Dover, Del. (Mar. 2, 2015) --- On a night when Delaware State honored its seniors in their final home game, the honorees led the way in the Hornets' 85-75 MEAC win over Hampton in Memorial Hall Monday evening.
Four seniors accounted for all but 10 points to help the Hornets snap a two-game slide and climb past Hampton into fifth place in the league standings.
Tyshawn Bell (sr.) scored a career-high 25 points to lead the way. Bell was 10-for-17 from the field, including three three-point field goals to move into fourth place on the Hornets' all-time list with 193. His previous high was 23 points vs. Florida A&M on Feb. 9.
Amere May (sr.) added 20 points, highlighted by four three-pointers (4-for-8). May, the MEAC's leading scorer, has reached double-figures in each of the last 20 games and has at least one three-pointer in 23 straight. After scoring just five points in the first 20 minutes, he scored 15 in the second half to reach the 20-point mark for the seventh consecutive game.
May nailed three threes during a one-minute-19 second span of the second half to help the Hornets take control of the game. His third three-pointer during the rally gave DSU a 68-52 lead with 9:44 left to play.
Kendall Gray (sr.) recorded his 16th double-double of the season, tallying 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Gray was second among all NCAA Division I players in rebounding and ninth in double-doubles entering the contest. He also had one block in the game to give him 80 for the season, one shy of the school-record 81 he set during the 2013-14 campaign.
Gray, the Hornets' career leader with 288 blocks, has set a single-season school record in each of the last two years.
Kendal Williams (sr.) contributed 18 points to the win on five-of-eight shooting from the field. He also tied his career-high with four three-point field goals.
Dwight Meikle led four Hampton players in double figures with 21 points. He also had a team-high eight rebounds, in addition to two blocks and three steals. Jervon Pressley and Deron Powers had 15 points each for the Pirates.
The score was 39-39 at the half.
The teams were tied at 43 when Bell hit a three-pointer at the 15:24 mark of the second half to put the Hornets ahead for good.
Delaware State was 16-or-27 from the field in the second half (59.3%), including six-of-10 from beyond the arc.
The Hornets forced the Hampton into 10-of-35 shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes (28/6%).
DSU improved to 14-16 overall and 8-7 in the MEAC, while the Pirates fell to 12-16 and 8-7. The Hornets hold the tie-breaker over Hampton by virtue of sweeping two games between the teams this season.
The Hornets will close out the 2014-15 regular season this Thursday at Coppin State. Game time is 7:30 p.m. in Baltimore, Md. DSU will try to avenge a 96-92 loss to the Eagles on Feb. 16 in Memorial Hall.
