Hampton Extends Win Streak to Five
West Leads Hampton To Win Over Howard
Washington, DC—Feb. 6---Rashad West came off the bench to score a game-high 19 points and Jeff Granger added 15 to lead Hampton University to a 75-63 win over Howard University in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men’s game. The win was the fifth straight for the Pirates (10-9, 8-3 in the MEAC) while the Bison (2-18 overall, 1-10 in the MEAC) dropped their 12th straight.
West connected on 5 of 8 shots from the field and 7 of 11 from the free throw line in 28 minutes. Hampton began to pull away late in the first half and took a 34-21 lead to the locker room.
But the Bison made a run in the second half as Jason Trotter tallied 13 of his team-high 16 and Will Gant scored 12 of his 15 to help cut a 17-point deficit to five with a little over four minutes left.
“We executed our defensive game plan pretty well,” said Howard Coach Gil Jackson. “We wanted to contain their center (Bruce) Brown and (Chaz) Cowen. But their guards, especially West and Granger stepped up and played well.”
West and Jaz Cowen (formerly of George Washington) combined to score 10 of the Pirates’ last 13 points and hold off Howard’s surge. Cowen finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“They’re tall and athletic,” said Jackson about Hampton. “They have a nice feel for the game. Overall, though we played hard and we are beginning to play the way we have been looking for.”
NEXT UP: The Pirates host Morgan State on Saturday at 4 p.m. while the Bison will try to snap their losing skid when they travel to Dover, DE to take on Delaware State on Saturday at 4 p.m…an NBA scout came out to evaluate Brown, the Pirates’ 6-11 senior center, who finished with 4 points and 4 rebounds while also picking up 4 fouls.
