DURHAM, North Carolina — In a game that was a tale of two halves, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team used a strong second half to comeback to defeat the North Carolina Central University Eagles 79-66 on Monday night (February 21).
The victory on Monday was the first time that the program has defeated the Eagles since January 21, 2009 ending an 18 game winning streak for NCCU against Eastern Shore. The win also ended a three game losing streak for the Hawks.
"(This game) is a testament to our guys' toughness and their ability to just stay with it," head coach Jason Crafton said. "What was so cool about tonight was seeing everybody being so happy to see other guys step up."
North Carolina Central got out to a quick 7-2 lead in the opening three minutes of the game. Juniors Kevon Voyles and Da'Shawn Phillip made layups to account for the next four points of the game to make the score 7-6 with 15:13 on the clock.
The Hawks (9-13, 4-7 MEAC) then hit a drought from the floor. Their next field goal did not come until the 10:11 mark when freshman Chace Davis hit a shot from long distance. The score stood at 17-11 in favor of the Eagles after the Davis make.
Phillip hit a 3-pointer with 7:43 left in the first half to make the score 26-18. The Eagles made a layup on their next possession to get the lead into double figures. They would keep the lead above 10 for the rest of the half.
With 3:21 left in the opening half, NC Central led 36-20. That was the biggest lead that they would enjoy during the game. The Shore would hit three straight from long range on their next three possessions after that. The shots came from junior Kohen Thompson, Davis and senior Donchevell "Tuka" Nugent.
Senior Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. would make a layup with 25 seconds on the clock to make the score 43-31 in favor of NCCU. The home team would take that lead into the locker room at halftime.
Coach Crafton and his staff made changes to the lineup to start the second half. Nugent, senior Mayowa Akinsanya and junior Glen Anderson were inserted to begin the final 20 minutes.
The move proved to work for the team as they got off to a strong start in the second half. Davis hit a jumper in the paint and Anderson hit a 3-pointer to make the score get into single digits quickly as NCCU led 43-36 with 19:04 on the clock.
"We finished out the first half on a run and we wanted to just stick with those guys," Crafton said. "It was just one of those things of staying with the lineup that we felt got us back into the game and they did a great job."
NC Central responded and got the lead back above 10 points and kept it there for the next five minutes. A Davis shot from long distance made the score 53-46 with 13:46 left and the comeback was officially on.
Eastern Shore was down 55-48 with 12:50 remaining following a jumper by the Eagles. The Hawks would then score 13 straight points over the next six minutes of play.
It began with yet another three from Davis followed by a free throw and a layup from Voyles. Pollard, Jr. would then give the Hawks a 56-55 lead with 9:48 left after a layup. That shot would give Maryland Eastern Shore their first lead of the game and they would never surrender it again.
Following the Pollard, Jr. made basket, Phillip found senior Mike Mensah for a 3-pointer and then made a driving layup of his own to make the score 61-55 with under seven minutes left to play. The Eagles got a pair at the line with 6:39 on the clock to temporarily stop the onslaught, but a Davis three on the next possession pushed the Hawks lead back to 64-57.
After two straight buckets by NCCU, The Shore's lead was down to three as the game entered the final five minutes. Pollard, Jr. found Phillip for a layup with 4:54 left and a minute later Mensah hit another three to make the score 69-61.
The two teams traded baskets and the Hawks lead stood at 72-65 with 2:04 remaining. The Shore took a timeout and after the break Pollard, Jr. hit a layup with 1:36 left.
The Eagles would turn the ball over on the ensuing possession and Eastern Shore would begin to milk the clock. As the shot clock ran down and only 62 seconds were remaining on the game clock, Nugent would shoot a desperation shot behind the arc and it would find the bottom of the net and send the Hawks bench into a frenzy. The score stood at 77-65.
NC Central split a pair at the line on their next time down the court. Pollard, Jr. would secure the rebound, step up and knock down two free throws to secure the victory and complete the comeback.
The Hawks outscored the Eagles 48-23 after halftime. A big reason for that was The Shore shooting 58.1% from the field and 64.3% from behind the arc in the second half. The team also committed just three turnovers in the second half after having 13 in the first.
Davis finished with his highest scoring output as a collegiate player as he finished with 22 points while going 6-8 from 3-point range. Pollard, Jr. tied his season high in points with 19, but had a season high in assists dishing out five.
"Chace is always in the gym putting extra shots up and I thought he stepped into all of his shots aggressively and shot them with confidence," Crafton said. "We knew that we wanted to use Nate more in the high post area and he was able to make some incredible plays in the middle of the floor, not just at the rim to score but also finding guys because his five assists were the stat of the night."
Phillip was also in double figures in scoring with 11 points and had a season high five steals as well. Voyles and Akinsanya shared the team lead in rebounds with four apiece as eight members of the team had two or more boards.
NCCU's Kris Monroe had 23 points to lead all scorers. Eric Boone grabbed eight rebounds to lead that category.
Maryland Eastern Shore will now face Coppin State on Saturday (February 26) in a pivotal game in the MEAC Tournament standings. The Hawks trail Coppin State by one game in the standings with just three games left to play in the regular season.
