PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team got in the win column for the first time this season Saturday (Nov. 24) against the Central Penn College Knights 77-52.
The Hawks were able to break out of their offensive funk as they scored their season high in points. Maryland Eastern Shore did this by using strong ball movement as they had 21 assists on 29 made field goals. The Shore also had strong numbers on defense as they had 10 steals and four blocks as a team.
"This game feels really good because it really gives the guys confidence and that's always important," head coach Clifford Reed said. "Also, I was proud of how we sustained playing hard for longer than we have before."
Eastern Shore had two players in particular that found their rhythm on Saturday. Grad student guard Ryan Andino (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) found his shooting stroke early as he had 20 of his game high 26 points in the first half.
Andino's first bucket was a teardrop in the lane at the 16:54 mark of the first half. Three minutes later he had 16 points and was on his way to a big game.
"I think I came into this game really confident," Andino said. "Coach Reed and I had a really good talk after the Mercer loss and he gave me the green light and that helped today."
After Saturday's game, Andino got himself 65 points away from 1,000 for his career.
Junior forward AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, GA) also had a strong game for the Hawks. He had his season high 20 points on 8-12 shooting including his first dunk of the season with 4:37 left on the clock in the second half. Cheeseman also had three steals and a block in the contest.
"As AJ goes we go," Andino said. "We need him down the road so I hope he can build off of this game."
Other Hawks with notable performances were junior point guard Bryan Urrutia (Chihuahua, Mexico) and junior shooting guard Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, OH). Urrutia had six points, six rebounds, nine assists and three steals. Frost finished with 10 points and four rebounds.
"We need three guys to consistently give us double figures in scoring," Reed said. "It could be Ahmad or Dontae (Caldwell) off the bench but it could be multiple guys that could score double figures for us consistently."
The Hawks will be on the road on Tuesday to play St. John's University in Queens, NY. Tip for the game will be at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on FS1. Following that game, Eastern Shore will return home to play the University of Delaware.
For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.
