Junior Bryce Harris scored a team-high 23 points, and Marcus Dockery added 21 to lead five Howard players in double figures in a 92-80 win over Hampton.
The two rivals battled back and forth through the first 20 minutes, exchanging blows before the Bison managed a 40-36 lead at the half.
Dockery, a 6-foot-2 sharpshooter, did most of the damage as he hit three straight three-pointers. Harris, a 6-foot-4 wing and preseason second-team All-MEAC selection, muscled his way for 12 points, scoring on various power moves and putbacks.
The Pirates (0-1) refused to let the Bison (1-0) pull away as Tedrick Wilcox matched Dockery with some outstanding shooting from beyond the arc. A 6-foot-6 graduate guard, Wilcox finished with a game-high 24 points, 18 coming from a 6-for-6 effort from the three-point line.
Sophomore Dom Campbell (Scarborough, Maine), graduate Joshua Strong, and second-year Bison Shy Odom (Roxbury, Mass.) took turns adding to the Bison’s scoring output.
Campbell, a 6-foot-9 center, finished with 10 points, Strong, a 6-foot guard, added 12 points, and Odom showed why he is the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference preseason Player of the Year. The 6-foot-6 sophomore filled the stat sheet with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
For the game, Howard shot 56 percent from the floor, including 50 percent (9-of-18) from three-point land, 81 percent (29-of-36) from the charity stripe, and outrebounded Hampton 34-21.
The Pirates were led by Wilcox and Kyrese Mullen (14 points) and Tristen Maxwell (11 points).
Courtesy: Howard Athletics