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NORFOLK, Va. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team had their MEAC Tournament hopes dashed on Thursday night with a 76-71 defeat to Hampton University. The 3-seeded Hawks (18-14, 11-5) were upended in the quarterfinal round by the 6-seeded Pirates.

UMES came into Thursday's quarterfinal matchup after enjoying a first-round bye thanks to their 11-5 conference record and third-place finish. It was the first bye UMES had received since the MEAC Tournament expanded in 1997. Meanwhile, Hampton played in the opening round on Monday, beating Morgan State 91-71, though the Pirates lost their top big man Dwight Meikle to an ankle injury in the process.

At first, the rest appeared to pay dividends as the Hawks started strong. Senior guard Ishaq Pitt (Brooklyn, N.Y.) muscled his way to the rim for six points in the opening four minutes. After a putback slam by Mike Myers, UMES led 16-8 with 13:35 remaining in the first half. Deron Powers kickstarted the Pirates' offense with a couple three-pointers, keying a 10-0 run to bounce back after a slow start. From there, Hampton and UMES went back-and-forth in an evenly played opening frame. The Pirates took a 37-33 advantage into the halftime break.

Hampton began the second half strong, building a double-digit advantage. The Pirates rattled off an 8-1 run to take a 45-34 lead with 17:08 to play. The Hawks spent the rest of the night trying to climb out of that hole. At any key juncture when UMES began to pull back, Powers seemed to step up for a clutch shot for Hampton. A Third Team All-MEAC Selection, Powers scored 23 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep. As a team, Hampton drained an absurd 12-of-25 three-point attempts (48.0%).

The Hawks finally made progress cutting into the Pirates' lead after the final media timeout. Pitt carried the team down the stretch, converting back-to-back possessions to pull within two points with 1:36 left. After a steal, Mark Blackmon was fouled, giving UMES a chance to tie the game. Blackmon split the free throws to bring the score to 72-71 with 48 seconds left. After a defensive stop on a drawn charge, UMES had the ball down one with 32 seconds to go. Pitt attacked the basket, drawing another foul while in the double bonus. Pitt, who led the team with 19 points, missed both free throws. On the other end, Powers sunk both freebies for a three-point advantage. One final turnover doomed the Hawks to the defeat in the quarterfinal round.

Pitt's 19 points matched a career-high that he set during his freshman year. The senior also added team-highs with seven rebounds and six assists. Blackmon energized the Hawks off the bench with defensive intensity and a needed pick-me-up on offense. The sophomore set a new career-high in points scored at 14. Blackmon's previous career-best performance came in the opening round of the MEAC Tournament last season vs. Norfolk State. Dominique Elliott also added 12 points as Hampton focused their defensive efforts on bottling up Myers. The Hawks' top scorers on the season, Myers and Devin Martin, combined for just 14 points.

Three-point shooting proved to be the difference in the final outcome. UMES finished the regular season as the most accurate three-point shooting team in the MEAC at 38.5%. While the Hawks remained accurate on Thursday, they could not match the volume of long-range shots. Hampton made 12-of-25 three-pointers compared to just 6-of-15 from UMES. Both teams struggled from the foul line, leaving plenty of points on the table. The Pirates went 20-of-37 (54.1%) from the free throw line, while the Hawks finished at 19-of-31 (61.3%) with the misses down the stretch standing out the most.

The Hawks will await to find out whether or not they will receive an invite to play in a postseason tournament. Meanwhile, Hampton advances to the semifinals to face Norfolk State on Friday night. As of now, the postseason drought continues for UMES, dating back to 2011 when they last won a game in the MEAC Tournament.