC play.
 
Reginald Johnson, Jr. led four Pirates in double figures with 21 points on 7-for-19 shooting, while also dishing out a team-high five assists and grabbing four steals. Dionte Adams and Quinton Chievous each had double-doubles; Adams scored a career-high 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Chievous had 12 points and 10 boards.
 
Brian Darden, despite a tough shooting night, added 11 points.
 
The Pirates shot 38.2 percent (26-for-68) from the floor – despite shooting 27.3 percent (9-for-33) in the second half – and made six of 24 3-pointers (25.0 percent). Hampton also made 13 of 20 free throws (65.0 percent) and held a 52-37 edge in rebounding.
 
Hampton was 3-for-5 in overtime, while FAMU went just 1-for-7.
 
With 3:58 remaining in the second half, the Pirates held a 58-52 lead after a fastbreak layup from Johnson. A Darden trey with 3:03 remaining gave the Pirates a 61-56 lead. But the Rattlers scored the next six points, taking a 62-61 lead with 1:15 remaining after a Francois Lewis layup.
 
Johnson went to the line for two free throws with 52 seconds remaining in regulation, hitting one of them to tie the score at 62-62. After Jerran Foster missed a trey with 24 seconds left, Johnson tried to hit a floater with a second left.
 
Both that, and Kalin Fisher's putback, fell wanting to force the extra five minutes.
 
Chievous scored the first four points of overtime, giving the Pirates a 66-62 lead with a layup at the 3:57 mark. FAMU cut the lead to 66-65 after a free throw from Malcolm Bernard, but an Adams jumper and another Darden trey put Hampton up 71-65 with 1:08 remaining.
 
FAMU had two looks from distance in the waning seconds, but both shots missed.
 
The opening moments of the game were all Hampton, as the Pirates jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead after a layup from Akim Mitchell at the 15:31 mark of the first half. But the Rattlers scored nine of the next 11 points to cut the lead to 13-12.
 
But Hampton went on a 16-4 run, taking a 29-16 lead after Johnson converted a 3-point play at the 4:31 mark. The Pirates maintained control for the rest of the half, going into the locker room with a 34-25 lead.
 
Johnson had 16 points at the half.
 
An Adams layup with 15:27 left in the second half gave the Pirates a 40-30 lead, but the Rattlers went on a 14-5 run to cut the lead to 45-44 at the 9:37 mark following a pair of free throws from Bernard.
 
FAMU (5-12, 1-3 MEAC) shot just 28.6 percent (16-for-56) from the floor and made just six of 26 3-pointers (23.1 percent). The Rattlers used 81.8-percent free throw shooting (27-for-33) to stay in the game.
 
Bernard led the Rattlers with 23 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Pirates will be in Greensboro, N.C. on Saturday to take on North Carolina A&T at 4 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.