Hampton beats WSSU at Gaines Center

Good shooters have short memories and Hampton's Vincent Simpson needed a short memory on Monday night at the Gaines Center.

Going through one of his worst shooting games of his career Simpson had the gumption, and the talent, to make the game-winning jumper to beat Winston-Salem State 55-53. He made the 3-pointer with Shelton Carter all over him with 12.1 seconds left that was enough to give the Pirates and Coach Ed Joyner Jr., a Winston-Salem native, one of their biggest wins of the season.

The Rams (9-13) let this one slip away after leading for most of the second half. They had held Simpson, a senior guard, to just 3 of 16 shooting until he made the final 3-point dagger.

"We didn't want him to get anything easy, but they isolated him and he got a good look," said Brian Fisher of the Rams, who was guarding Simpson early in the play but then got caught in a switch with Carter taking over. "He knocked it down. He's their main player and he hadn't really hit a shot all game so he was due for one."

The Rams had a chance to tie it, but Andrew Jackson, who was just 1 of 11 from the field, missed a running jumper in the lane as the buzzer sounded.

The Rams had the ball out of bounds with 8.8 seconds left and Coach Bobby Collins had a play designed to go to Fisher, who led the Rams with 11 points. But Fisher got caught in traffic and Jackson was forced to improvise and couldn't work himself free enough for a clear shot.

"It was designed for me to come off a staggered screen, but they played good defense and we couldn't get a good look," Fisher said about the Rams' final possession.

The Rams had taken a 53-52 lead with 41.6 seconds left when Paul Davis made one of two free throws.

The Pirates then worked the ball around until Simpson had the ball out front with Shelton closely guarding him. He penetrated to the right, pulled back out and then launched a 22-footer that was good all the way.

"I'm a shooter and you just have to expect to make every shot," said Simpson, who scored 12 points but had to work for every one of them. "I was missing the whole game and I just have to keep shooting."

Joyner said that four different times this season Simpson had a chance to win the game on final shots but missed them all.

"You have to have the same confidence no matter what and I kept telling him you better be ready to take the next shot and he stuck to it," Joyner said.

When the Rams called timeout after Simpson's basket Joyner was one of the first ones to give him a major chest bump. "I felt like I was 20 again," Joyner said about the celebration bump.

The Rams had forged ahead by four with 6:01 left, but with 1:35 left Simpson made two free throws to tie it at 50. Jackson gave the Rams a 52-50 lead when he made two free throws with 1:13 to go.

Jonathan Ntoko got free down low for an easy layup with a minute left for the Pirates (8-15) to tie it at 52.

"I told them we had to make a play there at the end and we couldn't do it," Collins said about Simpson's game-winner. "Unfortunately we couldn't get a stop there and I thought Shelton was in his face and did a great job of challenging him and he hit a big shot."

Collins, who is 0-5 against the school he used to coach at, was asked how tough it was to lose to the Pirates again. "You know it is," he said.

The Pirates were playing without Mike Freeman, their second-leading scorer and top rebounder, who had the flu. But they still managed to take away the Rams' inside game with a tight zone. Davis had nine points and six rebounds but spent most of the first half in foul trouble.

"They played a lot of zone and we didn't attack it enough," Collins said. "I thought McInoche (Alcius) came in and gave us some energy. We made some plays but didn't make enough of them."

What made the win so much more special for Joyner was what his team has been through. One of the best players, Theo Smalling, was shot and killed in October.

"As much as these kids have been through they really needed this," Joyner said. "Vinnie had taken four other potential game-winners and he missed all of them, but tonight he came through. The play was designed to get Vinnie in the middle of the floor… This was our best win of the season by far."

The Rams had a two-game winning streak snapped.

"It hurts to lose like this at home," Fisher said. "We played hard and gave effort but the outcome just didn't go our way."

The Rams will play on Saturday at Morgan State.