BOONE, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team had a cold first half on Wednesday evening at the Holmes Convocation Center, and Appalachian State had a hot second half en route to an 88-67 win over the Pirates.
 
Hampton fell to 2-9 on the season.
 
Lawrence Cooks led three Pirates in double figures with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting and a 4-for-9 effort from behind the arc. Jermaine Marrow added 14 points and a team-high four assists, while Kalin Fisher added 12 points.
 
Cooks also had a team-high five rebounds.
 
The Pirates shot 40.0 percent (22-for-55) from the floor and hit six of their 19 3-pointers – despite going just 1-for-8 from distance in the first half. Hampton also hit 17 of its 20 free throws, going 85.0 percent from the charity stripe.
 
The Mountaineers led throughout, taking immediate control of the game by scoring the first 16 points. Hampton's first field goal came at the 16:06 mark on a layup from Marrow, and AJ Astroth added a trey at the 15:28 mark to cut the lead to 16-5.
 
But App State answered with a 19-8 run to open up a 35-13 lead on a Patrick Good three – giving the Mountaineers their largest lead of the half.
 
App State led 39-23 at the break.
 
Astroth was Hampton's leading scorer at the half with four.
 
An 11-5 spurt to open the second half helped the Pirates cut the lead to 44-34 after Marrow hit a fastbreak layup with 16:29 remaining, before the Mountaineers responded with a 13-5 run to take a 57-39 lead after Craig Hinton hit two free throws at the 13:14 mark.
 
But the Pirates had another run in them, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to cut the lead to 59-50 after Cooks, who had 19 points in the second half, drained a three with 10:15 remaining. App State answered with a 14-3 run to open up a 73-53 lead with 5:08 remaining.
 
The Mountaineers held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
 
App State (5-6) shot 52.8 percent (28-for-53) for the game – including a 58.3 percent clip in the second half – and went 12-for-25 (48.0 percent) from behind the arc. The Mountaineers also held a 35-26 edge on the glass.
 
Emarius Logan led five Mountaineers in double figures with 21 points.
 
The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 28, when they head to Princeton, N.J. to take on Princeton. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5757, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.