Pirates peaking at ideal time
Senior who averages 3.2 points per game has a career-high 18
Hampton University took the floor at the Convocation Center for one last time this season Thursday night and walked away with a 64-56 win over Monmouth.
The Pirates improved to 8-22 — 3-14 in the Coastal Athletic Association — and have won three of their past four games.
“It was a good win,” HU coach Buck Joyner said. “Felt like the guys fought through any adversity, they got out to a good start. Monmouth made their run, as any good team (will) do, and they handled that adversity. Went into the half, came out the second half and pushed ahead. I think the biggest thing has been getting contributions from everybody in some kind of way.”
Hampton took a one-point lead into the half, thanks to poor shooting from a Monmouth team that entered the game as the No. 7 scoring offense in the CAA. The Hawks had several opportunities in the first half, but shot just 25% from the field.
While Monmouth was sputtering, it appeared for a while that Hampton couldn’t miss a shot. The Pirates shot 40% in the first half and went on a 20-2 run, thanks in part to a spark off the bench from Dan Banister.
The senior who averages just 3.2 points per game had 12 in the first half. Banister finished with a career-high 18 points on 5-for-7 shooting. He also tallied two rebounds and a block.
“We know Dan is capable of making shots; he’s done it before,” Joyner said. “But again, we were in a situation where we did a good job of making the extra pass. He was the benefactor of the extra pass and he knocked it down. … He had a couple of good little defensive plays and he did things all over the court for us. I’m happy for him.”
Hampton was able to maintain the offensive momentum in the second half and got up by as many as 12 points. Monmouth didn’t go quietly, though, and cut the lead to five points several times.
The Pirates’ defense kept the Hawks quiet all night and held Monmouth to 27.1% shooting for the game.
Monmouth’s main struggles came from the paint, where the Hawks were just 9 for 26. Hampton was also able to keep Monmouth’s best offensive weapon out of rhythm all night. Xander Rice, who entered the game No. 3 in the CAA with 20.7 points per game, finished with 16, but was just 4 for 20 from the field.
“We felt like if we can make him work, even if it didn’t pay off early, it would pay off late,” Joyner said. “We defended him as a team.”
Ja’Von Benson and Joshua Lusane were both forces in the paint. Benson tallied 13 rebounds and five blocks, while Lusane finished with six rebounds and two blocks.
“They’re able to contain that inside for us,” Joyner said. “We can do some of the things we did chasing people, knowing they’re behind us. We got somebody that’s going to go and block a shot, somebody that’s gonna be there. … I think they both did a great job tonight. We were able to run (Rice) off the (3-point) line, and once we ran him off and he went inside, he had to deal with them.”
Joyner and his players feel they are starting to heat up at the perfect time, with the CAA Tournament a week away.
Hampton will close its regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday at William & Mary, with the loser relegated to last place.
“This is the perfect time for us to peak,” Banister said. “We’ve been doubted the whole season. We’ve been saying the whole season we all we got. Everybody in the locker room — coaches, players, managers, strength coaches, whoever — we’ve had faith in us the whole time. So we know it was coming, it was just a matter of time.”