Tournament Bracket (PDF)

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Thanks in large part to a five-game winning streak to close out the regular season, the Hampton University men's basketball team will be the No. 5 seed in the 2010 MEAC Championships, which will be held March 8-13 in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Pirates (13-17, 8-8 MEAC) will take on No. 4 seed Norfolk State (11-18, 9-7 MEAC) in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 8 p.m. The Pirates finished the regular season in a tie for fifth with Maryland-Eastern Shore, but held the tiebreaker by virtue of beating the Hawks in Princess Anne, Md. 79-65 on Feb. 1.

The Pirates won their fifth straight game on Thursday, trouncing Howard 90-42 at the HU Convocation Center. Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.) and Second Team All-MEAC selection Vincent Simpson (Philadelphia, Pa.) each had 22 points to lead Hampton, which had its largest margin of victory since a 100-57 victory over Savannah State on Jan. 23, 2006.

Norfolk State won both meetings against Hampton this season, beating the Pirates 66-50 at Echols Hall on Jan. 16, before leaving the HU Convocation Center with a 70-66 win on Feb. 13. The Spartans come into the conference tournament having won two straight.

Morgan State went 15-1 in league play to capture the MEAC's top seed; the Bears will face the winner of Tuesday's Howard-North Carolina A&T game in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

The 2010 MEAC Men's Basketball Championships will start on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. with an opening round contest between No. 7 Bethune-Cookman and No. 10 Florida A&M.

For more information on the MEAC Championships, please visit www.meachoops.com. 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.