ATLANTA, Ga.  ? The Hampton Pirates held off the Georgia State University in the second half as they pulled off a 62-53 win over the Panthers Wednesday night.  The win marked the second victory for the Pirates over a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. 
 
 “The guys came out and followed the game plan that the coaches laid out for them and they shot the ball well and held Georgia State under 60 points, which was a goal coming into the game tonight,” said Pirates head coach Kevin Nickelberry. 

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half as the Pirates connected on 36.8-percent of their baskets while the Panthers shot just 26.9 percent from the field. 

Hampton rebounded in the second half as they recorded 41 points on 10-of-18 shooting (55.6 percent) from the floor. 

The Panthers would pull to within one early in the second half and would cut the lead to two points on four different occasions before the Pirates went on to win by nine points.

Hampton finished with three players in double-figures led by Brandon Tunnell with 14 points.  Junior guard Vincent Simpson recorded 13 points and Kwame Morgan chipped in with 12. The Pirates connected on 46-percent of their baskets and shot impressively from behind the arc with 5-of-10 made baskets (50 percent).
 
Hampton also received 45 points off the bench.
 
“Every night I am amazed by the number of points that we score off the bench,” said Nickelberry. “Our three top scores came off the bench tonight and sometimes players play better coming off the bench, but that shows the drive that the team has to getting better each night.”
 
The Panthers closed out the night shooting 34.5 percent from the floor and only 26.3 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. Georgia State was led by Joe Dukes, who finished with a game-high 19 points and Trae Goldston who finished the night with 17 points.
 
“We wanted them to make tough two’s and hold them outside the perimeter but we allowed them to score too many points in the second half,” said Nickelberry.
 
The Pirates will be off until Saturday, when they travel to the Big Apple to take on the Bison of Howard University in the 2008 Big Apple Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York. Game time is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.