GREENVILLE, North Carolina — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team had another tough outing on the road on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 2) as they fell to the East Carolina University Pirates 70-47.

"Basketball is a make or miss game," head coach Clifford Reed said. "We have to be more efficient early on as we missed a lot of opportunities but we played more inspired in the second half as shots started to fall."

Maryland Eastern Shore played its seventh straight game with only nine players at their disposal due to injuries. The bench got even thinner after sixty seconds when point guard Bryan Urrutia (Chihuahua, Mexico) left the game with a lower body injury.

With Urrutia out, the Hawks struggled on offense during much of the first half. The Hawks did not reach double digits in scoring until a Montraz Oliver (Princess Anne, MD) jumper at the 5:47 mark of the first half. That lead to eleven more points in the half for Eastern Shore, but the Pirates lead was already over 20 points as they carried a 42-21 lead into halftime.

The second half was a different story for the Hawks. They turned up the defensive intensity and utilized more traps. The change led to easy buckets and the game being played at a faster pace after the Pirates size caused problems in the first half.

The Shore gradually got back into the game in the second half. After two free throws from forward AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, GA) with 6:58 left, the score was 54-42 with the Hawks in position for one last push. However, ECU would answer with a 14-2 run over the next six minutes to close out the game.

Cheeseman and Oliver led the Hawks with 14 points apiece, which was a career high for Oliver. Oliver also had a career high six rebounds in the contest. Guard Ryan Andino (Ft. Lauderdale) had a tough shooting day finishing with just three points which came on a last second 30-footer to end the first half.

East Carolina had four players in double figures led by freshman Jayden Gardner, who finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Seth LeDay, KJ Davis and Shawn Williams all finished with 10 points for the Pirates.

The Hawks will get some much needed rest over the next week and a half as they will not play another game until Dec. 13 when they travel to Pittsburgh to play Duquesne. Eastern Shore will also face off with the University of Pittsburgh on Dec. 15 during their trip to the Steel City.

"We are going to get in the gym during the time off and get some skill work in before Duquesne," Reed said. "We have to be more fundamentally sound on our shots so we can see more shots go in."

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