RADFORD, Va. – Sophomore Russell Dean scored a career high 22 points and dished out nine assists to lead three in double figures for Hampton as they dropped a Big South series opener at Radford 79-66 on Monday night.

Dean, whose previous career-high came earlier this season at Charleston Southern with 19, was 8-of-16 from the floor, hit all six free throws to go with the nine assists.
A dunk by Najee Thomas gave Hampton a 24-23 lead just under eight minutes left in the half, but the host Highlanders scored the next 10 points as a Lewis Djonkam layup put Radford ahead 33-24 with 5:10 left.

Hampton made a small run as Marquis Godwin drained a 3-ball and a pair of Dean free throws helped Hampton trim the deficit to 33-29 just 50 seconds later.  Radford used consecutive 3-pointers from Dravon Mangrum to take a 39-29 lead with 3:35 remaining.    Those 3-pointers began a 13-2 run as the advantage grew to 46-31 on a jumper by Xavier Lipscomb with 74 seconds left.

In the second half, Hampton went on a 13-3 run to trim a 14-point deficit to 56-52 as Dean hit a jumper with 13:11 left.  Radford scored the next eight points over a nearly five-minute span to push the lead to 64-52 on a Bryan Hart 3-pointer at the 8:16 mark.  The Pirates got as close as 10 points the rest of the night.

Chris Shelton and Davion Warren each added 12 points for Hampton who will tangle with the Highlanders again on Tuesday night at 6 pm.

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.