RICHMOND, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team dropped its opener of the Nations of Coaches Classic Thursday night at the Robins Center, as Richmond took a 68-58 win over the Pirates.

Redshirt-freshman guard Dwight Meikle (Jonesboro, Ga.) led the Pirates with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while freshmen guards Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) and Ke'Ron Brown (Savannah, Ga. ) each added 10 points.

The Pirates (0-2) shot 41.9 percent (18-for-43) from the floor and hit 18 of their 23 free throws.

The Spiders jumped out to an 11-5 lead with 16:29 left in the first half following a layup from Darien Brothers, but the Pirates answered with an 11-3 run to take a 16-14 lead with 10:38 left in the first half following a pair of Meikle free throws.

Powers later added two free throws of his own, at the 8:36 mark, to give Hampton a 20-17 lead. But when Cedrick Lindsey hit a 3-pointer with 7:43 left in the half to tie the game at 20-20, it kicked off a 14-0 run to put the Spiders up 31-20 with 3:19 left in the half.

Richmond led 34-28 at the half after the Pirates closed the opening frame on an 8-3 run.

Meikle sank a layup with 17:35 left in the second half to close the Spiders' lead to 34-32, before Richmond grew the lead to 40-34 with 14:36 left to play on a pair of Trey Davis free throws.

Brothers later hit two free throws with 12:45 left to play to put the Spiders up 47-37.

After Brown closed the lead to 47-40 with a free throw with 11:09 left, Richmond answered with a 9-0 run to take a 56-40 lead with 7:59 to play after a pair of Lindsey free throws.  A Wayne Sparrow layup at the 7:26 mark put Richmond up 58-42.

The Spiders' largest lead came with 2:06 to play after Kendall Anthony sank a layup to put Richmond up 68-50. The Pirates scored the last eight points of the game, closing to within 68-58 after a pair of Meikle free throws with nine seconds left, but the Spiders held on.

Richmond (3-0) shot 41.2 percent (21-for-51) from the floor, though the Spiders hit six of their 17 3-pointers and 20 of their 27 free throws. The Spiders also out-rebounded the Pirates 34-30, and Richmond forced Hampton into 23 turnovers.

Brothers led three Richmond players in double figures with 19 points.

The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday, when they head to Athens, Ohio to take on Ohio University at 7 p.m. as the Nations of Coaches Classic continues. 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.