DAYTON, Ohio — Guards Quinton Chievous and Reginald Johnson each scored 15 points, lifting Hampton to a 74-64 victory over Manhattan in a first-round NCAA Tournament game Tuesday night at University of Dayton arena.
The Pirates advance to face the No. 1 overall seed, Kentucky (34-0), on Thursday night in Louisville, Kentucky., in a Midwest Region game.
Hampton (17-17) could be short-handed when it faces the Wildcats. Already without junior forward Dwight Meikle, its leading scorer and rebounder, due to an ankle injury, the Pirates also lost Chievous to an apparent right ankle injury with 2:29 left in Tuesday night’s game.
Chievous, a senior, also grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Manhattan junior forward Shane Richards scored 17 points, and senior forward Emmy Andujar added 11 points. Richards hit six of 16 shots from the floor but just four of 14 3-point attempts.
Hampton led by as many as 12 points, but the Pirates’ lead was reduced to 46-45 on a layup by Manhattan junior forward Ashton Pankey (nine points) with 13 minutes left. However, the Jaspers (19-14) couldn’t complete their second-half comeback.
Junior guard Brian Darden’s jumper gave the Pirates a 62-52 lead with five minutes left. Darden scored 11 points on the night.
Hampton had just two days off after capturing the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament title, while Manhattan had a week off since its last game. However, the Pirates appeared to have fresher legs, jumping out to a 7-0 lead, with Johnson scoring all seven points.
Hampton never trailed in the first half and led by as many as 12 points en route to a 38-31 lead at the break.
The Pirates went ahead 30-20 on a laser-like pass from Darden to freshman forward Charles Fisher, who dunked it home.
Hampton had three dunks in the first half, one by Chievous, who led Hampton with 11 first-half points.
Junior guard Deron Powers’ 3-pointer gave the Pirates their largest lead of the half, 35-23.
Manhattan freshman forward Calvin Crawford scored seven first-half points.
NOTES: Hampton played without junior F Dwight Meikle, its leading scorer and rebounder who also missed the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament with an ankle injury. … Manhattan made its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance. The Jaspers reached the tourney in back-to-back years for the first time since 2003 and 2004. … The Jaspers won both prior meetings with Hampton, which joined Division I in 1995. … Hampton, which began the season 1-5, became the 24th team to enter the NCAA Tournament with a losing record. The Pirates became the eighth of those teams to win a game.