BLACKSBURG, Virginia — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team could not overcome a slow start as the Virginia Tech Hokies defeated the Hawks 92-37 on Sunday evening (Dec. 29).
The Shore (1-14) was without two guards in their rotation as junior Canaan Bartley (Miami, Florida) and freshman Kevon Voyles (Berlin, Maryland) each nurse lower body injuries. Their absence was paramount as Maryland Eastern Shore struggled on the offensive end.
"We have had trouble scoring and being down two guards that have been guys that can make shots for us hurt," head coach Jason Crafton said. "Also, this was the first game after break and conditioning played a factor in the game, but Virginia Tech is a good team and they were able to get some things going in transition off our missed shots which set the tone for the game."
The Hawks dug themselves into a 32-5 hole in the first half before they could get things going offensively. Senior AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, Georgia) made a 3-pointer at the 7:27 mark that ended a 16-0 run for VT.
Eastern Shore would go on to outscore the Hokies 17-13 in the final seven minutes of the opening half. That time included a stretch of the Hawks making five out of six shots and forcing a Hokies timeout. Virginia Tech held a 45-22 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Hawks went scoreless until the 13:37 mark when freshman Bruce Guy (Cordova, Tennessee) was awarded a bucket after a goaltending call. The team did not see a bucket go through the hoop until senior Gabriel Gyamfi (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) made a layup two minutes later.
The Hokies would go on to outscore the Hawks 47-15 in the second half. Eastern Shore shot just 23.7% from the field for the game.
Sunday's game did serve as the season debut of senior Bryan Urrutia (Chihuahua, Mexico). Urrutia had one rebound and one assist in eight minutes of play.
Freshman Da'Shawn Phillip (Baltimore, Maryland) had nine points to lead the squad in scoring. Cheeseman had seven points and a team-high six rebounds in the contest.
Virginia Tech finished with five players in double figures. Landers Nolley II had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hokies. Hunter Cattoor had 17 points including five shots from behind the arc off the bench for VT.
The Shore will be back in action on Saturday (Jan. 4) as they take on Howard to begin their conference slate of games. Eastern Shore will play half of their final 16 regular season games at home after playing just two of their first 15 in the Hytche Center.
"This schedule has shown us that we have the ability to compete with upper level opponents at various times," Crafton said. "Now we have to get healthy, physically and mentally, in terms of injuries and our mental approach in our upcoming MEAC games."
For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.
