NCAA News Wire
Hampton 66, Tennessee State 54
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
A scintillating finish to the first half gave Hampton a lead it would not relinquish, as the Pirates topped Tennessee State 66-54 and dealt the Tigers their eighth consecutive loss on Friday at the Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va.
Bouncing back from a midweek defeat at Illinois that snapped a three-game win streak, Hampton (5-6) got 15 points apiece from guards Quinton Chievous, Brian Darden and Deron Powers. Hampton shot just 34.3 percent from the field but outrebounded Tennessee State by a 44-39 margin and forced 21 turnovers.
Tennessee State (2-9) actually led for most of the first half, building its biggest advantage at 24-15 before Hampton closed the period on a 14-0 run. Powers scored eight during that run, including a pair of 3-pointers. Powers is now 149 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
The Pirates never trailed again, although Tennessee State got as close as 34-30 and was still lurking down 53-49 when Hampton scored six unanswered points to push the margin back to double figures.
Jay Harris, a senior guard, paced Tennessee State with 11 points. No one else who played for the Tigers scored more than eight. Marcus Roper, TSU’s leading scorer, had just six points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
