LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- A 20-4 start for Hampton on Thanksgiving morning proved huge as the Pirates held off Northern Arizona 76-66 in the opening game of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational on Thursday.

With the win, Hampton (2-4) advances to face the winner of Rider-Cal Irvine on Friday night at approximately 10pm EST in the Orleans Arena.

The Pirates scored the first six points of the game and held a 9-4 advantage following a JoJo Anderson 3-pointer for NAU (0-5) at the  15:19 mark.   Hampton clamped on the defense and held the Lumberjacks scoreless over the next 3:30 as a Jermaine Marrow layup with 11:49 left put Hampton up 20-4.  

That lead grew to as much as 19 points on two occasions, a layup from Akim Mitchell with 5:07 left in the half put Hampton up 31-12.  NAU closed the half on a 13-6 spurt to trim the deficit to 37-25 at the half.

In the second half, Hampton held an 18-point lead following a dunk from Charles Wilson-Fisher put the Pirates up 51-33 with 13:21 left.  NAU slowly worked back into the contest trimming the deficit to 62-57 with a pair of Torry Johnson free throws with 4:52 left.  Hampton was 9-of-10 from the foul line in the final 4:52 to keep the Lumberjacks at bay.

Marrow was the leading scorer in the game for Hampton with 19 points, eight assists, six rebounds and four steals.  Wilson-Fisher had his first double-double of the year with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Mitchell had 10 points and three rebounds.

Hampton shot 27-of-55 from the floor (49.1%), 18-of-27 from foul line (66.7%) an outrebounded NAU 42-32.

For more information on Hampton University men's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.