Final Stats

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) hung around during the first half of Thursday's New Year's Eve matinee at UMBC. But the best shooting game of the year for the Retrievers (59 percent) prevented any second-half starring role for the Hawks.

UMES (3-12, 0-2 MEAC) got out to an early lead and tied the game as late as four minutes before the half. But UMBC put up 47 second-half points pulling away for an 89-75 win.

"We tried to get into our zone and they shot the ball well," head coach Bobby Collins said. "We tried man-to-man and they drove it. THey have some very prolific guards and they really took it to us today. They had a little bit more rhythm than we had."

Those guards, sophomore Rodney Elliott and classmate Jarius Lyles accounted for 46 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. But the real bonus for the Retrievers came from junior guard Will Darley who was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field including four from downtown for 23 points.

UMBC (4-10) took its first lead 13-10 at the 14:13 mark of the first half after UMES started strong.

Late in the first half, the Hawks began to chip away at the lead. A circus shot by Devin Martin (Baltimore, Maryland) cut the Retrievers advantage to 26-23 with 6:58 left in the half and he added a free throw to cut the advantage to two.

Thomas Rivera's (Harlem, New York) reverse layup and free throw a few possessions later cut the lead to 31-30. And Martin's 3-pointer knotted it at 33-33 with 4:02 left in the half, but the Hawks couldn't get over the hump.

UMBC held the lead 42-36 at the break, but the Hawks still seemed poised to cut into it.

Instead, the Retrievers build on the lead taking it to 10 points five minutes into the second half.

The Hawks shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and 44 percent in the second, but could not overcome the barrage by UMBC. UMES was outrebounded 34-27 and the Retrievers scored 21 points off 13 Hawks turnovers. Eleven of those came in the first half.

Martin finished the game with 24 points on 9-of-20 shooting including 5-of-11 from behind the arc, but had one assist and four turnovers. Dominique Elliott (Savannah Georgia) finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Bakari Copeland (Decatur, Georgia) had 17 points and four rebounds, while Rivera had seven assists.

"This is a very young team that we have," Collins said. "It's been very difficult getting consistency. He have got to do a better job of playing consistent. I know we are capable and we have to be consistent. That is something that we are not. Devin is an All American one game and the next game he is sub par. So is Dom (Elliott)."

The Hawks will next be heading to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Jan. 2 and then on to Columbia (New York) on Jan. 6. UMES does not return home until a Jan. 11 men's and women's doubleheader against Morgan State.

All games can be heard locally on Fox Sports Radio 960 AM WTGM or on www.umeshawks.com. Brendan Gulick will have the call at UMBC on the Hawks Sports Radio Network.