Final Stats

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland -

It took 50 minutes of basketball to decide a winner on Monday night between the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Florida A&M University. But by the time the second overtime was over it was the Rattlers who were celebrating the 81-80 win.

Devin Martin's (Baltimore, Maryland) free throws late in regulation tied the game at 67-67 and helped send it to overtime.

The Hawks (8-21, 5-9 MEAC) led 74-70 with 1:05 to go in the first overtime, but the Rattlers (8-18, 4-9 MEAC) got a pair of free throws from K'Ja Johnson and then took advantage of a turnover when Justin Ravenal made a layup that sent it to a second OT.

At the end of the second overtime, Martin pushed the Hawks out to an 80-77 lead, but Johnson found the basket for a contested layup and missed the and-one opportunity bringing the Rattlers to within 79-80.

The Hawks turned the ball over again on a shot clock violation leaving FAMU 13 seconds to score. Craig Bowman made a jumper leaving the Hawks 3.2 seconds trailing by one. But after a long pass to Martin, the clock ran out before he got a shot off.

"We didn't take care of the ball and we didn't play smart down the stretch," Hawks coach Bobby Collins said. "I got the ball to my best free throw shooters and Devin turned it over, Bakari Copeland turned it over, just not very smart turnovers that we had down the stretch."

Maryland Eastern Shore won the battle on the glass 40-32 and the two teams had 21 turnovers apiece.

Bowman finished with a game-high 25 points to lead the Rattlers, while Malcolm Bernard had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Ravenal chipped in 10.

Martin led the way for the Hawks with 24 points, seven rebounds and a pair of assists. Dominique Elliott (Savannah, Georgia) had 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes, before he fouled out with two minutes left in the first overtime.

"Obviously we missed Dom," Collins said. "He's our stability, but we still had a chance."

Bakari Copeland (Decatur, Georgia) scored 14 points -- including 8-of-9 from the free throw line - and grabbed five rebounds. Ryan Andino chipped in 12 points.

Maryland Eastern Shore has now lost five straight games and sunk to 10th in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings ahead of Coppin State, Florida A&M and Morgan State.

"I'm tired of learning," Collins said. "This is our fifth straight game that I have learned. They have to get it. I have it. They have to get it now. I'm not going to take the blame for this one because we were in position to win the game and they have to take care of business on the court."

The Hawks host Delaware State on Feb. 27, before finishing out the regular season on the road at Morgan State on March 3. All games are the second half of a men's and women's doubleheader.

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 Saturday from the William P. Hytche Athletic Center on the Hawks Sports Radio Network.