PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team grabbed their tenth win of the season on Saturday (February 26) as they cruised to a 70-50 win over the Coppin State University Eagles inside the Hytche Center.
Saturday's win completed the season sweep of Coppin State. Also, the win secured the program's first double digit win season since the 2016-17 campaign.
"I was really proud of our guys for being ready to go," head coach Jason Crafton said. "This team is hungry and we want to not just play well in the conference tournament, we want to win the conference tournament, and I think (the guys) showed that tonight with how they approached this game."
The Hawks (10-13, 5-7 MEAC) scored the first seven points of the game to get themselves off to a fast start following a 3-pointer and layup by freshman Chace Davis and a tip in by senior Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. Coppin State would not score until the 17:06 mark.
Junior Kevon Voyles would then hit two straight from behind the arc to put the team up 13-4 with 14:23 on the clock. Senior Mayowa Akinsanya made a layup 18 seconds later and junior Dom London, who was playing in his first game in almost a month, sunk a three fading into the CSU bench to make the score 18-4. The shot brought the crowd to their feet and the route was on.
"I thought that Dom was very timely after having missed a month," Crafton said. "All the guys were excited to see him out there and I was proud of the work he put in to get back."
At the under 12:00 media timeout, The Shore led 18-7. They came out of the break and went on an 8-0 run courtesy of Davis and Voyles to increase the lead to 19 points. The Eagles would cut that lead to 28-16 with under four minutes left to play in the first half.
Eastern Shore finished the half by scoring the final five points of the frame off a 3-pointer from junior Da'Shawn Phillip and a jumper from senior Donchevell "Tuka" Nugent. The team would take a 33-16 advantage into the locker room.
In the opening 20 minutes, the Hawks shot 50% from long distance, while holding Coppin State to 25% from the field overall.
Both teams came out of the locker room hot. After each squad missed their opening shot, the two teams combined to hit 10 straight field goals. The final make of that stretch came from yet another long distance shot from Voyles. The Hawks led 47-27 at that point with 15:59 left in the game.
Senior Mike Mensah hit a three with 10:59 on the clock to put the team ahead by 20 for the first time. His shot made the score 51-29. The team would use the next four minutes to build their lead to 25 as a free throw from Voyles made the score 58-33 with 6:42 remaining. That was the biggest lead Maryland Eastern Shore would have in the game.
The closest CSU would get after that was 18 points. They made the score 65-47 with under three minutes left, but a layup by Akinsanya and a three from London put a punctuation mark on the contest as they got the lead back above 20 and the victory was secured.
After shooting lights out at NC Central last Monday, the Hawks brought their hot hand back home as they shot 50.9% from the field for the game. They also dished out 21 assists as a team and forced 17 turnovers by Coppin State.
Voyles had a career high 17 points in the game and was followed by Davis who had 14 points. Phillip turned in one of his best all-around games of the year as he had eight points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals. The eight assists for Phillip was his best output in a Hawk uniform in that category.
"It's good to see Kevon continue to grow as an offensive player as I think the biggest thing for him is that he is taking more efficient shots," Crafton said. "And a huge shout out to Da'Shawn Phillip, who I think was the catalyst that made the engine go for our offense tonight."
Maryland Eastern Shore will now travel to Baltimore to face Morgan State on Monday (February 28) in their final road game of the season. The game will tip off at approximately 7:30 p.m.
