Feb. 26, 2011

Game Notes

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Following a loss to Morgan State on the road 71-54, the Hawks come home to Princess Anne for Homecoming against Howard Saturday at the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.

The game was a very competitive one in the first half, with the Hawks up six at one point and being down by just four at halftime 25-21. However a Morgan State 12-3 run out of the locker room, including six points in that run from Tola Lawal, gave the Bears a 13-point lead. After Morgan State went up by 21, the Hawks managed to cut the lead to 13, however UMES could not get back the lead. UMES shot just 29.9% (20-67) during the game.

After four MEAC road games, the Hawks now return home for their final two regular season contests of the year. UMES is 5-5 at home, including 3-3 in-conference play. The team won their last two games at home, with victories against Norfolk State and North Carolina A&T. Last season, UMES defeated Coppin State 66-52 for their first homecoming win since 2002.

Since Howard defeated UMES in Washington D.C. 77-73 on January 29th, the Bison have gone 3-3 in against the MEAC. Their last game they narrowly lost at home to Bethune-Cookman 66-64. Howard is still looking for their first road win of the year, going 0-11 overall, including 0-5 in conference play.

The Bison rank last in the conference in points per game with 58 and field goal percentage at 38%, but are sixth in the MEAC in points allowed a game with 69.4.

INSIDE THE SERIES: The Hawks lost to Howard on Jan. 29 at Burr Gymnasium, 77-73. The score was tied at 73-73 with 21 seconds remaining. Kyle Riley scored the winning basket with 14 seconds left. Last season, UMES defeated Howard 68-66 at Burr Gymnasium on Feb. 27. The Hawks also beat Howard 67-66 Jan. 30, 2010.

WHITE BREAKS ALL-TIME ASSIST RECORD: With eight assists on Feb. 19 against Coppin State, Kevin White broke the UMES all-time assist record previously held by Joel Hoover, who dished out 302 over his three-year career. In only two seasons, White has handed out 308 assists. White broke the single-season record last year with 172 assists.

57 IN FINAL 5 MINUTES: In 14 conference games, the Hawks have been outscored by 57 points in the final five minutes of games. The Hawks have outscored their opponent over the final five minutes in only three of the 14 conference games. On Feb. 14 in Daytona Beach, the Wildcats outscored the Hawks by 12 points in the final five minutes.

100 OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS?: With two regular season games left, Tyler Hines has 89 offensive rebounds. He is trying to become the first player since Tim Parham during the 2005-06 season to record 100 offensive rebounds in a single-season. Parham grabbed 116 offensive rebounds.

MOST REBOUNDS SINCE `09: Tyler Hines recorded a career high 16 rebounds on Feb. 5 against Norfolk State. The 16 rebounds are the most since Feb. 16, 2009 when Neal Pitt had 16 rebounds against Norfolk State.

SEVENTEEN OF EIGHTEEN: Hillary Haley has scored in double figures in 17 of the last 18 games. He has poured in over 15 points in 14 of the last 18 games. Haley has 22 double figure scoring games, most on the team. Haley is third in the conference in scoring at 16.7 a night.

IMPROVED REBOUNDER: Hillary Haley ranks second on the Hawks in rebounding at 5.7 per game. Last year, he averaged 3.4 per night. In 27 games this season, he has secured 48 offensive rebounds. Last season (32 games), he grabbed only 35 offensive rebounds.

BOB COUSY AWARD NOMINEE: Kevin White was one of 66 point guards in the nation honored as a candidate for the Bob Cousy award. White is one of only two players in the MEAC (Jay Threatt, Delaware State) on the 66-man list of candidates.

HOMECOMING: Last season, the Hawks picked up their first homecoming win since 2002 by defeating Coppin State, 66-52. Tyler Hines earned the Jessie Williams Hawk Homecoming award by scoring nine points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

FOURTH IN CONFERENCE: Haley ranks fourth in the MEAC in scoring. Only C.J. Reed of Bethune-Cookman (19.2), Darrion Pellum of Hampton (17.8) and Thomas Coleman of N.C. A&T (16.8) are scoring more per game than Haley. If the season ended today, Haley's scoring average of 16.7 would be the highest total since 2007-08 when Ed Tyson averaged 20.2 a contest.

COMMON THEMES IN WINS: There are a few trends in the Hawks six wins this season. They have scored over 80 points, they have outrebounded their opponent and they have shot over 40 percent from the floor in each win.

CAN'T TRAIL AT HALF: The Hawks are 0-16 this season when trailing after the first half of play.

SECOND IN CONFERENCE: Tyler Hines ranks second in the MEAC in offensive rebounds per game (3.5). Hines leads the Hawks with 87 offensive rebounds. Hines ranks sixth in the MEAC in overall rebounding at 7.5 per contest. He has 50 rebounds over his last four games.

OFFENSE IMPROVING UNDER ALLEN: This year's Hawks have produced the best scoring average in the three years under head coach Frankie Allen. UMES is fifth in the conference, scoring 68.0 points per game. In 2008-09 (Allen's first year), the Hawks averaged 58.6 points per game. In 2009-10, UMES averaged 60.8 points per game. Since the 2002-03 season, the Hawks have averaged over 65.0 points per game.

1,011 POINTS IN CAREER: Hillary Haley scored has scored 848 points in his two-year career at UMES. Including his one season at St. Bonaventure, Haley went over the 1,000 point plateau with 24 against Coppin State. He has scored 1,011 points.

STRUGGLING FROM DEEP: The Hawks have not shot over 30 percent from the 3-pointer range in their last five games.

BRIGHT'S A SEASONED VET: Josh Bright will play his 102nd game at UMES tonight against Howard. Bright graduated from UMES in December and is currently in graduate school at UMES.

BELOW 40 IN FOUR STRAIGHT: The Hawks have shot below 40 percent in four straight games. UMES shot 39.7 percent against Coppin State. The Hawks shot just 29.9 percent (20-67) against Morgan State on Monday.

IMPROVED YEAR: With two games left, Freddy Obame Obame has already scored 106 more points than he did all of last season. Obame Obame averaged only 2.7 points per game last season. He is scoring 6.8 points per game this season.

ALL 27: Kevin White is the only player that has started all 27 games this season. White leads the Hawks in minutes per game at 30.1.