BALTIMORE, Maryland — It wouldn't have taken much. Could have been a rebound here or a steal there. Maybe if a jumper fell instead of rolling around the rim and out. Just one or two plays and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore could be looking at a four-game win streak.

Instead when the dust settled on a battle at Morgan State, it was the Bears who came away with a 62-60 win.

"I like the way we started the game and being on the road and having a chance to win it on the road — putting ourselves in a position like we did, I can't ask for anything more," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "I just didn't think we played well enough today. There were just a couple of plays that we had to make that we didn't make and we lost to a team that made those plays at the end."

The Hawks (10-15, 6-7 MEAC) started the game strong building a 16-8 led with 3:04 left in the quarter. But The Shore went scoreless over those final three minutes to allow Morgan to cut it within 16-15. The Bears (16-7, 10-3) took the lead at the 9:33 mark of the second quarter and made the Hawks play catch up.

Eastern Shore tied the contest three times in the second before a 3-pointer by Brooklyn Bailey (Rock Hill, South Carolina) gave the Hawks the lead back, 31-30, but it was short lived as Morgan took a 32-21 advantage into the half.

In the third, The Shore tied the game three times and held two more short advantages. The Hawks last held a lead at 51-50 with 7:10 to go in the fourth, but Morgan always seemed to have an answer.

"If a couple balls had gone a different way it might have been different," Batchelor said. "We tipped the ball on two or three possessions, which I just knew we were going to get and we didn't and they got it and they converted. It was just the way the ball bounced. There wasn't a discrepancy on the glass — we outrebounded them. We had 15 turnovers, but if you take away the two or three charge calls which I question, that changes the turnover numbers. I thought it was a well-played game by both teams to be honest with you. It just comes down to a couple buckets where the ball didn't bounce our way. That's all I can say: The ball didn't bounce our way tonight."

Bailey led the Hawks with 12 points off the bench. Ariana Seawell (Bronx, New York) had 10 points and seven rebounds in 19 minutes, while Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) put up 10 points and seven boards in just 16 minutes off the bench.

The Hawks return home to host Delaware State on Thursday (March 3) for a senior night contest at 5:30 p.m.