HAMPTON, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team picked up its second win of the season on Tuesday, using a strong second half and a few career performances to beat American 72-65 at the HU Convocation Center.

The Pirates (2-7) have won two of their last three games.

Senior guard Jasper Williams (Washington, D.C.) led three Pirates in double figures with a career-high 22 points off the bench, tying his career high with five 3-pointers in seven attempts. Redshirt-sophomore forward Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) dded a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Freshman guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) added 17 points and a career-high 10 assists.

American actually led for much of the first half, and at one point, the Eagles led by as many as seven, going up 18-11 with 8:25 left in the frame after a 3-pointer from John Schoof. Daniel Munoz later added a 3-pointer at the 5:46 mark to put the Eagles up 23-16.

But the Pirates closed the half on a 10-3 run, and junior guard Ramon Mercado (Hollywood, Fla.) hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the half to tie the game at 26-26 heading into the break. The Pirates used that momentum to great effect in the second half.

After Stephen Lumpkins tied the game at 31-31 with a jumper at the 18:13 mark of the second half, the Pirates responded with six unanswered points to go up 37-31 at the 14:44 mark after a Williams 3-pointer.

The Eagles cut the lead to 45-44 with 9:07 left to play after a 3-point play from Marko Vasic, but the Pirates scored the next six points to go up 50-44 with 8:30 left after another Williams trey.

American cut the lead to 51-49 with 6:27 left to play, but Hampton answered with a 12-3 run to take a 63-52 lead with 2:58 remaining after a pair of Okoroba free throws. At that point, the Eagles played the foul game, and the Pirates made 10 of 11 free throws down the stretch to clinch the win.

The Pirates shot 42.4 percent (25-for-59) from the floor – keyed by a 48.3 percent clip (14-for-29) in the second half. Hampton went 8-for-20 from behind the arc, hitting five of its eight treys in the second half alone.

American shot 40.4 percent (23-for-57) from the floor and out-rebounded the Pirates 40-37. But the Pirates scored 15 points off of 13 American turnovers.

Lumpkins and Vasic led American (4-7) with 12 points each.

The Pirates will return to action on Thursday, when they close out their homestand against Northern Kentucky at 7 p.m. at the HU Convocation Center. 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.