Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – The Hampton University men's basketball team dropped its third straight game on Wednesday, falling 55-52 to the University of Delaware at the Bob Carpenter Center.

The Pirates (2-8) took a 49-48 lead with 2:02 to play, when Michael Freeman (Alexandria, Va.) shot a pair of free throws, but Jawan Carter responded with a 3-pointer with 49 seconds remaining to give Delaware a 51-49 lead. Carter would then extend the lead to 53-49 with a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left.

Vincent Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) drained a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to play to pull the Pirates within one, but Carter's free throws with 12 seconds remaining iced the game for the Blue Hens.

Carter had seven points in the final 44 seconds.

Freeman and Simpson led the Pirates with 13 points each; Simpson went 4-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-8 from 3-point range, while Freeman went 3-for-4 from the floor and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. Charles Funches (Bayonne, N.J.) led Hampton with seven rebounds.

Josh Brinkley led the Blue Hens with 13 points, while Carter added 12 in the win. Alphonso Dawson led the Blue Hens with seven rebounds.

The Pirates shot 34.0 percent (16-for-47) from the floor, while making seven of 17 3-point attempts (41.2 percent). Hampton also went 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) from the free throw line. Delaware shot 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the floor.

The Blue Hens (2-6) also out-rebounded Hampton 39-36 and forced the Pirates into 19 turnovers.

The game was tied at 26 at the half, after Delaware led by as much as five in the frame. The Blue Hens held that lead on two separate occasions – 12-7 with 12:36 left in the half, when Dawson sank a trey, and 16-11 with 8:43 left after a layup by Edwin Santiago.

Hampton shot 40.0 percent (10-for-25) in the first half, while making four of 10 3-point attempts. Delaware shot 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from the floor in the half, while also holding an 18-16 rebounding edge.

There were four ties and three lead changes in the first half. Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) hit a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left in the first half to knot the score at 26. Pellum had a team-high eight points in the first half, while Funches led the team with three first-half rebounds.

Jamelle Hagins led Delaware with seven points in the first half, while Dawson and Brinkley each had six. Dawson also had a team-high four rebounds in the first half.

The Pirates will return to action on Dec. 19, when they travel to Baltimore, Md. to take on the Tigers of Towson University at 4 p.m. 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.