PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team will play their regular season home opener on Tuesday night as they host the University of Maryland Baltimore County. UMES (2-6) will try to notch back-to-back victories for the first time since March of 2011 after their 72-66 road victory at Fordham on Saturday.

The Hawks are coming off an impressive 72-66 win on the road at Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y. UMES led wire-to-wire, never trailing on Saturday afternoon to record their second win of the year. The Rams pushed back to cut the lead to two points on several occasions, but UMES found a timely response at each critical juncture. Mike Myers converted a traditional three-point play as well as a few clutch free throws to keep the Hawks in front.

UMES now returns home to Princess Anne for their first regular season home game of the year. The Hawks won an exhibition against Salisbury University at W.P. Hytche Athletic Center back on November 11. With another victory, UMES can surpass its non-conference win total from each of the last two seasons.

UMBC (0-5) comes into Princess Anne winless on the young season. The Retrievers are coming off back-to-back home losses to Howard and Towson. Led by third year head coach Aki Thomas, UMBC is coming off a 9-21 season in 2013-14 that included a close victory over UMES. Back on December 3, 2013, the Hawks travelled up to Baltimore to visit UMBC in a game decided in the final minute. UMES missed a few critical free throws, allowing the Retrievers to escape with a 64-59 home win.

This year, the Hawks will try to flip the script against their in-state rivals. UMBC owns the all-time series between the two teams, 4-1 and having won the last two matchups, including last season. The most recent victory for UMES over UMBC came back on December 1, 2004 as the Hawks triumphed over the Retrievers in Princess Anne, 69-62.

The Retrievers sport a very balanced scoring attack with four players over eight points per game, but none of them eclipsing 12 points per game. UMBC is led by senior Wayne Sparrow (11.6 ppg) and junior Cody Joyce (11.0 ppg). The UMBC squad has a homegrown roster as both Sparrow and Joyce, along with six more of their teammates, hail from the state of Maryland.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at W.P. Hytche Athletic Center on Tuesday evening. Hawk fans can listen live to the game action with Doug Newton and Dave Byrd, with pregame coverage starting at 7:10 p.m. Tune in to the Hawks Radio Network on SFMSports.net and Fox Sports 960 AM for all your Hawks' basketball coverage.