PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — In the first game for the program in 20 months, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team put up a valiant effort on Tuesday night (November 9) against Saint Joseph's University inside Hagan Arena, but they fell short in the final seconds as SJU won 69-67.

"I'm proud of the guys for how they fought back into the game against a tough opponent, on the road with a great crowd," head coach Jason Crafton said. "We will learn a lot from this, especially the crunch time errors that we made and try to get better."

In the opening minutes, the Hawks were tied with Saint Joseph's at eight after a layup from junior Kevon Voyles. SJU scored the next seven points and used that to build their lead to 19 when they held a 34-15 advantage with six minutes left before halftime.

The Shore would outscore their opponent 11-6 in the final six minutes before the half. The run was spearheaded by the squad's outside shooting. Senior Donchevell "Tuka" Nugent hit a pair behind the arc and junior Kohen Thompson added one as well. SJU held a 40-26 lead at halftime.

The Hawks continued their run into the second half. The team would cut the lead to single digits after a dunk from senior Zion Styles and a 3-pointer from junior Dom London made the score 44-35 with 15:23 on the clock.

Eastern Shore continued to keep the pressure on and got a jumper from freshman Chace Davis at the 12:24 mark to give the squad their first lead of the game. The shot was the conclusion of an 18-2 run by Maryland Eastern Shore after switching to a heavy perimeter offense coming out of the locker room.

"We had to make some adjustments on how we were playing and I think we did a great job of executing," Crafton said. "We ended up playing five guards and played more zone than we practiced, so it was pleasing to see us make some shots in alignments that we haven't practiced a lot."

London got a steal and a dunk to put the Hawks up 54-53 with eight minutes left. One minute later, Nugent was called for a controversial flagrant foul to allow SJU to retake the lead after two free throws.

The Shore responded from the call with a layup from junior Da'Shawn Phillip and a put back dunk from Davis to go up 57-54 with under five minutes on the clock. SJU would score the next four points to retake the lead at the 3:54 mark.

Styles then went on a personal 5-0 run with a layup and a three to put the team up 62-58 with 2:25 remaining. Saint Joe's got a one point lead back 68 seconds later and that is when the drama started.

Phillip hit a shot behind the arc to put the Hawks up 65-63 with 37 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, SJU would go to the line and split a pair of foul shots. They would then set a trap against Phillip and force him to take a timeout. After the break, Eastern Shore ran an inbound play that left Phillip running down the court alone and he would receive a pass from Nugent and make a layup to put the squad up 67-64.

Saint Joe's took their final timeout with 24 seconds left. They would go straight to the rim and take a layup. Eastern Shore would then turn the ball over on the inbound to give the ball right back to SJU with 12 seconds remaining. They would then get a corner 3-pointer from Taylor Funk with six seconds left to put Saint Joseph's up 69-67.

Voyles rushed the ball up the court after the make from Funk. He got a good look from the right wing as he attempted to end the game, but the ball ricocheted off the front of the rim and did not go in.

The Hawks had a strong day from behind the 3-point line in their season opener. They shot 47.6% as a team from long distance with 10 total makes.

The Shore had nine different players score in the game. London led the way with 11 points. Styles, Phillip, Davis and Thompson each finished with nine points. Senior Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. pulled down seven rebounds to lead the team on the glass.

Maryland Eastern Shore will be back in action tomorrow (November 10) at Temple. The game will tip off at 7 p.m.

"This is kind of like a Philly challenge with us playing back to back games," Crafton said. "We had some guys that played a lot of minutes tonight so the reserves will have to be ready to go (against Temple), but all of this is about getting better."