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PRINCESS ANNE, Md.- The first home contest of the 2015-16 campaign for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) men's basketball team quickly escalated into an offensive battle. Despite their best efforts to keep up, the Hawks fell behind the visiting Fairfield Stags and were ultimately handed at 113-74 loss at the William P. Hytche Center Tuesday night.

UMES drops to 0-4, while Fairfield improved to 2-3 with the win.

Senior Devin Martin (Baltimore, Md.) scored 15 points to lead all Hawk scorers. He was joined in double figures by freshman Dontae Caldwell (Los Angeles, Calif.), who reached a new career high in points with 13. Junior Bakari Copeland (Decatur, Ga.) finished with nine points, but led the team in boards with six.

As a team the Hawks outrebounded the Stags, 42-40, and the home team rejected three shots, two of those courtesy of senior Dominique Elliott (Savannah, Ga.). However, they were out shot by the sharp shooting Stags, who sank just under 57% of their shots.

For Fairfield, Delmarva product Marcus Gilbert led the way with 32 points, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Four of his teammates also tallied double figures, and Stag sophomore Tyler Nelson narrowly missed a triple-double with 20 points along with nine assists and eight rebounds, both team highs.

The visitors blazed out of the gates after a brief tie of 2-2, going on a 7-0 run that was capped by a Nelson triple. Based largely on tight play early, however, the Hawks stayed close, and a layup from junior Joshu'a Warren (Marietta, Ga.) pulled the home team within two at 14-12 with 12:40 to play.

Unfortunately, that was as close as the Hawks would get. For the next eight minutes the Stags gradually pulled away expanding the lead to 37-12 until UMES sank a pair of foul shots at the 4:49 mark. The teams traded off points for the remainder of the half, reaching a halftime score of 47-26.

The closest the Hawks would get in the second half was a 19 point deficit with a Martin jumper 17 seconds in, but the Stags continued to increase their lead at a steady pace. A Fairfield three pointer pushed their score to triple digits with about five minutes remaining, as the MAAC team amassed 66 points to the Hawks' 48 in the final 20 minutes.

UMES will try to get back on track with a 4:00p.m. home game Friday against NEC foe St. Francis (Pa.). The Hawks are looking to avenge a four point loss from a year ago.