PIRATES BOUNCE BACK WITH 75-64 WIN OVER ULM

LAS VEGAS, Nev.  Quinton Chievous and Brian Darden scored 19 points apiece as the Hampton University men’s basketball team ended its participation in the Continental Tires Las Vegas Classic with a 75-64 win over University of Louisiana Monroe on Wednesday afternoon in Orleans Arena.

A 3-pointer from Darden at the 18:09 mark of the first half gave Hampton (5-7) a 5-3 lead that they’d never relinquish.  That triple started a 15-2 run by the Pirates with another Darden 3-pointer closing it with 14:48 left for a 17-5 Hampton lead.  The senior guard from Hampton, Va. scored 11 of the 15 points in that run.

Each team had flurries of runs in the first half as Louisiana Monroe (5-7) trimmed the deficit to six points on three different occasions in the half.  The last one being with 2:23 left on a 3-pointer from Nick Coppola as ULM trailed 34-28.  From there, the Pirates closed the half on an 8-2 run to take the lead back to 12 points on a Chievous dunk to put Hampton up 42-30 at the half.

In the second half, the Pirates pushed the lead to 16 points on three occasions as a Dionte Adams dunk with 6:52 left gave Hampton a 60-44 lead.  ULM trimmed that to 70-61 as Justin Roberson hit a free throw with 2:12 left, but that was as close as they got.

Joining Chievous and Darden in double figures for Hampton was fellow backcourt mate Reginald Johnson Jr. with 16 points.  As a team, the Pirates were 27-of-59 from the floor (45.8%), 16-of-21 from the foul line (76.2%), 5-of-22 from 3-point range (22.7%) and out-rebounded ULM 40-33.  Chievous and Adams were the leading rebounders for Hampton with eight apiece.  Darden added a game-high five assists.

Leading ULM was Majok Deng with 16 points, while Coppola and Roberson added 12 apiece.  They were 22-of-58 from the floor (37.9%), 6-of-17 from 3-point range (35.3%) and 14-of-17 from the foul line (82.4%).

The Pirates will close out the 2015 portion of its schedule on December 31 with a 1pm tip at Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas.

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.