Final Stats

HAMPTON, Va. – Pirates senior Donte Harrison scored a career- and game-high 18 points and Hampton held the Bears of Morgan State without a field goal for the final 3:51 of the game, giving the Pirates a 49-47 win and making them the only MEAC team to sweep the Bears this season in the HU Convocation Center on Monday night live on ESPNU. 

 

The Pirates hit three free throws in the final 16 seconds of the game to seal the victory over the Bears. Hampton improved to 13-14 on the season and 6-7 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play, while the Bears suffered their third conference loss of the season, dropping them to 11-3 in MEAC play and 18-11 overall on the year.

 

“I sat down on the team the last game. I'm going to stand up, I'm going to coach them 40 minutes, and get after them, and they promised to stay with me,” said Pirates head coach Kevin Nickelberry.

 

The Pirates defense held Morgan State to their lowest scoring game since posting just 37 points in a loss to Utah back on Nov. 22 and snapped Morgan State's eight-game winning streak.

“Our guys were getting down. I could just see in the last game, our guys were kind of down. As a coach, I felt it was my job to kind of kick start us, and I'm proud of Donte, and I'm proud of those freshmen for the game that they played tonight,” Nickelberry said.

 

The Pirates connected on 3-of-9 shots from beyond the 3-point arc, while the Bears were unable to connect on any 3-pointers, going 0-for-8 on the night.

 

The game saw six ties and seven lead changes, with the Bears leading by as many six points in the first half of play, and the Pirates up by no more than four points in the second half.

 

The Pirates shot 35.6 percent from the floor, making 16-of-45 shots taken, and 30 percent from beyond the arc. The stat of the night for the Pirates was that they shot an impressive 70 percent from the charity stripe, making 14-of-20 free throws taken.

 

Hampton was led by Harrison (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who also had the game-winning block on the final field goal attempt by the Bears to seal the victory for the Pirates. He also grabbed six rebounds on Senior Night.

 

The Bears were led by Marquise Kately, who recorded a double-double with 12 points and snatched 20 rebounds.

 

The Pirates will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 28, when they travel across the James River to face the Spartans of Norfolk State in the Battle of the Bay, basketball style, with a tip-off time of 6 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.