HAMPTON, VA – Hampton University got 22 points from Michael Freeman and 20 points by Rashad West to upend UNC Greensboro, 71-64, in men’s basketball action on Thursday night.
Junior guard Kevin Oleksiak and junior forward Kyle Hines led the Spartans (2-5) with 19 points each. For Hines, it was his 28th consecutive game in double figures to set a school record. The loss snapped UNCG’s two-game winning streak.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Hampton (2-6) and was their first against UNCG in four meetings.
Hampton came out with 2-2-1 three-quarter court pressure to try to take UNCG out of its offensive flow. It worked at the outset as Hampton ran off nine straight points to open the game. Once the Spartans settled down against the scrambling defense, they went on an 8-2 run to get right back into the game. By the 13:30 mark, a steal and lay-up by Oleksiak tied the game, 17-17. Coming off of a season-high 16 points in Monday’s win over Wofford, Oleksiak finished the first half with 11 points.
The game remained tight throughout the remainder of the first half with neither team able to open up a lead of more than four points. A put back by Kyle Hines at the buzzer knotted the game up, 32-32, at the intermission.
After UNCG scored the first five points of the second half, Hampton went out on a 14-3 run, causing havoc at times with its pressure defense once again. The spurt opened up a 46-40 Pirate lead with 13 minutes to play.
Things didn’t get much better for UNCG at the 5:17 mark when Ricky Hickman fouled out and the Pirates stretched the lead to 12 in the process. After making one of two at the foul line, Hampton chased down a tipped rebound, ran the shot clock down and then got a three-pointer from the right corner by Demario Mattox from the right corner to take a 62-50 lead.
The Spartans made things interesting in the final minute. With some full court pressure of their own, they forced a few turnovers and got back to within five in the final minute. With 29.2 seconds left, Kendall Toney fouled Hampton’s Demario Mattox. Mattox knocked down both free throws to get the margin back to seven. Ben Stywall cut it to five. After Freeman made one of two at the line, UNCG’s Dwayne Johnson drove down to cut it to four. West then missed one of two, but the Spartans misfired on their next possession and the threat was ended.
UNCG returns to action on Monday when it hosts Davidson for a Southern Conference match-up at 7 pm.
SIDELINES: For the first time since the season-opener, Matt Akinosho played without his left hand being wrapped. Akinosho injured the hand taking a charge in the first half of the loss at Marshall. It had limited his playing time because the wrap, and the related injury, had hampered his ability to catch the basketball... Hines broke the mark set by teammate Ricky Hickman last year.
AGATE
HAMPTON 71, UNC GREENSBORO 64
UNC GREENSBORO (2-5)
OLEKSIAK, Kevin 8-13 0-0 19; HINES, Kyle 7-14 5-10 19; JOHNSON,
Dwayne 3-7 0-0 8; KOIVISTO, Mikko 2-7 2-2 8; STYWALL, Ben 1-2 1-2
3; TONEY, Kendall 1-2 0-0 3; HICKMAN, Ricky 1-6 0-1 2; TOOMS, Bart
1-1 0-0 2; BROWN, Pete 0-1 0-0 0; AKINOSHO, Matt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
24-53 8-15 64.
HAMPTON (2-6)
FREEMAN,Michael 9-11 4-7 22; WEST,Rashad 6-11 5-9 20;
MATTOX,Demario 4-9 3-4 12; CLARK,Kevin 3-9 0-1 8; WOODARD,Adrian
1-4 2-4 4; PEHOUA,Junior 1-6 0-0 3; SIMPSON,Vincent 1-4 0-0 2;
NTOKO,John 0-0 0-0 0; SMALLING,Theo 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 25-55 14-26
71.
Halftime: Tied 32-32. 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 8-23 (OLEKSIAK, Kevin 3-7; KOIVISTO, Mikko 2-7; JOHNSON, Dwayne 2-4; TONEY, Kendall 1-2; HICKMAN, Ricky 0-3), Hampton 7-22 (WEST,Rashad 3-6; CLARK,Kevin 2-5; MATTOX,Demario 1-3; PEHOUA,Junior 1-5; SIMPSON,Vincent 0-2; WOODARD,Adrian 0-1). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-HICKMAN, Ricky, Hampton-None. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 33 (HINES, Kyle 10), Hampton 39 (FREEMAN,Michael 9). Assists--UNC Greensboro 12 (JOHNSON, Dwayne 7), Hampton 16 (SIMPSON,Vincent 4; WEST,Rashad 4; WOODARD,Adrian 4). Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 21, Hampton 17. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, Hampton-None. A-869
- UNCG -