Game Notes

RICHMOND, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team will hit the road for the first time this season on Thursday, as the Pirates head to the Robins Center to take on the University of Richmond at 7 p.m.

The Pirates (1-0), in their third season under head coach Edward Joyner Jr., opened the 2011-12 season with a 73-58 win over William & Mary on Saturday at the HU Convocation Center. Senior Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) scored a game-high 20 points, while sophomore center David Bruce (Linden, N.J.) had his first double-double as a Pirate with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Richmond (1-1) fell on the road to Davidson 74-61 on Monday night, despite 17 points each from freshman guard Kendall Anthony and sophomore guard Cedrick Lindsay. Senior forward Darrius Garrett pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for the Spiders.

Thursday's game will open the 2011 Triple Crown Cancun Challenge for the Pirates.

The Cancun Challenge, owned by Fort Collins, Colo.-based Triple Crown Sports, Inc., is in its fourth year and features two separate four-team brackets. The Riviera Division includes Illinois, Illinois State, Richmond and Rutgers, while Hampton, Lipscomb, Sacred Heart and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville make up the Mayan Division.

All teams will play two games before traveling to Cancun, Mexico. After Thursday's game, the Pirates will head to Piscataway, N.J. on Sunday to take on Rutgers. Hampton will then face Sacred Heart on Wednesday, Nov. 23, and either Lipscomb or SIU-Edwardsville on Thursday, Nov. 24 in Cancun.

The Spiders went 29-8 last season, while also going 13-3 in the A-10 before winning the conference's automatic bid with the conference tournament title. Richmond advanced to the Sweet 16 after beating No. 25 Vanderbilt and Morehead State, before falling to Kansas to end the season and snap a nine-game winning streak.

Richmond was picked to finish fifth in the A-10 this season, returning just one starter from last year's squad – though the Spiders do return 11 letterwinners from a season ago. So far this season, Anthony leads Richmond in scoring with 18.5 points per game, while Lindsay is pouring in 17.0 points a night. Garrett is the team's leading rebounder, pulling down 7.0 boards a game.

Richmond is averaging 63.5 points a game on offense, while giving up 65.0 points a game.

The Pirates are 1-2 all-time against Richmond, as the Spiders have won the last two meetings. The two teams have not met since the 2005-06 season, when the Spiders won 44-40 at the Robins Center on Nov. 18, 2005. Hampton won the first meeting, 61-60 at the HU Convocation Center on Nov. 27, 2002.

The Pirates are 0-2 on the road against Richmond.

Hampton is 8-5 all-time against teams from the Atlantic 10 – including a 58-48 win over Fordham and a 62-51 win over George Washington last season. The Pirates have never faced Charlotte, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Joseph's, Saint Louis, Temple or Xavier.

The Pirates are 0-1 against Dayton; 1-0 against Duquesne; 2-0 against Fordham; 1-1 against George Washington; 1-1 against La Salle; 1-2 against Richmond; and 2-0 against St. Bonaventure.

The Pirates went 8-5 on the road last season, winning three of their last four regular-season road games in 2010-11 – including the last two at Delaware State (71-64) and at Howard (83-72). For his career as a head coach, Joyner is 14-14 on the road.

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.