CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team lost its fourth straight game Tuesday night, falling 69-40 to the University of Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena to continue the Corpus Christi Challenge.

The Pirates fell to 2-4 on the season.

Redshirt-sophomore guard Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) led the Pirates with 12 points, while senior forward Ramon Mercado (Hollywood, Fla.) added nine points and junior forward Emmanuel Okoroba (Garland, Texas) had eight points.

Meikle and Okoroba each had a team-high four rebounds.

Okoroba gave the Pirates an early 6-4 lead with a layup at the 16:40 mark of the first half, before the Cavaliers scored the next five points to take a 9-6 lead.

Virginia led 16-10, before the Pirates tied the game at 16-16 with 9:59 left in the first half on a jumper by sophomore guard Dionte Adams (Charlotte, N.C.), but the Cavaliers answered with 22 straight points to take a 38-16 lead.

In all, Virginia closed the half on a 24-3 run to take a 40-19 lead into the locker room.

The Cavaliers opened the second half by scoring 14 of the first 16 points to take a 54-21 lead on a Justin Anderson jumper with 13:04 left to play. Meikle hit a jumper at the 12:28 mark to cut the lead to 54-23 and give Hampton its first field goal since 1:31 in the first half.

The Cavaliers (5-1) later took a 61-25 lead at the 8:17 mark on an Evan Nolte jumper; at that point, the Pirates had only recorded two second-half field goals.

Meikle hit a layup with 2:12 left to cut Virginia's lead to 67-37. Mercado followed with a trey at the 1:11 mark to cut the lead to 67-40.

The Pirates shot just 32.7 percent (17-for-52) from the floor and went 2-for-14 (14.3 percent) from behind the arc. Hampton made four of its six free throws, but the Pirates were out-rebounded 42-21 and turned the ball over 17 times.

Virginia shot 51.1 percent (24-for-47) from the floor and made eight of 12 3-pointers.

Joe Harris led the Cavaliers with 20 points, while Anderson added 12 points.

The Pirates will head to Corpus Christi, Texas on Friday and Saturday to wrap up the Corpus Christi Challenge with a pair of games. 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.