North Carolina A&T men's basketball coach Jerry Eaves was pleased with his team's effort Monday night. He thought his team executed well offensively and defensively.

Despite that, the Aggies lost their fourth straight conference game and their second straight game at home with a 65-55 loss to Hampton Monday night at Corbett Sports Center. It led Eaves to describe the Aggies play of late as the "dog days."

Senior guard Dwane Joshua led the Aggies with 18 points. Junior center Thomas Coleman added 16 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.

"Today gave us a little more to work with, but we are in a serious shooting slump,'' said Eaves. "We can't seem to hit layups or free throws at the correct time in a game."

The difference again on Monday was the Aggies start. For the second straight home game, the Aggies found themselves down by double figures in the first half. The Pirates shot 50 percent in the first half to take a 39-28 halftime lead.

Normally, the Aggies are able to regroup in the second half by playing well defensively and knocking down shots. The Aggies defense improved, but the shots didn't fall on a consistent basis.

"Teams have been able to come in and hit their five threes early in the game,'' said Eaves. "They bank them in, they shoot them from 30 feet and they hit them falling away. That really puts the snow on top of my kids early as the avalanche starts to grow. But my young men did a great job of staying with it. We got the shots we wanted in the last 10 minutes. We just didn't make them."

The shots the Pirates hit in the first half were not falling in the second half. Hampton shot just 33 percent in the second half, but was able to maintain a double-figure lead for most of the second half. When Nic Simpson found a cutting Tavarus Alston for a layup the Aggies were down 53-44 with nine minutes remaining.

Two missed 3-pointers, two missed free throws and two turnovers did not allow the Aggies (5-13, 1-4 MEAC) to get any closer over their next five possessions. Michael Freeman's tip-in and Darrion Pellum's alley-oop dunk gave the Pirates a 13-point lead with four minutes to play.

"Our shots will eventually go in,'' said Eaves. "We're just going to have to work our way through this."

Hampton improved to 5-12 overall and 2-3 in the MEAC. Kwame Morgan led the Pirates with 13 points. Freeman added 11 points and 11 rebounds. The Aggies face S.C. State in Orangeburg, S.C., Saturday before playing arch-rival Winston-Salem State Monday night at the LJVM Annex.