Box Score

TOWSON, Md. – Senior guard Vincent Simpson scored a game-high 31 points, but it wasn't enough as the Hampton University men's basketball team lost 82-74 on Sunday afternoon at the Towson Center.

Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) sank a 3-pointer with 3:44 to play to pull the Pirates within three, 68-65, before Troy Franklin answered with a layup for the Tigers with 2:21 left. Simpson hit another trey with 1:26 to play to cut Towson's lead to 72-70, but Towson made 10 straight free throws down the stretch to extend Hampton's losing streak to four games.

Simpson scored 20 points in the second half alone.

Simpson went 12-for-22 from the field in recording his third career 30-point game; he scored a career-high 34 last season against South Carolina State, and again on Nov. 28 at Wyoming. Michael Freeman (Alexandria, Va.) added 13 points on 4-for-9 shooting to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds, while Charles Funches (Bayonne, N.J.) added 11.

Four Tigers scored in double figures, led by 18 points from Calvin Lee. Franklin added 17 points, while RaShawn Polk scored 12 and Robert Nwankwo added 11 to go along with a game-high 18 rebounds.

Towson (3-5) shot 47.5 percent (29-for-61) from the floor, making four of its 12 3-point attempts. Hampton went 28-for-70 (40.0 percent) from the floor, making just four of 22 shots from behind the arc and 14 of 25 free throws.

The Tigers out-rebounded the Pirates 49-38. Hampton forced 16 Towson turnovers, converting them into 21 points. The Pirates (2-9) only turned the ball over 10 times.

Freeman gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead in the opening minutes, sinking a jumper at the 19:03 mark, and Simpson put Hampton ahead again, 8-7, with his first trey of the game almost two minutes later. Towson took the lead for good with 14:39 left in the half, when Polk sank a layup to put the Tigers up 14-12.

Towson held a 40-30 lead at the half.

Simpson led the Pirates with 11 points in the first half behind a 4-for-10 effort from the floor. Freeman led the Pirates with four first-half rebounds. Hampton shot 32.3 percent (10-for-31) from the floor in the first half.

Franklins had 10 points at the half to lead the Tigers, while Nwankwo pulled down 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes. Towson shot 15-for-29 (51.7 percent) from the floor in the first half and held a 22-18 rebounding edge at the intermission.

The Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they head to Charlottesville, Va. for a 7 p.m. tip against Virginia. 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.