Jan. 10, 2011
Box Score
DURHAM, N.C. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore broke its seven-game winless streak, topping North Carolina Central, 48-47, at McDougald-McLendon Gymnasium Monday.
Down by one with five seconds left, a runner by NCCU's Blair Houston drew iron and UMES (3-10) escaped with the win, its first in 12 games out of league play on the road, dating back to Jan. 21, 2009 at Longwood.
Chena Parker (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) led the way for UMES with 10 points and nine rebounds and Kwinnyata Mercer (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) also tallied 10 points and seven rebounds.
Jori Nwachukwu paced NCCU (2-13) with a double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds in the loss.
Tied at 24-24 at halftime, UMES started the second half with a 10-4 spurt to take 36-30 advantage with 13:30 remaining. Casey Morton (Madela Springs, Md.) started the stretch with consecutive steals and layups and Adobi Agbasi (Columbus, Ga.) ended it with a jumper assisted by Latoya Buckner (Washington, D.C.).
A free throw from Mercer pushed the lead to 39-32 with 11:21 left for the Lady Hawks' biggest lead of the day. The teams then traded baskets for the next six minutes before NCCU made a run of its own. J'Mia Pollock converted a layup at the 4:53 mark to cut it to a 44-39 game.
Shanise Blanks and Chasidy Williams knocked down two free throws to get with two at 44-42 with 3:08 to play. Mercer drained a jumper on the next possession to restore a four-point lead but Nwachukwu hit a free throw and layup 30 seconds apart to trail by just one, 46-45, with 2:09 to play.
Out of a UMES timeout Parker knocked down a 15-footer with 58 seconds left to make it 48-45. Williams then converted two from the line with 24 seconds left. After a series fouls Parker and Amber Cook (Greensboro, N.C.) missed the front end of a three of 1-and-1s that could have put the game out of reach. Nwachukwu gather the rebound of Cook's miss with four seconds left and called timeout setting up the Houston shot.
The first half featured nine ties and three lead changes with neither team earning a lead bigger than four points the entire way.
NCCU shot 33.3 percent (16-for-48) for the game and UMES went 29.2 percent 21-of-72) from the floor in the game. UMES had eight less turnovers (29-21) and its bench outscored the Lady Eagles, 25-5.
UMES also won the battle of the boards, 50-46.
Mercer and Cook (seven points) added five steals each for UMES. Williams and Pollock chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively for NCCU.
The Lady Hawks jump back into MEAC play Thursday at Delaware State. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m.
