QUEENS, New York — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team fell behind early but clawed their way back before falling to the St. John's University Red Storm 85-64 on Tuesday night (Nov. 27).

Maryland Eastern Shore found themselves behind 9-0 before a Tyler Jones (Atlantic City, NJ) layup got them on the board at the 16:00 mark of the first half. The Red Storm continued to have strong first half fueled by 11 3-pointers in the game's first 20 minutes and built a 52-28 lead at halftime. Maryland Eastern Shore did outscore St. John's 36-33 in the second half to help make the second 20 minutes more interesting.

"We are just trying to improve each and every night out," head coach Clifford Reed said. "I like the fact we didn't quit or throw in the towel and just continued to play one possession at a time."

After the Red Storm had their strong first half, Eastern Shore turned things after halftime. Grad student Ryan Andino (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) scored 18 of his team high 24 points in the second half. Andino also pulled down a career high eight rebounds in the contest.

He hit his first of six second half 3-pointers at the 13:10 mark and that helped fuel a 14-2 run for the Hawks over next four minutes. It was abruptly ended by a by a three-point play from St. John's that helped steady the Red Storm.

The Shore would get the score down to 15 at 71-56 with less than seven minutes to go, but an 11-0 run from the host would end any hopes of winning the game for the Hawks.

Jones finished with 18 points in the game with 13 of those coming in the first half. Other notable performances for the Hawks were junior point guard Bryan Urrutia (Chihuahua, Mexico), who finished with five points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals. Redshirt sophomore Montraz Oliver (Princess Anne, MD) finished with six points.

The Red Storm were led by forward LJ Figueroa's 25 points and 13 rebounds. Guard Mustapha Heron added 20 points and nine rebounds.

The Hawks (1-6) will face the University of Delaware on Friday night (Nov. 30) at the Hytche Center with the tip coming at 7 p.m.

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