HAMPTON, Va. – A late 3-pointer broke a tie game Monday evening at the HU Convocation Center, handing the Hampton University men's basketball team its first MEAC loss as South Carolina State won the game 67-62.
 
The Pirates (11-8, 7-1 MEAC) had their six-game winning streak snapped.
 
Reginald Johnson, Jr. led three Pirates in double figures with 19 points, going 6-for-18 from the floor and hitting two 3-pointers. Brian Darden added 13 points, while Quinton Chievous chipped in 12 points, grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and dished out a team-high five assists.
 
Dionte Adams also had nine rebounds.
 
The Pirates shot 33.8 percent (24-for-71) from the floor and hit five of 25 3-pointers (20.0 percent). Hampton also struggled from the free throw line on the night, going 9-for-19 (47.4 percent).
 
Despite trailing for much of the contest, the Pirates took a 60-59 lead with 1:41 remaining after Johnson converted a 3-point play. His layup and free throw capped a 12-4 Hampton run.
 
But Gabriel McCray tied the game at 60-60 with a free throw with 1:28 remaining, then Ty Solomon drained a contested three on the wing that gave the Bulldogs a 63-60 lead with 45 seconds to play. Chievous cut the lead to 63-62 23 seconds later with a layup.
 
But the Bulldogs went 4-for-4 from the free throw line, and Darden missed a trey in the closing seconds that would have forced overtime.
 
The game was tied at 2-2 a little more than a minute in, before the Pirates scored the next eight points to take a 10-2 lead after Johnson connected on a fastbreak layup. S.C. State responded by scoring 14 of the next 18 points, taking a 16-14 lead at the 9:21 mark of the first half after an Eric Eaves trey.
 
The run ultimately ballooned to 29-8, as the Bulldogs took a 31-18 lead at the 4:18 mark after another Eaves 3-pointer.
 
A 6-0 Hampton spurt cut the lead to 31-24, but S.C. State led 33-24 at the break.
 
Johnson had eight points at the half.
 
Hampton opened the second half on a 10-2 run, cut the lead to 35-34 after a 3-pointer from Lawrence Cooks with 16:35 to play. The Bulldogs had built the lead back to two possessions, but Kalin Fisher's jumper with 8:18 remaining cut the lead to 49-48.
 
S.C. State scored the next six points to go up 55-48 with 6:38 remaining, before Hampton scored the next five points – cutting the lead to 55-53 after another three from Cooks.
 
Darden hit a trey with 3:17 left to cut the lead to 57-56.
 
S.C. State (11-11, 6-2 MEAC) shot 42.6 percent (26-for-61) from the floor and made four of 16 3-pointers (25.0 percent). The Bulldogs held a 47-42 edge in rebounding and a 4-1 advantage in blocked shots.
 
Eaves led the Bulldogs with 18 points.
 
The Pirates will play host to Norfolk State on Saturday 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.