Behind a career effort from junior guard Brian Darden, the Hampton University men’s basketball team stormed past Morgan State 93-65 in front of a national ESPNU audience Monday night in Hill Field House.
The Pirates, with their third straight win, improved to 11-14 overall and 7-5 in the MEAC.
Darden (Hampton, Va.) scored a career-high 23 points, going 7-for-8 from the floor and hitting six of his seven 3-pointers. Junior guard Reginald Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) added 17 points, while junior guard Deron Powers (Williamsburg, Va.) chipped in 10 points.
Redshirt junior guard/forward Dwight Meikle (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
In scoring a season-high 93 points, the Pirates shot 54.4 percent (31-for-57) from the floor and hit nine of 22 3-pointers (40.9 percent). Hampton shot 60.7 percent (17-for-28) from the floor in the first half alone, hitting eight of 16 3-pointers.
Hampton also held a 51-37 edge in rebounds.
There were four lead changes and two ties in the opening minutes of the contest, and the game was tied at 10-10 with 15:57 left in the first half. But a 3-pointer from Darden at the 14:49 mark gave the Pirates a 13-10 lead and broke the game open early.
In fact, that bucket kicked off a 23-4 run, and the Pirates took a 33-14 lead with 9:26 left in the half following a putback from Johnson. Read Full at HamptonPriates.com
