PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore suffered a frustrating home loss to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference power North Carolina A&T State on Saturday (Jan. 11) putting up its worst shooting effort of the season.
The Hawks (3-12, 0-2 MEAC) shot just 21% (10-of-48) from the field, 15% (3-of-20) from behind the arc and 36% (8-of-22) from the free throw line in a 67-31 home loss to the Aggies (10-4, 2-0 MEAC).
"We just continue to shoot ourselves in the foot by not being able to capitalize on opportunities when we did get them," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "That's a really good team. They pose some difficult challenges for you on the offensive end with their length and their athleticism, but that had nothing to do with us missing 14 free throws. You take that and a couple of other situations where we were able to get the looks and we don't capitalize, that's discouraging."
The Shore was down 21-7 by the end of the first quarter, having turned the ball of nine times and missed nine field goals and four free throws in 10 minutes. In the second, the Hawks took better control of the basketball, but the shooting woes continued. They did force eight Aggie turnovers and managed to be outscored just 9-8 in the second despite being outrebounded 16-8.
"I told them at halftime that I don't know what easier shot we can get than a free throw because there isn't any defense and we missed eight of them in the first half, which if we had made five of them it's a 10-point game," Batchelor said.
The third quarter proved to be the worst scoring output with Eastern Shore managing just three points making one free throw and one field goal.
No Hawk reached double digits in scoring of had more than four rebounds. As a team they managed just seven assists on 10 made shots. Batchelor has maintained all season that he will not lose big with the same players instead preferring to gain experience for the younger members of the roster.
The Eastern Shore bench played 139 of 200 minutes with freshman point guard Mya Thomas (Chesapeake, Virginia) playing 18 minutes and putting up seven points and no turnovers.
"We need for Mya to get experience because at that position we need some help," Batchelor said. "She is the one kid that we recruited bringing in as a freshman knowing that we had lost a starting point guard and that she was going to be a kid we were going to be depending on. Up to this point, I don't believe that she has reached her fullest potential — nowhere near it — so we are hoping that games like this help her gain her confidence to where she can be a kid who makes a difference for us this year at that position."
