Box Score

LARAMIE, Wyo. – The Hampton University men's basketball team picked up its first win of the season Saturday night, emerging from the second day of the World Vision Basketball Challenge with a 78-67 win over the University of Wyoming at the Arena-Auditorium.

The win snapped the Pirates' five-game losing streak.

Wyoming took its only lead of the night thanks to a 12-2 run to open the second half, when A.J. Davis converted a 3-point play to put the Cowboys up 38-36 with 16:19 to play. The Pirates responded with a 23-9 run of their own, going up 57-47 with 9:19 to play after a 3-point play from Michael Freeman (Alexandria, Va.).

The Pirates led by as much as 12 in the second half, and the Cowboys never got closer than within four.

Senior Vincent Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the Pirates (1-5) with a career-high 34 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including a 6-for-10 performance behind the 3-point line and an 8-for-10 showing at the free throw line. Freeman added 16 points to go along with a team-high 10 rebounds, recording his first double-double of the season.

Djibril Thiam led the Cowboys (2-4) with 20 points, while Davis added 18 and Adam Waddell chipped in with 14 by going 6-for-8 from the floor. Thiam and Boubacar Sylla led Wyoming with seven rebounds each.

The Pirates shot 47.4 percent (27-for-57) from the floor and 36.8 percent (7-for-19) from 3-point range. The Cowboys went 20-for-59 (33.9 percent) from the floor and made just one of its 21 3-point attempts.

Wyoming out-rebounded Hampton 44-36, but the Pirates forced 18 Cowboy turnovers and turned them into 20 points.

Hampton opened the game on a 13-2 run, staring with a layup from Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.) at the 18:27 mark and ending with 14:34 left in the half, when Charles Funches (Bayonne, N.J.) hit a jumper. The Pirates would then go up 18-5 at the 12:00 mark on Simpson's first 3-pointer of the evening, before the Cowboys went on a 9-0 run to cut the score to 18-14 in favor of the Pirates.

Hampton would stretch the lead back out to 10, at 26-16, on another Simpson 3-pointer with 4:33 left in the half. The Pirates led 34-26 at the break, shooting 50 percent (14-for-28) from the floor and forcing Wyoming into 11 turnovers.

Simpson had a game-high 15 points in the first half.

The Pirates will return to action on Sunday in the final day of the World Vision Basketball Challenge, when they take on Monmouth at 2 p.m. EST. For more information on Hampton University basketball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.