PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team captured their first win of the season on Saturday (November 13) as they defeated the Bryn Athyn College Lions 91-42. Saturday's victory was the program's first win on homecoming since the 2013-14 season.
"I am happy for our fans, our alums and our guys to be able to experience a victory after everything they have been through," head coach Jason Crafton said. "It was just a great day to get back to basketball and a great day to be a Hawk."
The Lions scored the first basket of the game. The Hawks would score the next 13 points of the contest before Bryn Athyn would score again. After that, Eastern Shore would go on another 19-0 run that was punctuated by a fast break layup from junior Dom London.
All in all, the team went on a 32-3 run over 13 minutes of game time to lead 32-5 with 6:16 on the clock. The Shore continued to keep their foot on the pedal and eventually held a 41-12 lead at halftime following a 3-pointer right before the buzzer from Da'Shawn Phillip.
Eastern Shore continued their strong play in the second half as they built their lead to above 30 in the first minute of the half. They would then turn their attention to getting into the paint and attacking the rim. Senior forward Mayowa Akinsanya scored nine straight points for the Hawks over a two minute span in the middle of the half that was concluded with a dunk at the 10:04 mark. The Shore held a 64-30 advantage at that point.
In the remaining 10 minutes of the game, Maryland Eastern Shore would slowly continue to build their lead behind their ability to get in the lane. The highlight of their work in the paint was a coast to coast slam by senior Zion Styles at the 7:37 mark. By the time, senior Mike Mensah had a dunk of his own in the last minute to make the score 91-42, the Hawks had scored a total of 54 points in the paint.
Styles finished with a game-high 21 points on 8-10 shooting in 21 minutes of action. That was the first time a member of the Hawks has scored at least 20 points since Ryan Andino did so in February 2019. Akinsanya and senior Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. each had eight rebounds to share the team and game lead for the category. The two also combined to shoot 10-12 from the field.
"We were persistent with Zion about rebounding in this game, but then he scored out of nowhere," Crafton said. "He is a very athletic player so we really need him to make aggressive plays.
"Also, I was very proud of Mayowa and Nate because they both got eight rebounds and shot well from the field because we are going to need production from our front court guys. We need them both to continue to develop and give us plays around the basket."
The Hawks will play their next game at home on Wednesday night (November 17) at 7 p.m. against Hood College. After that contest, the team will play their next five games on the road.
