Game Notes

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will face the Spartans of Norfolk State Thursday night at 8 p.m. in the quarterfinals of the 2010 MEAC Championships, held at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

The No. 5 seed Pirates (13-17, 8-8 MEAC) ended the regular season with a five-game winning streak, including a pair of convincing home wins. After beating Longwood 95-81 on March 1, the Pirates trounced Howard 90-42 on Senior Night on Thursday. The No. 4 seed Spartans (11-18, 9-7 MEAC) escaped Greensboro, N.C. with a 67-66 win over North Carolina A&T, their second straight win and sixth out of their last seven games.

Since joining the MEAC in 1995, the Pirates are 15-14 against the Spartans – even though Norfolk State swept both of last season's meetings and both of this season's meetings: 66-50 at Echols Hall on Jan. 16 and 70-66 on Feb. 13 at the HU Convocation Center. Norfolk State beat Hampton 68-62 at the HU Convocation Center on Jan. 31, 2009, before winning 90-68 at Echols Hall on Feb. 28, 2009. Hampton won the first three meetings with Norfolk State upon reaching Division I, including a season sweep in 1997-98, and from 2001-03, Hampton won four straight meetings. Prior to last season, Hampton had won three straight against the Spartans, and four of the last five. The Spartans have won four straight against the Pirates.

The Spartans went 13-18 last season, finishing in a tie for third in the MEAC at 9-7 before falling 83-69 to Morgan State in the MEAC title game. Senior guard Michael Deloach was named First Team All-MEAC last season after leading the conference in scoring at 21.5 points a contest, and came into this year as the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, while the Spartans were picked to finish third in the league after returning three starters from last year's squad.

Norfolk State finished 9-7 in MEAC play, earning the conference's No. 4 seed in the tournament.

Deloach is second in the MEAC in scoring, averaging 21.8 points per game. Sophomore forward Kyle O'Quinn, on top of averaging 11.6 points per game, is second in the MEAC in rebounding with an average of 8.7 boards per contest. Junior guard/forward Rob Hampton is second on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, while he and Deloach each pull down 4.4 rebounds per night.

The Spartans are averaging 70.7 points per game on offense, the second-best scoring offense in the MEAC, while giving up a MEAC-worst 75.4 points a contest. Opponents are barely out-rebounding Norfolk State by an average of 37.3-37.2 per night.

Hampton is 1-2 in neutral-site games this season, including a 1-1 record at the World Vision Basketball Challenge on Nov. 27-29. The Pirates opened the tournament with a 75-66 loss to Pepperdine, then – following a road win over Wyoming – beat Monmouth 59-56. Hampton lost another neutral-court game in Madison Square Garden, falling 56-54 to Howard in the Big Apple Classic on Dec. 5. 

Live stats for Monday's gave between Hampton and Norfolk State will be available through the official MEAC website at www.meacsports.com. Pirate basketball games can be heard live on WHOV 88.1 FM, with Shemar Woods and Ron Pinkney calling all the action.

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.