LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Hampton University men's basketball team dropped its third straight game on Saturday night, as the Pirates fell to Liberty 74-65 at the Vines Center.

Sophomore center David Bruce (Linden, N.J.) led the Pirates with a career-high 20 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. Senior guard Mike Tuitt (Bronx, N.Y.) was the only other Pirate in double figures with 14 points.

Hampton (4-7) took an early 5-4 lead after a 3-point play from Tuitt at the 15:47 mark of the first half, but Liberty went on an 11-0 run to take a 15-5 lead with 11:55 left in the half after Jesse Sanders nailed a jumper.

The Pirates closed to within four on a few occasions in the first half – the latest at the 2:21 mark after Bruce sank a layup to cut Liberty's lead to 28-24, but the Flames used an 8-1 run to take a 34-25 lead at the 1:04 mark after a John Caleb Sanders jumper.

Liberty went into the half up 34-27.

Hampton came out of the intermission on fire, starting the second half on an 8-2 run to cut the Flames' lead to one, 36-35, with 16:14 to play after a free throw from senior guard Darrion Pellum (Hampton, Va.). Liberty then scored eight of the next 10 points to go up 44-37 with 14:02 to play after Tomasz Gielo sank a 3-pointer.

The Pirates again closed the gap, pulling within three (46-43) following a Pellum trey at the 12:55 mark, before the Flames scored seven in a row to go up by 10, 53-43, after an Antwan Burrus jumper with 10:28 to play.

Tuitt hit a 3-pointer with 7:44 to play to bring Hampton within three again, cutting the Flames' lead to 55-52, but John Caleb Sanders capped a 7-1 spurt with a trey to give Liberty a 62-53 lead.

After that, the Pirates would never get any closer than within six.

Liberty was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the final 3:40.

The Pirates shot 42.3 percent (22-for-52) from the floor, but made just nine of their 24 3-point attempts and went 12-for-16 from the free throw line. Hampton was out-rebounded 32-30 and committed 16 turnovers – off which Liberty scored 17 points.

Hampton did score 37 points off the bench.

The Flames (4-8), who won their second straight game, shot 46.3 percent (25-for-54) from the floor, while also shooting 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from 3-point range and hitting all 18 of their free throws. Liberty only turned the ball over 10 times.

Jesse Sanders led Liberty with a game-high 22 points and nine assists, while John Caleb Sanders added 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Burrus and Tavares Speaks each added 12 points for the Flames.

The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday, when they head to Moon Township, Pa. to take on Robert Morris at 7 p.m. 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.