NORFOLK, Va.- The Savannah State men's basketball team was defeated by Hampton in the semifinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament by a score of 89-55, in a game played at The Scope Arena.
It was the Tigers second loss to Hampton this season. The Pirates defeated SSU 75-52 back on January 23.
SSU was down by eight at intermission but had no answer for Hampton in the second period.
The Pirates started the second half with a 21-5 run to go ahead 58-34 with 13:13 remaining.
A pair of free throws by Khalen Pinkett pulled Savannah State within 22 with just under 13 minutes left but the Tigers would never get any closer the rest of the contest. HU responded from Pinkett's free throws with a 20-4 spurt to increase their advantage to 78-40 with 6:29 on the clock.
Savannah State got a spark from freshman guard Isaiah Felder who reeled off seven straight points with a free throw sandwiched between a pair of 3-pointers to close their gap to 33 with just over five minutes to go. Following two free throws by SSU's Chris Martin that made the score 84-50, Hampton received a 3-pointer from Greg Hayden and two free throws by Branden Aughburns to grab their largest lead of the night at 89-50 with 2:09 on the clock.
Martin led SSU with 13 points by Lenjo Kilo added 12. The Tigers shot a respectable 44.4 percent from the field in the first half but only 26.9 percent after intermission.
Savannah State ends their season with a 16-15 mark.
In the first half, the top seeded Pirates used a 9-2 spurt to race out to a 20-10 lead.
SSU used a layups by Kilo and Troyce Manassa and a 3-pointer by Martin to pull within 20-17 but another 9-2 run by Hampton got the Pirates lead to nine with just over six minutes remaining. A layup by Pinkett with 1:44 on the clock made the score 32-29 but Hampton ended the half converting five of six free throw attempts and took a 37-39 edge into the locker room.
Hampton out-rebounded the Tigers 36 to 20 and finished the game shooting 58 percent from the field.
Reginald Johnson led HU (20-10) with a game-high 18 points while Quinton Chievous added 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Tip ins:
SSU only won 9 games last year but rebounded to win 16 games this year.....The Tigers will lose three seniors in Brian Pearson, Chris Martin and Lenjo Kilo.....The Tigers were the 5th seed in the tournament. HU shot 67.9 percent from the floor in he second period.....The Pirates had four players in double figures.....Hampton won the 2015 MEAC Tournament
Up next:
Savannah State finished their season with 16-15 record.
Hampton will play the winner of the Norfolk State-South Carolina State game in the MEAC Championship on March 12.
