DURHAM, North Carolina — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team showed fight down the stretch, but fell to #15 Duke 82-55 on Saturday, December 10 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Hawks (3-7) scored the first points of the ballgame, but saw the Blue Devils (10-2, 1-0 ACC) stretch out a 16-4 advantage with 11:25 left on the first half clock.
"Duke is very good," head coach Jason Crafton said. "I thought they overwhelmed us with their size, especially in the beginning of the game, and made it hard for us to execute offensively."
The size difference reared its head on the glass throughout the game. Duke held a 42-20 rebound advantage overall in the contest.
"We knew rebounding was going to be big for us to have a chance in this basketball game," Crafton said. "We gave effort but couldn't neutralize their size consistently enough."
Kevon Voyles logged four first-half steals and Da'Shawn Phillip led the Hawks scoring efforts with seven points, but the Hawks trailed 39-21 at the break.
The second half saw some renewed energy from the Hawks as well as some impressive performances off the bench.
"I thought the second half looked a bit more similar to how we play," Crafton said. "I felt like our guys scrapped in the second half and gave everybody the chance to see what we can potentially be in our conference."
One of these was Troy Hupstead, who tied his career-high with 12 points and claimed three rebounds. Hupstead's 12 was also a team-high.
Zion Styles logged nearly 26 minutes off the bench, logging 11 points, three boards and a trio of pickpockets in the game. Jojo Anderson logged three assists in just over 12 minutes of action. Overall, the Hawks got 34 of their 55 points from their reserves.
"I was extremely proud of our bench tonight," Crafton said. "They gave us some quality minutes."
Phillip led the scoring charge among the starters with 10 points as well as three rebounds. Voyles finished the night with a career-high five steals, while Ahamadou Fofana finished with five assists, his most in a single game as a Hawk.
The Hawks will have a few days to recover from their third-straight road game before returning to the Hytche to face Clarks Summit University on Saturday, December 17. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m.
