HAMPTON, Va. (Feb. 28, 2026) … Senior Day is always emotional when the seniors play in their final game before a home audience. Seven Pirate players took part in the pregame ceremonies before the Pirates took on Northeastern at the Convocation Center. The seniors included: Michael Eley, Elijah Kennedy, Xzavier Long, Peter Oduro, Josh Ogundele, Christian Watson and Kody Williams.
With the raucous backing of a crowd of 1,897, Hampton (13-17, 8battled back from a first half deficit by making pressure free throws in the closing minutes for the Pirates to take down visiting Northeastern (6-22, 2-15) 76-67.
Hampton was dominant at home in 2025-26 posting an 10-2 record at the Convocation Center. At one point, the Pirates won 14 straight games at home dating back to last season.
It was a back-and-forth first half in which there were 13 lead changes and six ties. Northeastern connected on its last five goal attempts, outscoring the Pirates 11-2 in the final 3:01, to take a 38-33 lead into the locker room. The five-point Huskie advantage was the biggest lead for either team in the first half.
Hampton's Michael Eley led all scorers with 12 points in the first half as both teams shot well from the field. Hampton shot at a 50 percent clip with Northeastern made 53.6 percent of its shots from the field.
Hampton regrouped to start the second half. A 13-1 Pirate rally turned a 44-40 Northeastern advantage into 53-45 Pirate lead with 11:00 left. The lead grew to nine, 58-49 with back-to-back buckets by Daniel Johnson as the Pirates hit 8-of-10 shots from the field.
Northeastern had a late game rally with a basket and four free throws cut the Pirate lead to 67-63 with 2:00 to go. But Hampton converted 11-of-12 free throws in the final minutes to thwart the Northeastern comeback.
In the second half, the vaunted Pirate defense shut down the Huskies as Northeastern shot just 26.5 percent from the field and missed all 13 shots from three-point range. The Pirates shot 50.9 percent from the field and made 14-of-16 from the free throw line in the second half which was key.
Eley, who had missed nine games this season due to injury, was dominant with a game-high 21 points including 7-of-11 from the field, a pair of treys and 5-of-5 from the line. He also had six rebounds. Daniel Johnson and Strothers each scored 12 points in the winning effort.
The Pirates close out the regular-season on Tuesday Feb. 3 at William & Mary before preparing for the Air Force Reserve Coastal Athletic Association Tournament March 6-10 at Carefirst Arena in Washington, D.C.
