BALTIMORE, Md. - Freshman Dontae Caldwell (Los Angeles, California) scored a career-high 25 points including 10-of-12 from the field as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) survived overtime at Coppin State and came away with an 83-81 win.

UMES (6-16, 3-4 MEAC) saw two chances by Dominique Elliott (Savannah, Georgia) rattle out in the final minute to leave the game knotted at 77-77 to end regulation.

But an Elliott free throw and five points from senior co-captain Devin Martin (Baltimore, Maryland) in the extra five minutes was enough for the win.

"We've been practicing these scenarios all week and I thought we had a great week in practice," Collins said. "So when the opportunity presented itself, I said 'look at the score. This is what we worked on.' We made one more play and we got one more stop than they did tonight."

A pair of free throw by James Sylvester gave Coppin State (5-15, 3-4 MEAC) the lead 79-77 to start the OT. Elliott's free throw with 2:43 remaining cut the lead to 79-78. Then Martin drive from the right wing for a layup with 1:58 left to give the Hawks the lead back. 80-79.

Sylvester buried two more free throws with 1:30 left, but Martin's 3-pointer gave UMES the lead back for good 83-81.

Martin would get a defensive rebound on the next possession, but turned it over giving the Eagles another shot. But Keith Shivers' jumper was no good and Thomas Rivera (Harlem, New York) grabbed the defensive board with six seconds left.

"We are still a work in progress," Collins said. "My best player didn't play well at all. He had every turnover that you could imagine. But we just just able to pull it out, so I'm pleased with that."
It was a tough day for Martin before his late-game heroics. At the half, he had three turnovers and just two points in 17 minutes. He had three points and a pair of turnovers in the second half. He sat the final 4:59 of regulation.

But when the overtime started, Collins went back to Martin.

"I had to make and executive decision because my other coaches weren't sure. He hadn't played well," Collins said. "I said he's still a senior and he's still our best player. I'm going to live and die with this situation right here."

The Eagles started the game with five straight 3's taking a 15-6 lead before they scored any other way. They ended the half by scoring 12 straight points from the free throw line.

But the Hawks hung just within range in the first half and closed the gap in the final moments of the first half. UMES took its first lead of the game, 38-37, with 1:28 left in the half on a layup by Derrico Peck (Atlanta, Georgia).

At the half, UMES led 42-37, and the bench had scored 29 of those points. Caldwell led the way with 11, while Peck and Rivera had seven apiece.

"The coaches we talked about that if our guys don't come out with the energy that we need, then we have our guys that played well this week," Collins said. "Our white (reserve) team actually beat the starters all week this week, so we knew what we had. We knew what we were capable of."

The reserves kept up the strong play in the second half adding 21 more points.

Caldwell led the way with 25 points and a pair of steals. Rivera finished with nine points, two rebounds and three assists. Peck filled up the box score with nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

"Derrick Peck is really starting to find his niche for this team and of he's playing and playing defense the way he is playing, we can be OK."

Martin finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Elliott had nine points and seven boards and Bakari Copeland (Decatur, Georgia) scored eight and grabbed four boards.

Coppin got all, but 15 points from four scorers: Christian Kessee (20), Shivers (17), Josh Treadwell (15) and Terry Harris (14). Harris pulled down 11 rebounds.

The Hawks will welcome Howard on Monday (Feb. 1) at 7 p.m. That game can be seen live nationally on ESPNU.

All games can be heard locally on Fox Sports Radio 960 AM WTGM or on www.umeshawks.com. Brendan Gulick and David Byrd will have the call from the William P. Hytche Athletic Center on the Hawks Sports Radio Network.