HAMPTON, Va. — Junior Jermaine Marrow scored 28 points and set a school and Big South Tournament single-game record for consecutive free throws made with 16 as eighth-seeded Hampton defeated ninth-seeded Longwood 77-71 in the first round of the Big South Conference Tournament on Tuesday night.
With the win, Hampton (15-15) faces co-regular season champion Campbell on Thursday night at 6 pm in the quarterfinals in Buies Creek, N.C.
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After a first half that saw seven ties and 11 lead changes, the Lancers opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 50-42 lead on a Jaylon Wilson layup with 17:10 remaining. Hampton responded with a 15-0 run to take a 57-50 lead on a layup by Greg Heckstall with 11:43 left in the game.
Longwood tied the game twice in the final eight minutes, the last being with 4:54 left on a JaShaun Smith jumper for 62-all. Marrow’s putback 24 seconds later gave Hampton a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. In those final 4:30, Hampton was 11-for-11 from the line and had one field goal, a 3-point play by Heckstall with 17 seconds left to lead 75-69.
Heckstall was next in scoring with another double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Akim Mitchell added 14 points. Hampton was 20-of-50 from the floor (40%), 7-of-23 from 3-point range (30.4%) and 30-of-32 from the foul line (93.8%). The Pirates outrebounded the Lancers 33-32.
Hampton faces a tall task against Campbell, led by Division I’s leading scorer Chris Clemons. However, HU did hold Clemons to a season-low 14 points in a 64-58 win. Marrow scored 26 in that game.