Jermaine "Itchy" Bolden (3) goes up for a layup over Hampton's Donte Harrison (31).
Boxscore
Bear Shots
BALTIMORE, Md. – Vincent Simpson and Darrion Pellum each scored 13 points to lead the Pirates, but it was a three-pointer by Brandon Tunnell and free throws down the stretch that helped Hampton secure a 62-57 win in front of 3,976 fans at Hill Field House.
The loss was the second home defeat for the Bears this season, and it also marked the Bears' first conference loss at Hill Field House since a two-point loss to none other than Hampton on February 20, 2007.
"We kind of got away from the scouting report and what we did in the first half," Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman said. "We never give away [three-pointers] like that. They made one three-pointer in the first half and seven in the second. That was the story of the game right there."
Marquise Kately and Reggie Holmes each scored 13 points for Morgan State (10-10, 5-2MEAC). Kevin Thompson collected his fifth double-double of the season by recording 10 points with a game-high 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Morgan State led by 11 points at half, but the Pirates came out of the break on fire from long range. Pellum started the second half by converting his first two three-pointers to help Hampton engineer a 20-9 run. Vincent Simpson's three-pointer tied the ballgame at 41-41 with 9:42 remaining.
Simpson hit his third three-pointer of the half to give the Pirates its first lead of the game at 46-43 (8:22). But one of the biggest shots of the game came off of a loose ball rebound that ended up in the hands of Brandon Tunnell behind the three-point line where he launched a shot that circled the rim and dropped in to give the Pirates a 56-49 lead with 2:33 left to go.
Morgan State answered with back-to-back three-pointers by Jermaine Bolden and Reggie Holmes nailed two free throws to tie the game at 57-57 with 1:08 left in regulation.
Hampton's Christopher Tolson was then fouled on a three-point attempt, but he converted only one of three free throws.
The Bears were unable to get off a good shot down the stretch, as the Pirates ended up sealing the game from the charity stripe by making five of seven free throws in the final minute.
Morgan held Hampton to 17-for-56 shooting, but the Bears were out-rebounded by a 49-38 margin.
"In the second half, we did not rebound as well," Kately said. "All the credit to them. They went hard. It was a number of things that went wrong. We have to learn from this experience and move on."
Everything seemed to be clicking for the Bears in the first half. Morgan State played stifling defense by limited the Pirates to long range shots and shutting down Hampton's inside post game. The Bears built a its biggest lead, 28-16, with 3:13 left and limited the Pirates to a single field goal during an eight minute stretch.
The Pirates shot 30 percent from the field (6-27 FG) and committed 13 turnovers of their 19 turnovers in the first half.
The Bears will attempt to rebound from their loss when they take on the Hawks of MD-Eastern Shore on Saturday afternoon in Princess Anne, Md.
