DURHAM, North Carolina — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team could not win their third straight game on Saturday (Feb. 22) as they fell to the North Carolina Central University Eagles 74-55.

"Central showed incredible toughness tonight," Hawks coach Jason Crafton said. "Unfortunately, we came out flat and we were displeased with our competitive fight, so we will need to bounce back quickly as we have a tough opponent on the horizon."

North Carolina Central held a 40-26 lead at the break. The Eagles had a strong first half inside as they scored half of their points in the paint. The Shore had a slow start to the contest as they did not have a made basket until the 13:51 mark of the opening half after freshman Kevon Voyles (Berlin, Maryland) hit a jumper.

In the second half, the Hawks were able to cut into the lead. They got the lead down to single digits on two different occasions. The second occurrence came at the 7:38 mark when senior AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, Georgia) made a layup to make the NCCU lead 55-46.

The Eagles responded by going on a 10-3 run over the next two and a half minutes to create separation. Maryland Eastern Shore was outscored 19-9 over the final seven minutes to close the game.

Redshirt senior Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored a team-high 12 points for the Hawks. Voyles and Cheeseman also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 respectively. Jibri Blount had 28 points and 18 rebounds to pace N.C. Central.

The Shore will now face the North Carolina A&T Aggies on Monday (Feb. 24) at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.