NORFOLK, Virginia — The rubber matchup between the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and the Delaware State University Hornets was a back and forth affair that saw the No. 8 seed Hornets outlast the No. 9 seed Hawks 68-64 on Tuesday night (March 10) inside Scope Arena in the first round of the MEAC Tournament.
"My hat goes off to Delaware State as they executed their game plan and made key plays down the stretch," Hawks coach Jason Crafton said. "We did a lot good things that put us in position to win and I'm proud of the fight that we showed."
The Hawks got out to an early lead. At the first media timeout, Eastern Shore was ahead 14-3. Canaan Bartley (Miami, Florida) scored eight points in those opening minutes to help The Shore establish themselves. They would increase their lead to as many as 14 points as a free throw from Bruce Guy (Cordova, Tennessee) put the squad up 22-8 with 9:37 on the clock in the first half.
Delaware State would come back by scoring the next 11 points to make the score 22-19 two minutes later. The Hornets would take a 27-26 lead with 4:03 left before halftime. The lead would change hands three times in the final four minutes as Eastern Shore went into the locker room down 31-30.
When play resumed, AJ Cheeseman (Snellville, Georgia) scored the first four points of the half for Maryland Eastern Shore to put them up 34-33 at the 17:42 mark. DSU would take the lead back and hold on to it for the next 11 minutes until Ahmad Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio) tied the game at 53 with 6:03 remaining.
Delaware State scored the next five points to build a cushion, but the Hawks would not go quietly. They went on an 8-2 run that was capped off by a layup by Cheeseman to put Eastern Shore in front at 61-60 with 1:19 remaining.
After a pair of free throws from the Hornets, Maryland Eastern Shore turned the ball over and DSU made a controversial three point play to put them ahead 65-61 with 13 seconds left.
Frost hit a shot from behind the arc to make the score 65-64 four seconds later. The Hornets made two more free throws following that to put them up 67-64 with eight seconds left. The Shore would then miss the front end of a one and one, DSU grabbed the rebound and made a foul shot to seal the game.
Cheeseman led the Hawks in scoring with 19 points. Bartley and Marlon Adams (Brooklyn, New York) each had career-highs in points with 17 and 10 respectively. After the game, Cheeseman and Bartley spoke with reporters about the direction of the program, their role as veteran players and how they felt the season went.
"My teammates are like my brothers and with the younger guys coming in, I wanted to be an example on how to play for your brother and not for yourself," Cheeseman said. "Even though the season ended earlier than we wanted it to, hopefully we laid a foundation that will catapult the guys for the next few years."
"Coach preaches family and togetherness," Bartley said. "As one of the older guys this year, I tried to make sure that my younger teammates understood that this season and followed the lead that older players showed."
Delaware State was led by John Crosby's 24 points. The Hornets also got 21 points from Myles Carter off the bench.
"I think we have set a foundation on the style of how we want to play," Crafton said. "We showed that we will play good defense, so now we will recruit and continue to add talent, work on skill development and continue to move forward."
Eastern Shore finished their 2019-20 campaign with a 5-27 record.
