HAMPTON, Va. — HAMPTON, Va. (WTKR) — It served as the biggest opportunity of Hampton's early season.
Renewing its rivalry against Howard, a game televised nationally on CBS, with local basketball royalty like Hall of Famer Allen Iverson in attendance.
On its biggest stage, the Pirates rose up to the challenge.
Behind hot shooting and tough defense, Hampton rolled to an 83-67 victory on Saturday in the Real HU rivalry in front of an energetic crowd in the Convocation Center.
"I thought our administration did a great job with school being closed, getting people in the stands and having a white out," said Hampton head coach Ivan Thomas. "I thought that there was a lot of energy in the building that kind of helped propel us in the second half and get going."
After a tough start to the game where both teams combined to shoot 4-25, Hampton found its footing on the offensive side. Daniel Johnson strung together eight points in a three minute stretch to help Hampton take the lead at 20-14.
After the two went back and fourth through most of the first half, the tide seemed to swing in favor of the Pirates at end of the opening 20 minutes. Trapped in the corner, Xzavier Long drove baseline and found an open Kyrese Mullen for a three as the buzzer sounded to give Hampton a 31-23 halftime lead.
"It was part of the plan in terms of touching the paint," Thomas said. "That's what we talked about. Touching the paint first, inside out, two feet in the paint, then throw the ball outside."
That strategy worked throughout the 40 minutes. Hampton knocked down 13 threes, tying a season high. After Mullen's shot the home team seized control of momentum, using a 10-2 run out of the locker rooms to open up the lead to 41-25.
Wayne Bristol led the way for the Pirates with 18 points.
"We were coming off a long break and got right to work," he said. "Practicing coach's game plan and we just executed."
Noah Farrakhan scored 17 points, while George Beale chipped in 13 and Mullen posted 11. Howard got 34 points from Blake Harper but shot just 40 percent for the game.
"I like how we're defending and that's where I start," Thomas said. "I liked the way we defended the ball tonight against a very good shooting team."
"If you're not a physical player, you can't play defense for Coach (Thomas)," Bristol said.
It's the latest game in a stretch of resurgent basketball for the Pirates. It's their fifth victory in a row, the longest win streak the program has had since 2019. It also assured that Hampton would finish a month unbeaten for the first time in 20 years.
"Coach Ivan and the rest of this coaching staff did a great job recruiting this team. We spent a lot of time together building chemistry," Bristol said. "It's a testament to coach, this staff, and the culture that's here right now."
"They're buying in and the sooner you buy in, the quicker you can get results," Thomas said.
At 8-5, the attention now turns to Coastal Athletic Association play. Hampton heads to Charleston to begin its league slate on Thursday night.
"We're still nowhere near where we need to be and we just want to continue to get better," Thomas said. "We won't rest or resolve, not in the middle. We'll rest at the end once we figure out who we are as a team. Tonight we took another step in terms of establishing our identity that we can kind of play any brand of basketball."
