In the annual Battle of the Bay, the Hampton Pirates could not complete the late game comeback against the Norfolk State Spartans. Hampton's men's basketball team drops to 1-2 after the game. Within a week, the team has lost games to their biggest rivals in Norfolk State and Howard. One the other hand, the Spartans improve to 3-0 on the year. They've defeated Penn State Wilkes-Barre, the Apprentice School, and now Hampton University.

Echols Memorial Hall at Norfolk State buzzed with energy as fans filled the seats, waiting for tip off. The two teams battled back and forth, neither really grabbing hold of a lead. About halfway into the first half, Norfolk State began to press the Pirates, then fell back into a zone in the half court. The defensive scheme flustered Hampton to the point of a timeout following a crowd-pleasing Spartan alley-oop. Norfolk State's zone defense exacerbated Hampton's lack of shooting and overall scoring: it was obvious that the Pirates needed last year's leading scorer Jordan Nesbitt back on the floor. Tedrick Wilcox performed well in the first couple of games, but tonight was the worst night for him to struggle.

While Norfolk State continued to build a lead throughout the rest of the half, they could never truly pull away. The Spartans couldn't keep their hands to themselves, putting Hampton in the bonus with lots of remaining time. For a while, the Pirates were stuck in an offensive paradox. Although they shot poorly as a team from the free throw line in the first half (8-15), those trips to the line constituted most of their first half offense. Norfolk State entered half time with a 41-32 lead over Hampton.

Not much changed throughout most of the second half. Norfolk State's defense continued to smother Hampton's half court offense, forcing turnovers and poor shots. The Spartans finished with 22 points off turnovers compared to the Pirates' 13. A layup from Spartan Tyrel Bladen at the 13:00 minute mark gave Norfolk State their largest lead of the night, 57-42. In response, Hampton conducted a 13-2 run within the proceeding four minutes. The Pirates' defense finally got stops and ended possessions instead of giving up offensive rebounds. On the other end, Ford Cooper helped power Hampton's offensive assault. He was responsible for 11 of their 13 points during the run, including nine points of his own and an alley-oop to Ja'Von Benson.

Although Hampton got the deficit within five points, they would never regain the lead. The teams seesawed between a four and six-point game for nearly the rest of the night. With 2:47 to go and down 67-61, Hampton took a timeout. By this point, every basket either sent the crowd into a frenzy or shut the entire arena up. Coming out of the break, Cooper hit a huge three-pointer to cut the lead to three for the first time since the first half. On the other end, Pirate big man Joshua Lusane got a steal. On the fast break, Tedrick Wilcox, who hadn't scored since the first half, lined up a wide open three. Thousands of voices cried out in elation as the ball crashed against the rim, refusing to go in. A subsequent layup by Nyzaiah Chambers and a Pirate turnover eventually put the game out of reach.

Norfolk State's Jamarii Thomas led all players with 20 points, 12 of which came from the free throw line. Jaylani Darden chipped in 16 points and nine rebounds, while Allen Betrand hit two of his six three-point attempts as he finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Hampton sorely needed another scorer to rely on, especially due to Tedrick Wilcox's poor shooting night. He had just 11 points on 3-8 shooting. Kyrese Mullen stepped up with a big double-double, putting up 17 points and 10 rebounds. Ford Cooper shot an efficient 5-8 from the floor on his way to 16 points. Off the bench, Dan Banister Jr. had 11 points, but he shot a poor 3-9.

Both HBCUs are headed to St. Thomas for the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. Norfolk State is slated to play Fordham, while Hampton faces off against Kent State.