Johnson Jr., Hampton top Morgan St. in MEAC tourney quarters

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) Reginald Johnson Jr. had 19 points and a career-high 13 assists, while Quinton Chievous scored 17 with nine rebounds to help top-seeded Hampton beat No. 9 seed Morgan State 83-81 Wednesday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.

Brian Darden added 14 points and Jervon Pressley scored 10 for Hampton, which will play in the semifinals Friday.

A 3-pointer by Johnson capped an 11-2 run that gave the Pirates a 58-49 with 12:33 left.

Phillip Carr hit a 3s on consecutive possessions to pull Morgan State (9-22) within five, 83-78, with 1:28 to play, but the Bears didn't score again until Donte Pretlow made a 3-pointer as time expired.

Pretlow led Morgan State with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Cedric Blossom scored 19 and Carr added 10.

Hampton (19-10) shot a season-high 51.5 percent (34 of 66) from the field and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.