The Hampton Pirates defeated the North Carolina A&T State Aggies, 71-55, Monday night at the HU Convocation Center. With the win the Pirates increase their overall record to 17-11, 10-5 in the MEAC, while the Aggies dropped to 14-15 overall and 8-7 in conference play.

“We won it with defense,” said HU head coach Kevin Nickelberry. “The shots we didn’t make in the first half went down for us in the second half. Plus, we were able to contain Austin Ewing and Steven Rush.”

Ewing and Rush, N.C. A&T’s top guns, were held to a combined 13 points on the night. Ewing registered 10 points and Rush posted on three.

Except for two brief moments in the first half, the Pirates led the entire ballgame. The Pirates recorded their largest lead of the first half (24-16) following a layup by Matthew Pilgrim at the 1:41 mark.

The Pirates led by double-figures most of the second half. Their biggest lead was a 17-point cushion, 66-49, with 1:25 to play.

Nickelberry said his team is beginning to recapture the flow they had at the start of the season.

“We’ll just take it one game at a time for right now,” said Nickelberry. “I know it’s late, but we’re trying to get a rhythm going like we had earlier in the year.

“Thursday’s game against Howard will be one of those games where you can’t look at their record,” added Nickelberry. “They’ve played well their last couple of games, so we’ve got to go into that game hungry.”

Five players scored in double-figures for the Pirates, including Vinnie Simpson and Rashad West, who netted 18 and 14 points, respectively. The trio of Pilgrim, Brandon Tunnell and Michael Freeman scored 10 points apiece.