Box Score
Photo Gallery
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite a furious second-half rally, No. 4 seeded Norfolk State missed two late 3-pointers that would have tied the game, sealing No. 5 Hampton's 73-70 win in the MEAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Spartans end their season at 11-19. The Pirates (14-17) advance to a Friday semifinal against No. 1 Morgan State.
Hampton's hot 3-point shooting and steady foul trouble to a slew of Spartans helped the Pirates to a 10-point halftime lead. NSU would trail by as many as 14 early in the second half, but rallied by forcing 12 Pirate turnovers in the second half and getting out on the fast-break. The Spartans used an 8-0 run that included two transition layups by Michael Deloach (Rocky Mount, N.C.), a 3-pointer by Brandon Wheeless (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and a free throw by Joseph Dorsett-Jeffreys (Bronx, N.Y.) to tie the game at 54-all with 9:15 left in the game.
Less than a minute later, Aleek Pauline (Jamaica, N.Y.) scored on a fast-break layup to give NSU its first lead of the half, at 58-57. The Spartans' maintained a 64-63 edge after a jumper by Marcos Tamares (Queens, N.Y.) with 5:15 remaining.
But NSU went three and a half minutes before making its next field goal. Meanwhile, HU took the lead for good a Darrion Pellum's layup. Driving layups by Vincent Simpson and Brandon Tunnell extended the Pirates' advantage to 69-64.
NSU clawed back and got within one, 71-70, on a jump shot by Rob Hampton (Queens, N.Y.) with 34 seconds left. But Pellum pushed the lead back to three, 73-70, by making two free throws with 26 seconds to play.
The Spartans had two chances to tie in the final seconds. Kyle O'Quinn (Jamaica, N.Y.) missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, but NSU maintained possession after Hampton knocked the ball out of bounds. But Wheeless' off-balanced 3-pointer with four seconds left fell short, and HU secured the rebound and the win.
The Pirates had the hot hand early, knocking down seven 3-pointers in the first half. Simpson hit four of those and Pellum had two. The Spartans also had to endure a slow start by Deloach (five points on 2-of-7 shooting in the half) as well as foul trouble to Pauline and O'Quinn in the period, which ended with HU leading 40-30.
Deloach heated up in the second half, scoring 16 of his game-high 21 points. But it wasn't enough to overcome Hampton.
Deloach ends his illustrious four-year career with 1,796 points, eighth on NSU's all-time scoring list. He also tallied six assists, five rebounds and two steals in his last collegiate game.
Rob Hampton added 20 points for NSU, and O'Quinn had eight points and nine rebounds. But the Spartans made just 2-of-11 (18 percent) from behind the 3-point arc and 16-of-30 (53 percent) from the foul line.
Pellum had 19 points, Simpson 18 and Charles Funches 11 for Hampton, which won despite committing 19 turnovers and getting outrebounded 41-32.
