PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore opened Monday's home battle with Savannah State with a 18-0 lead before they allowed their opponent a basket. The Shore led 26-8 after one quarter, 47-17 at the half and went on to a 78-46 win.

The Hawks (13-10, 9-1 MEAC) remain at No. 2 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings, just one game back of North Carolina A&T State. The team has won six games in a row for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

"It feels great," senior guard Keyera Eaton (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) said. "We haven't had this kind of success honestly. So, finally winning after all these years and finally finding our place and feeling like we can be what we always should have been feels good.

"I feel like everybody on this team is special in their own way. I feel like everyone can bring something to the table and everyone can contribute from the starters to the bench everybody can help in any game."

Eaton led Eastern Shore with 15 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals. Classmate Ciani Byrom (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) had 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals and sophomore Bairesha Gill-Miles (Lexington, Kentucky) finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, and assist and four steals.

"I thought we were focused to start the game," head coach Fred Batchelor said. "I thought we played really well particularly in the first half. I thought we looked really good. I thought they struggled and we took advantage of that."

The Shore held the Tigers to just 24 percent in the first half including 13 percent from behind the arc. They forced 15 turnovers and grabbed 20 defensive rebounds on 29 Savannah State misses. The Hawks also had eight steals and two blocks before the break.

"Defensively we are starting to connect on another level," Eaton said. "We emphasize defense a lot in practice, so that when it comes to game time we are flowing a lot better and connecting. We're down to help now and we know we have each other's back."

After still leading by 28 points (59-31) with 4:25 left to go in the third quarter, Batchelor subbed out Byrom and then the rest of the regulars one at a time. But something about the mix on the court or the quick change didn't work and the Tigers cut the lead to 59-40 with 9:39 left in the game.

It wasn't so much the lack of scoring, but the way the offense ran with five turnovers in that span that frustrated the coaches.

"In a game like this, you are trying to get players in and you are trying to make sure you keep a certain rhythm to the game and you really don't," Batchelor said. "This is a Division I basketball game and that team has some talent and they fought back and made their run. I thought it was great the way our kids came back in. I hated having to put them back in, but the way they came back in and took back control of the game was good and I thought we finished the game off strong after that."

The 19-point margin was the closest Savannah State would get. The regulars took control of the game again and as the coaching staff slowly inserted the reserves, while maintaining the flow by spacing them out, the team pushed the lead back to 32 points by the end.

The reserves finished the game with 33 points, 24 rebounds and eight assists.

By the time the final whistle blew the Hawks has amassed 54 rebounds. A total of 14 players had seen the court for the Hawks and all but one grabbed at least one board.

"Every game it is important for us to rebound because we are always at a disadvantage with our size and our height in the post area," Eaton said. "So as a team including the guards, we have to go down there and we have to rebound as a team. We can't just rely on them do it because they need help down there being undersized."

Nobody better represented that than Stephen Decatur graduate Dayona Godwin (Ocean Pines, Maryland) who at 5-foot-5 grabbed three rebounds in just six minutes to go along with four points and a steal.

"Dayona is a kid that is talented enough to play," Batchelor said. "Rotation wise she is not  getting that opportunity and that tough for her. But I think it's kids like her that make this run happen. People don't realize that. It's her coming into practice every day helping her teammates and making us a better stronger team and holding them accountable as a junior even with her having sat out last year with injury and not having played much this year. Championship teams are built with those types of fibers that nobody ever realizes or appreciates. I want to make sure I appreciate her because she is a big part of what we are doing even though she doesn't get a lot of minutes."

The Shore has just six MEAC games remaining this season and will next travel to the Tar Heel state for a pair of games at North Carolina Central (Feb. 9) and North Carolina A&T State (Feb. 11).

"Coach was just saying that we have to focus on the first game," Eaton said. "Central is the first win and if we lose that one then A&T doesn't matter. We have to keep our head in the game and what is directly in front of us and not too far ahead because that is what messes you up."