MACON, Georgia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team had another tough night shooting from the floor as they fell to the Mercer University Bears 80-42 on Tuesday night (Nov. 20).

The Hawks shot 31.9 percent from the field and scored under 50 points for the third time in five games this season.

"The most important thing is for the ball to go in the basket," head coach Clifford Reed said. "Our guys are beat up right now and losing a little confidence, so it's our job as the coaching staff to find ways for them to feel better about themselves on the floor."

Maryland Eastern Shore had just nine players available on their road trip to North Texas and Mercer due to injury and eligibility issues. The Shore look to get some of their depth back in the coming weeks as the nonconference schedule moves along.

As the Hawks have players out, opportunities are created for some of the team's seldom used players. One of those players is redshirt sophomore Montraz Oliver.

"Montraz's work ethic and desire to be a successful person is very high," Reed said. "I gave him a note the other day that said his hard work would pay off and he works so hard so he deserved an opportunity."

The Princess Anne native sparked the Hawks in the first half and eventually led the team with a career high 13 points on 4-6 shooting. Junior point guard Bryan Urrutia (Chihuahua, Mexico) was the only other Hawk in double figures with 12. Urrutia also had four steals on the defensive end.

"I just felt that we needed energy and I wanted to be a spark off the bench," Oliver said. "We only had two points when I got in and I can score so that's what I tried to do."

The Bears finished with four players in double figures and were led by DJ Peavy's 15 points. Mercer shot over 50 percent from the field and over 40 percent from behind the arc during their wire-to-wire win.

Eastern Shore will now travel back to Maryland on Wednesday and begin preparation for their second home game of the season on Saturday (Nov. 24) against Central Penn. Following that game, the Hawks will be back on the road to play St. John's University on Nov. 27 before returning home to play the University of Delaware on Nov. 30.

For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.