NORMAN, Oklahoma — After holding a 38-37 lead at halftime, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team ran into a hot shooting Oklahoma Sooners team in the second half and fell to the Sooners 91-64 on Thursday night (Nov. 21).
"It was nice to see us make some shots in the first half and have good ball movement," head coach Jason Crafton said. "It was tough to try and sustain that for 40 minutes with their physicality and our foul trouble, but our guys really showed some heart and grit and gave the best effort they could."
The Hawks (0-6), playing with just nine healthy bodies, had their best shooting half of the season in the first 20 minutes. Eastern Shore shot 50 percent from the field and 57 percent behind the arc in the first half.
Maryland Eastern Shore faced a 26-14 deficit at the 8:35 mark of the first half. Junior Ty Gibson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead in half and start a rally. The Hawks outscored the Sooners 24-11 during the final eight minutes and a long distance jumper from freshman Da'Shawn Phillip (Baltimore, Md.) 32 seconds before intermission gave the squad their first lead of the game.
Following halftime, Oklahoma started the half with an 8-0 run. That would be a sign of things to come as they shot 67 percent from the field in the second half.
The Shore would stay within reach, but began to run out gas when redshirt sophomore Walter Prevost (Houston, Texas) fouled out with eight minutes left. That event led to the team having no players over 6'6" at their disposal for the stretch run and Oklahoma pulled away from that point on.
Redshirt senior Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished the game with 13 points. Junior Canaan Bartley (Miami, Fla.) had his second straight strong shooting game as he also had 13 points including three makes from three point range. Bartley has made five such shots in the last two games. Last season, he made just one 3-pointer all year.
"His shooting is a testament to work he has put in," Crafton said. "It is not unusual to see Canaan Bartley in the gym late at night or between classes getting shots up, so he is seeing the results of that."
The Sooners had five players in double figures and were led by Kristian Doolittle's 18 points on 7-7 shooting.
Eastern Shore will now return home to play their first home game of the season on Tuesday (Nov. 26) against Wofford.
For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.
