Cooks, Hampton beat Howard 68-65 for 1st place tie in MEAC

WASHINGTON (AP) Reginald Johnson Jr. had 22 points and nine rebounds, Lawrence Cooks hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 43 seconds left and Hampton beat Howard 68-65 Monday night for the Pirates 12th straight win in the series.

Johnson gave Hampton a 65-63 lead on a layup with 2:51 remaining, James Daniel III tied the game for the 12th time with a minute left and Cooks made his first 3 of the contest in six attempts.

Quinton Chievous added 15 points and 17 rebounds for Hampton (14-9, 9-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference), which rebounded after its second conference loss to move into a first-place tie with South Carolina State. Dionte Adams had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Daniel scored 20 points for Howard (10-14, 4-5), which lost its fourth straight game. Marcel Boyd had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Howard led by as many as 11 points in the first half and had a 43-37 advantage at halftime.