Dec. 22, 2009

Box Score

DEKALB, Ill. - Redshirt junior Tim Burns (Franklinville, N.J.) had a career game, but it wasn't enough as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team fell to Northern Illinois, 87-69, in front of 704 at the Convocation Center Tuesday afternoon.

"Tim plays with a lot of heart," commented head coach Frankie Allen. "He plays the game the way that everyone should; he brings it everyday, not just once in awhile."

Burns scored a career, and game-high, 29 points on 9-of-16 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the charity stripe. He also added in one rebound, one block and one steal in 37 minutes of playing time, his most of the season.

"In the end, it's all about effort," said Burns. "It doesn't matter if I'm playing five minutes, ten or thirty, you have to bring the same hard energy and heart."

Two other Hawks scored in double digits with junior Kevin White (Brooklyn, N.Y.) putting up 13 while redshirt sophomore Hillary Haley (Oxon Hill, Md.) had 11. White added in eight rebounds, two assists and three steals.

UMES started the game with the tip and a quick 3-pointer by Haley to go up 3-0. Coming out of a 30-second timeout called by Allen at 13:39, sophomore Tyler Hines (Sicklerville, N.J.) brought down an offensive rebound and put it back up for two points to bring the score to 18-9 in favor of the Huskies.

A steal by White then led into a Burns layup to make things 23-11. Another steal and basket by White came two minutes later brought the score to 30-17.

NIU's Sean Kowal then went in for a dunk at 7:26 and was fouled by redshirt freshman Mark Robertson (Lakewood, N.J.). Kowal was then called for a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct for his response to his basket. Burns swished both of his free throws to bring the Hawks within 15 at 34-19.

The last five minutes of play in the half were sloppy on both sides of the court as the teams combined for eight turnovers and seven fouls and went into halftime with a score of 44-30 in favor of the Huskies.

Burns continued his hot game coming out of the locker room with two quick baskets to go to 57-30. Freshman James Cotton (Pocomoke, Md.) came down with a huge rebound off of a missed Burns free throw and was fouled by NIU's Michael Fakuade. Cotton made both of his free throws to come within 12 at 58-46.

The Huskies were able to go up by 19 points just under the eight-minute mark with a dunk by Najul Ervin.

A Hines steal and dunk just under the five-minute mark brought the Hawks within 12 points and looked to start a comeback for UMES. Free throws by Burns and a layup by junior Freddy Obame Obame (Libreville, Gabon) pulled the Hawks within 10 at 76-66.

That would be the closest UMES would come as NIU went on seven-point run and eventually closed out the game with a score of 87-69.

Xavier Silas led the Huskies in scoring with 19 points. Darion Anderson had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Sean Kowal had 12 points for NIU.

The Hawks fall to 3-7 on the season while the Huskies improve to 2-7.

"We have a lot of games left," stated Burns. "The holiday allows us to regroup and we'll get back to work right away."

UMES returns from the holiday break with a matchup against Ball State in Munice, Ind. on Monday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.