Box Score

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team enjoyed their first road MEAC win under head coach Bobby Collins with an impressive showing at Morgan State on Monday night. The Hawks (9-9) dominated the action from the opening tip, sewing up a victory by a comfortable 25-point margin, with a 78-53 final score.

Blasting out of the gates, UMES jumped on the Bears for an early lead with an 8-0 run to start the game. By the 14-minute mark, UMES had already built up a 16-2 lead on a superb defensive effort. Junior guard Devin Martin, playing in his hometown of Baltimore, scored 15 of the Hawks' first 21 points to set the stage. The Hawks led by as many as 19 in the first half, but a 6-1 run for Morgan State closed the gap to 14 points at halftime. UMES took the 36-22 advantage despite their leading scorer, Mike Myers, being held scoreless in the opening frame.

Morgan State came firing out of the locker room, as Blake Bozeman launched a pair of three-pointers as part of an 8-0 Bears run to start the second half. With the lead down to six points, Coach Collins burned a timeout to halt the Bears' momentum. UMES responded with their own 8-0 run, finally getting Myers in the scorebook with a pair of layups. Morgan State was never within 12 points again on the night, as the Hawks put together a 29-6 run over 12 minutes.

The Hawks' defense dominated the night, both stifling the Bears' attack and producing easy points in transition for UMES. The Hawks forced 20 turnovers from their opponents, and turned those mistakes into 29 points the other way, including 18 fast break points. Devon Walker (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the defense with four steals, while Dominique Elliott, Iman Johnson and Martin each grabbed two steals. The UMES defense held Morgan State to just 32.2% percent shooting as a team, including a quiet 5-of-22 from the three-point line. Not a single Bears player cracked double digits in scoring for the evening.

With the easy buckets off of turnovers, UMES posted an efficient 52.0% percent shooting mark as a team. The Hawks were an improved 5-of-13 from beyond the arc, after a dismal shooting night hampered their offense in the previous loss at NJIT. Martin finished just one point shy of his career-high at 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting. Both Johnson and Elliott broke double digits, at 10 points apiece. Elliott nearly posted a double-double, needing just one more rebound at nine boards for the contest. Perhaps most impressively, the Hawks' offense churned out 78 points without major contributions from Myers, the leading scorer on the year. Myers was bottled up for the bulk of the game, drawing attention and sharing the ball instead of forcing contested shots. The senior forward scored just eight points, his lowest total since mid-November at Mount St. Mary's.

With the victory, the Hawks evened their overall record to 9-9 and improved to 2-1 in conference play. Along with the win over North Carolina A&T on December 8, UMES has won back-to-back MEAC games for the first time since the end of the 2010-2011 season. The win snapped a three-game losing streak against their in-state rival Morgan State over the previous two seasons. The 25-point margin of victory is the largest for UMES over Morgan State since the 1967-68 season. UMES is now a perfect 4-0 vs. teams from the state of Maryland so far this year with wins over Mount St. Mary's, UMBC and Navy as well.

After an extended period of road games, UMES will finally return to the Hytche on Saturday when they host Savannah State. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. following the conclusion of the women's basketball game. Hawks fans can listen to all the action on the Hawks Radio Network on SFMSports.net and Fox Sports 960 AM.