PHOENIX, Ariz. – Points were hard to come by Monday night at the GCU Arena, as the Hampton University men's basketball team fell 63-51 to Grand Canyon.
 
The Pirates fell to 2-3 on the season.
 
Reginald Johnson, Jr. led the Pirates with 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting, while Lawrence Cooks – on 4-for-8 shooting and a 2-for-5 effort from behind the arc – added 13 points. Cooks also had five rebounds, while Brian Darden dished out a team-high four assists.
 
Jervon Pressley and Charles Wilson-Fisher each had a team-high six rebounds, while Pressley also had three blocks.
 
Dionte Adams had a team- and career-high four blocks.
 
Hampton shot just 34.0 percent (18-for-53) from the floor and 21.1 percent (4-for-19) from behind the arc. The Pirates also struggled at the free throw line, connecting on 11 of 19 attempts (57.9 percent).
 
Cooks gave the Pirates an early 4-2 lead with a fastbreak layup at the 16:31 mark, before the Lopes scored the next six points to take an 8-4 lead. Cooks hit a pair of free throws with 9:46 left in the first half to cut the lead to 12-8, before Grand Canyon went on a 10-5 run to take a 22-13 lead at the 6:45 mark.
 
A Johnson layup and a Cooks 3-pointer cut the lead to 22-18 with 5:35 left in the half, and a Cooks free throw with 40 seconds remaining in the frame cut the Lopes' lead to 26-23.
 
DeWayne Russell opened the lead back up to 28-23 with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left, but a Johnson layup with four seconds left to send Grand Canyon into the half with a 28-25 lead.
 
A 7-2 run to open the second half gave the Lopes a 35-27 lead with 15:53 left to play, and Grand Canyon's first double-digit lead came at the 13:28 mark after De'Andre Davis hit two free throws to put the Lopes up 41-31.
 
Matt Jackson hit a jumper at the 11:35 mark to put the Lopes up 45-33.
 
A 6-1 spurt from the Pirates cut the lead to 46-39 after a layup from Pressley at the 9:20 mark, but Grand Canyon answered with a 15-8 run to take a 61-47 lead after a trey from Jackson with 3:48 to play.
 
A Keonta Vernon free throw with 1:38 gave the Lopes their largest lead of the night at 63-48.
 
Grand Canyon (5-0) shot 42.1 percent (24-for-57) from the floor and hit three of its eight 3-pointers. The Lopes also had a rough night at the charity stripe, going just 12-for-24. But the Lopes did hold a 43-36 edge on the glass and turned Hampton over 11 times.
 
Russell led three Lopes in double figures with 14 points.
 
The Pirates will be in Flagstaff, Ariz. On Wednesday to take on Northern Arizona at 9 p.m. EST. 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.