LYNCHBURG, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team absorbed strong runs from the Liberty University Flames on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 10) to hang tough as the Flames got a 66-55 win.

"I think that the bright spots for tonight were that we made free throws at a higher level than in the past and we didn't turn the ball over as much we had in scrimmages and our first game at Penn State," head coach Jason Crafton said.

The Hawks (0-2) got the first bucket of the game from senior AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, Ga.). LU would respond on the back of redshirt senior Scottie James as he would have 14 points and seven rebounds in the first five minutes of the game.

Freshman Da'Shawn Phillip (Baltimore, Md.) knocked a 3-pointer at the 8:32 mark of the first half to make the Flames lead 21-20. Over the next eight minutes, Eastern Shore would be outscored 18-7 to go into the half down 39-27.

In the second half, the Hawks would outscore the Flames 28-27. Liberty would get out to their largest lead of the game, 17, less than two minutes into the half. Eastern Shore came right back with a 9-3 run to make their deficit sit at 47-36 following a bucket from freshman Bruce Guy (Cordova, Tenn.).

Maryland Eastern Shore would never get closer than that, but that did not stop the fight of the Hawks. Their inspired play drew admiration and respect from the Flames as LU head coach reinserted his starters in the final minutes to secure the victory.

"Our effort was solid tonight and we are trying to build this program to be at a point where we are not just applauded for our effort but that is just what we do." Crafton said. "We want to be a tough blue collar, hard-nosed team that for 40 minutes will always give you effort."

The Shore got a tremendous output from their bench as 40 of the team's 55 points came from players who did not start the game. Phillip and Guy came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 11 and 10 points respectively. Junior Canaan Bartley (Miami, Fla.) came off the bench and led the squad in rebounds with five.

Eastern Shore will now head to Farmville, Va. to face Longwood on Tuesday night (Nov. 12) at 7 p.m. The two teams played last season with Longwood coming out victorious 66-63 in the Hytche Center.

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