Hampton, Va. - The Hampton Pirates picked up their first home loss of the season as they fell 75-66 to the Delaware Blue Hens Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.  The loss drops the Pirates to 5-4 while the Blue Hens improve to 3-6 overall.

In the first half, it was back-and-forth until the Blue Hens took the 21-18 lead with 6:05 left in the first half and never looked back. Delaware increased their advantage to five before heading to the locker room at the half (32-27).

Hampton shot just 31.3 percent from the floor, while Delaware made 12-of-30 baskets in the first half.

 “They made some tough shots, and when we give up 75 points, we won't win many games this year,” said Pirates head coach Kevin Nickelberry.  “We took a lot of shots. We took 68 shots, 13 more shots than they took. We got 21 offensive rebounds. If you look at the stat sheet, you would've thought we had a better chance to win, but we didn't. They just made beautiful shots at the right time.”

The Blue Hens picked up where they left off in the second half as they went up by as many as 18 points with 6:21 reminding in the contest. Despite the Blue Hen advantage, the Pirates were not going to be outdone, as they rallied with a 12-2 run to pull to within eight (64-56) with a little over three minutes left to play.

Delaware responded following the Pirates’ run with a 7-0 rally of their own to push the lead back up to 15.

The Pirates attempted a final push in the final minutes of the game but could not overcome the final nine point edge, 75-66.

Hampton shot only 35.3 percent from the floor while connecting on 24-of-68 shots. The Pirates also received 30 points from the beach, a trend that has become consistent for Hampton all season.

Three Pirates finished in double figures, led by Tolson with 18, followed by senior Vincent Simpson (15 points) and Michael Freeman with 12 points.

Delaware had four players in double figures, led by Jawan Cater, who recorded a game-high 23 points. Carter was aided by Alphonso Dawson (21), Brian Johnson (14) and Marc Egerson (10).

“We’ve just got to get back up. It's not about the loss. It’s about me getting these guys prepared for the next one,” said Nickelberry.

The Pirates will have time to regroup, as they will not play again until Dec. 23 when they travel to Charlottesville, Va. to face the Virginia Cavaliers. Game tips off at 7:30 p.m.