Hampton guard Michael Eley and Jackson State guard Daeshun Ruffin put on a show Thursday night in the Chris Paul HBCU Classic. Eley scored 31 points, blocked two shots, and pulled down five rebounds to lead the Pirates to a 87-77 victory.
The Pirates’ bench provided the difference for the win. Collectively, they outscored the Tigers by 19 points to offset Jackson State’s 12-point deficit against the Pirates’ starters. Ruffin led all scorers with 36 points and 6 assists. Jayme Mitchell Jr. and Dorian McMillian chipped in 16 and 11 points as the only other Tigers in double figures.
The point production from the Tigers’ bench wasn’t the only category that added nothing to the effort. Jackson State’s six-man bench accounted for 10 points, 13 rebounds, and one assist.
Hampton expanded its one-point lead at the half by a dozen two minutes into the second. Seven-footer Josh Ogundele scored five of his 11 points in the span while eating up space in the paint.
Devin Ree’s three-pointer near the three-minute mark cut the Pirates’ lead to 8 and ignited the Tigers’ 9-0 run. Jackson State cut the lead to two with 53 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Ruffin.
Eley outscored Ruffin 7-2 during the final stretch to preserve the Pirates’ fifth win of the season.