Pirates face Monmouth in home finale
The Hampton men’s basketball team split its slate of games last week, beating Campbell on Thursday before losing to Northeastern on Saturday. The 72-68 win over the Camels gave the Pirates their first set of consecutive wins since they beat Virginia University Lynchburg and Mary Baldwin in December.
“They were able to put together a good 40 minutes of basketball,” Hampton head coach Buck Joyner said. “And then some things have to go your way and we had a few things go our way.”
Hampton had four of its starters finish in double digits in the win against Campbell. Guards Jordan Nesbitt and Tedrick Wilcox led the team with 21 and 14 points, respectively.
“We were hoping at some point it would happen,” Joyner said of the duo’s success. “Moreso, Tedrick has had some shooting games throughout the year, but it hasn’t been as consistent. And again, Jordan trying to find his footing with the 3, 4, 5 new ball players out there that he’s playing around with him getting a late start.”
Star forward Kyrese Mullen missed both the Campbell game and the Northeastern game with a shoulder injury that caused him to miss some time earlier in the month. Joyner said his status will be “game by game” moving forward.
In his absence, Ja’Von Benson has stepped up in the Pirates’ frontcourt, logging two double-doubles last week, including a career-high 14 rebounds against Campbell and a career-high 18 points against Northeastern.
Hampton plays its final home game of the season at 7 p.m. today against Monmouth. Joyner said the Pirates will honor Joshua Lusane and Wilcox on Senior Night. Both players have spent just one season with the Pirates after coming in as graduate transfers. Lusane spent four years at Campbell, while Wilcox spent two years at St. Francis Brooklyn after starting his career at Dominican College.
Hampton lost the first meeting with Monmouth 85-77 on the road in January. Graduate guard Xander Rice led the Hawks with 25 points. He is No. 3 in the CAA and No. 18 in the country with 20.7 points per game.
“You got to pay attention to him,” Joyner said of Rice. “He’s the engine that makes them go.”