CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team had a tough shooting night after halftime on Monday night (December 20) as they fell 70-54 to the University of North Carolina Charlotte 49ers inside Halton Arena.
"I thought we executed some really good offense in spots, but got a little bit down when we missed shots," head coach Jason Crafton said. "We got wide open shots that we didn't make that we have made in past games, whether it's fatigue or finals or whatever the case may be, we'll get more shots up and be ready against GW."
The opening half was about two big runs from both teams. Senior Donchevell "Tuka" Nugent hit a layup at the 12:44 to make the score 19-15 in favor of Charlotte. The Hawks would not score again for almost six minutes as the 49ers went on a 10-0 run to lead 29-15 at the under 8:00 media timeout.
Junior Dom London hit a tear drop at the 6:54 mark to end the run for Charlotte and begin one for Eastern Shore. Junior Kohen Thompson hit a 3-pointer on the next possession and followed that with a put back layup to make the score 29-22.
London hit his own shot behind the arc after that and senior Zion Styles made a layup off a 49ers turnover to put the squad within two at 29-27 with 3:56 remaining in the first half. All in all, the Hawks scored 12 straight points over three minutes of game action.
The two teams split the final eight points of the half as The Shore trailed 35-33 at the break. Maryland Eastern Shore outshot Charlotte 34-24 in the opening half, but the 49ers held the field goal shooting percentage advantage as they shot 41.7% while the Hawks shot 35.3%.
When the second half started, the Hawks fell behind 39-33 in the first minute of play. Styles made a jumper and that was followed by a fast break layup and 3-pointer by junior Kevon Voyles to give Eastern Shore a 40-39 lead with 16:32 left in regulation.
Charlotte took the lead back by scoring six straight points to lead 45-40 with 14:04 left. A layup by Nugent and a 3-pointer by London would tie the score at 45 with 11:33 left. Unfortunately for Eastern Shore, they would not score for a while after that.
The 49ers would score the next 12 points of the contest. A pair of free throws from junior Da'Shawn Phillip with 6:45 left was the next time the Hawks scored. Senior Mayowa Akinsanya made a layup with 5:06 on the clock to end the team's field goal drought. The score stood 62-49 in favor of Charlotte.
Maryland Eastern Shore hit a few more shots down the stretch, but ultimately could not make up the deficit. The team ended up shooting 25% from the field in the second half, while Charlotte shot 48.1%.
Styles had 15 points to lead the team in scoring. London and Voyles were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. Styles, Akinsanya and senior Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. each had six rebounds to share the team lead in that category.
The Shore will play their next game on Wednesday (December 22) at noon against George Washington in Washington, D.C.
