DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team suffered a second half drought from the field on Monday afternoon (Jan. 21) and the Bethune-Cookman University Wildcats took full advantage to pull away with a 89-68 win.

Guard Ryan Andino (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) made a 3-pointer with 11:53 left to bring the score to 55-52. Maryland Eastern Shore would go the next five minutes without a field goal as BCU outscored the Hawks 16-1 during that time and seized control of the game late.

"We didn't bring our A game defensively down the stretch," head coach Clifford Reed said. "They were beating us up the floor and we missed easy opportunities on offense to convert so that zapped us and our defense fell after that."

The Hawks played the Wildcats almost even in the first half as the score was 39-37 at the break. The Shore held a rebounding advantage and only BCU's hot shooting from long range kept them in front.

However in the second half, Bethune-Cookman began to attack the basket more and rebounded the ball better. The Wildcats scored over half of their points in the paint after halftime.

Forward Tyler Jones (Atlantic City, NJ) had another strong outing offensively for the Hawks as he led the team in scoring with 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Gabriel Gyamfi (Brampton, ON, Canada) and Canaan Bartley (Miami, FL) each pulled down eight rebounds to tie for the team lead in that category.

"Tyler can score the ball and he's doing a great job of that right now and we need him to continue doing that," Reed said. "And Gabe (Gyamfi) and Canaan are our heart and soul because they do the little things that help you win a championship."

BCU finished with four players in double figures as they moved the ball well and had 23 assists on 32 made shots. The Wildcats were led by Mark Gordon who scored 27 points, 19 of those in the first half. Cletrell Pope had a slow start to the game but turned it around in the second half and finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The Shore will return to Maryland on Tuesday and prepare to face league-leading Norfolk State on Jan. 26 before playing Howard for a second time on Jan. 28.

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