Hampden-Sydney win streak continues with victory over VWU

VIRGINIA BEACH – Achieve eight consecutive wins. The last few minutes mattered, but the Hampden-Sydney Tigers clinched a 73-66 away win over Virginia Wesleyan University on Wednesday night.

Junior Adam Brazil scored 17 points to lead the 18-ranked Tigers, with fellow junior Davidson Hubbard adding 13 points and nine game-high rebounds. With the win, the Tigers improve to 17-4 in the season and 11-1 in conference play. It was the Tigers’ first win at Virginia Wesleyan since February 21, 2009.

“Big win tonight,” said Tigers head coach Caleb Kimbrough. “We really showed our versatility with several different guys playing at different times. We’ve messed up way too much and we need to clean this up, but we found a way to get it done.”

How it happened

Hampden-Sydney scored the first five points of the competition, trailing 11-3, 16-11. Baskets inside from Hubbard and Hardy, along with a three-point field goal from Wright, put the Tigers 11-10 at 14:41, and seven quick points from Wright, including another three-pointer, equalized 17-17 from 8:43 on the clock.

VWU led 23-20 at 4:51, but Garnet & Gray had eight unanswered points to lead 28-23 at 3:12 – the goal from newcomer Ryan Blakey, Brazil and senior Chase Turner – including a three-pointer from Brazil 3:43 for the first lead of the evening by the guests.

Hampden-Sydney maintained his momentum and led 35-32 at the break, beating the Marlins 15-9 in the final 4-18.

VWU closed 37-36 early in the second half, but H-SC responded with a 14-6 run to lead 51-40 at 13:15, the biggest lead of the competition. Hubbard started the fast run with a slam dunk from an out of bounds game while Brazil added seven points, including a three, and Senior Miles Harris (Virginia Beach) also had a three.

A jumper at the bottom of Brazil’s shot clock had given the Tigers a 53:44 lead by 11:09 a.m. before the Marlins used a quick 8-2 run to get to 55:52 at 8:33 a.m. However, the Garnet & Gray responded with an 8-3 run to lead 63-55 with 5:20 points remaining – Hardy making consecutive baskets, a reverse layup from Brazil and a jump hook in junior Alex Elliott’s lane. VWU was within 63-60 at 4:36, but H-SC secured the result with seven straight points from Hubbard before senior Ryan Clements took 3-4 free throws towards the end margin.

Hampden-Sydney, by numbers

Brazil led the H-SC with their 17 points and added two steals. Hubbard finished the tournament with his 13 points and 9 game-high rebounds, adding three assists for the Tigers. Hardy and Wright contributed 10 points each, with Hardy adding nine game-high rebounds. Blakey had six points and a game-high two steals off the bench, while Clements added five points, seven rebounds and a game-high four assists. The H-SC shot 44% (28-64) from the field, of which 44% (8-18) on threes and 56% (9-16) on the free-throw line.

DeVeaux led VWU with his game-high 20 points, adding five rebounds and three assists. Jordan Crump had 18 points and six rebounds for the Marlins. VWU shot 37% (20-54) from the field, with 32% (9-28) on threes and 68% (17-25) on the line.

Next on the agenda

H-SC returns home to welcome ODAC member Shenandoah University to the S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium at Kirby Field House on Saturday, February 4 at 2 p.m. There is free entry to all regular season home competitions – with just two remaining this season – and the game can be watched on Tiger Sports Network’s live video stream at hscathletics.comBroadcast before the game at 1:30 p.m