Feb. 6, 2010
Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. - A tip-in at the buzzer was ruled basket interference for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team as they fell, 64-62, to Norfolk State at Joe Echols Hall Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans' Michael Deloach made a jumper with three seconds left in the game to pull NSU ahead, 64-62. After an in-bounds play and two timeouts for the Hawks, UMES had the ball underneath their own basket with 1.8 seconds left on the clock. Senior Neal Pitt (Fort Washington, Md.) received the in-bounds pass in the paint and put up the lay-in as time expired. The basket was ruled as interference on the Hawks and therefore no good.
Junior Tim Burns (Franklinville, N.J.) led the Hawks in scoring with 15 points and five assists. Sophomore Tyler Hines (Sicklerville, N.J.) chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds while redshirt sophomore Hillary Haley (Oxon Hill, Md.) had 10 and a career-high nine rebounds.
Deloach, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's leading scorer, scored the first points of the game at 19:48, but UMES held him to just those two points in the first half.
Junior Kevin White (Brooklyn, N.Y.) quickly responded with a 3-pointer, to go up 3-2, less than 30 seconds into the game.
At the 11:53 mark, junior Josh Bright (Salisbury, Md.) drained a trey to come within two at 16-14. Haley pulled up with his own 3-pointer at 11:26 to put the Hawks up by one.
Hines blocked a shot by the Spartans' Kyle O'Quinn at the 8:09 mark and proceeded to go the distance for his own layup to make things 21-19.
The block party continued as freshman Sean Berry (Irvington, N.J.) blocked two consecutive layups by NSU's Tim Zephyr, which resulted in another two points for UMES as Burns pulled up for a jumper to bring the score to 23-19.
A layup for junior Freddy Obame Obame (Libreville, Gabon) just under the two-minute mark put the Hawks up by six at 32-26.
The first half was a balanced scoring affair for UMES as eight out of the nine players who saw playing time scored at least two points.
Coming out of halftime, a basket by Hines and free throw for Haley put the Hawks up by 11 at 37-26. The Spartans chipped away at that lead and brought it within two at 39-37 just under the 15-minute mark with a jumper by Deloach.
Down, 44-41, at the 12:45 mark, Burns drained two straight shots from downtown to go up 47-46. NSU would come back and lead for the next eight minutes until a layup by Hines with 1:42 remaining tied the game at 60-apiece.
Burns was then intentionally fouled, which sent him to the free throw line. Two made baskets later and the Hawks were up by two at 62-60. These were the last points UMES would score in the game.
Deloach led the Spartans in scoring with 18 points. O'Quinn registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Hawks continue their three-game roadtrip with a matchup against North Carolina A&T at 8 p.m. Monday. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
