Gilvydas Biruta collected 17 points and 12 rebounds as Rutgers overcame a poor shooting effort with some strong defense en route to a 69-49 victory over visiting Hampton in the Triple Crown Cancun Challenge on Sunday.

Freshmen guards Myles Mack and Eli Carter struggled for a combined 16 points on 5-of-17 shooting for the Scarlet Knights (3-1), who will head to Mexico for their next two games of the Cancun Challenge.

Rutgers shot just 22 percent (6 of 27) from the floor in the first half but made up for it by getting to the line and knocking down 13 of 16 free throws. The Scarlet Knights came out of the break on fire, using a 10-2 run to push their lead to 15 points.

The Pirates would fight back to within 51-46 on Jasper Williams’ 3-pointer with 6:06 left but Biruta ended an 11-0 run with a layup and a pair of free throws to put the game away. Rutgers would finish 23 of 27 from the free throw line.

Darrion Peelum scored 21 points to lead Hampton (1-2), which committed 26 turnovers.