AU’s win streak reaches eight following narrow victory over Hampton

The AU men’s basketball team remained undefeated at home and extended its winning streak to eight games with a 74-72 victory over Hampton University Dec. 7 at Bender Arena. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” AU Head Coach Jeff Jones said. “I think that was certainly the case tonight; we weren’t very good.” Despite the victory, the Eagles (8-2, 0-0 PL) performed poorly in several areas including turnovers, free throw shooting and team defense. AU turned the ball over 20 times, shot under 59 percent from the charity stripe and was unable to keep up with Hampton’s (4-6, 1-1 MEAC) offense at times. “We got to do a better job of taking care of the ball; 20 turnovers is just unacceptable,” Jones said. “We’re not going to be able to survive that very often and be able to win.” Charles Hinkle continued his spectacular scoring by tallying 24 points in the victory. The NCAA leader in total points (235), Hinkle shot 5-9 from beyond the arc and went 7-10 from the free throw line. Despite a lingering toe injury, Troy Brewer recorded one of his best games of the season for the Eagles by recording 19 points and five rebounds. Brewer scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half and had several clutch baskets. “Troy was really big for us at the end,” AU point guard Daniel Munoz said. “He’s shown a lot this year, and he’s playing through his injury, and [this] is just another example.” One of the players AU struggled to defend was Hampton’s leading scorer, Darrion Pellum. Pellum recorded 25 points on 10-20 shooting from the field and 3-6 shooting from 3-point range. “Pellum really carried his team, especially in the second half,” Hinkle said. “We were just trying to focus on defense and contain him. With a player like him, it’s hard to stop. You just got to contain him.” One of the keys in trying to slow down Hampton’s guard was Munoz, who was able to limit Pellum’s shot attempts by tallying a team-high six rebounds and three steals to go along with 10 points and six assists. Munoz was a factor for the Eagles in many ways and has become an increasing contributor for AU. “Danny is one of those guys who understands the game real well and with each game, I think he’s getting more confident because he’s performing well for us,” Brewer said. “He’s doing a lot for us.” Although the Eagles have gotten off to a great start in their first ten games, they face a tough road trip in the next five games. AU will be taking on St. Francis (Pa.), No. 18 Georgetown University, Villanova University, Mount St. Mary’s and Brown University. “The way the schedule has fallen has been good to us, and now we got to hit the road for a while,” Jones said. “Obviously the St. Francis game is a big game, it will be a nice test away from home.” sports@theeagleonline.com