PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team will open their 2019-20 season at Penn State University on Tuesday evening (Nov.5) at 7 p.m.
The Hawks are under new leadership this season as head coach Jason Crafton will be coaching Eastern Shore for the first time in the regular season. Tuesday's game will be extra special for Crafton as Penn State head coach Pat Chambers worked with Crafton at Villanova under Jay Wright during the 2004-05 season.
"Coach Chambers is a good friend of mine and we still stay in touch to this day," Crafton said.
The game can be heard locally on Fox Sports 960 AM WTGM and online at EasternShoreHawks.com. Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. with Will DeBoer on The Shore Sports Network.
Maryland Eastern Shore comes into the season with a lot of new faces. The Hawks have eight new players to the program. Seven players return from last year's squad. Redshirt juniors Derrick Green (Baltimore, Md.) and Marlon Adams (Brooklyn, N.Y.) are two of the returners to the program. Green played in two games last season before an injury sidelined him, while Adams missed the entire season due to injury.
Seniors Bryan Urrutia (Chihuahua, Mexico) and AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, Ga.) are the team's top returners. Cheeseman is the team's top returning scorer after averaging 8.8 points per game. Urrutia returns to Eastern Shore after finishing in the top 10 in the MEAC in assists, steals and minutes played in 2018-19. He will miss the first few weeks of the season as he nurses an injury.
Their classmate Gabriel Gyamfi (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) is the top rebounder returning as he averaged 5.1 boards a game last season. Junior Canaan Bartley (Miami, Fla.), who saw action in all 32 games in 2018-19, returns and redshirt senior Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio) is back for his fifth season in Princess Anne and looks to be a calming influence on this revamped roster.
Local product Kevon Voyles (Berlin, Md.) headlines the new faces on the Eastern Shore roster. He spent last season at TLAP Sports Academy following his graduation from Stephen Decatur High School. He will be joined on the Hawks by three other freshmen, Glen Anderson (Harlem, N.Y.), Da'Shawn Phillip (Baltimore, Md.) and Bruce Guy (Cordova, Tenn.).
The Shore also have four junior college transfers. Junior Ty Gibson (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who started in the exhibition game against Salisbury, comes to the Hawks from Gulf Coast State College where he averaged 4.1 assists and 35.1 percent from three point range in 2018-19. The other JUCO transfers are senior Jacob McIntosh (Finksburg, Md.), redshirt sophomore Walter Prevost (Houston, Texas) and junior Jahmal Wright (Toronto, Ontario, Canada).
Following their opening game at PSU, Eastern Shore will be back on the road Sunday (Nov. 10) as they face Liberty for their second game of the season.
For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.
