DOVER, Delaware — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team ended their two game losing streak to the Delaware State University Hornets on Wednesday night (February 9) as they defeated their rival 58-50 inside Memorial Hall.
"I came into this game thinking Delaware State is pretty good (despite their record) and they're good at home so I told our guys they always find ways to come back," head coach Jason Crafton said. "So I was proud of our guys to be able to pull this off, but we still know that we have to play better basketball."
Both teams got off to a rocky start from the field. The Hawks did not get their first points of the game until the 17:09 mark via a layup by senior Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. Delaware State led 4-2 at that point.
Junior Da'Shawn Phillip hit a 3-pointer with 14:37 on the clock to tie the game at six. Three minutes later, senior Mike Mensah hit a step back jumper to put the team up 8-7 and they would not relinquish their lead for the rest of the game.
Mensah's make was the catalyst of a 10-2 run by the Hawks. By the time junior Kevon Voyles made a shot behind the arc with 8:27 on the clock, Eastern Shore was ahead 16-9.
The Shore would continue to extend their lead and would get it to double digits following a three point play by Pollard, Jr. to make the score 24-13. Senior Donchevell "Tuka" Nugent hit a shot from long distance on the team's next possession to put them up 27-15. They would take that lead into the locker room at halftime.
In the first half, the Hawks defense was dominant. They held the Hornets to 26.9% from the field including a 0-5 mark from behind the arc.
The opening minutes of the second half saw the two squads trading baskets. Maryland Eastern Shore still led by 12 at the 14:06 mark when Nugent made a driving layup to make the score 34-22. Delaware State got the lead to single digits at the 12:27 mark, but that was answered by a layup from Phillip to make the score 38-27.
That basket led to an 8-0 run as senior Zion Styles made a layup followed by a jumper from freshman Chace Davis before Styles got a steal and threw down a dunk. The slam from Styles gave the team their biggest lead of the game, 17 points, with 9:51 remaining as the score stood at 44-27.
Pollard, Jr. made a shot behind the arc to beat the shot clock buzzer with four minutes left to make the score 52-40. Another steal and dunk from Styles a minute and a half later made the score 54-43 and seemed to put the nail in the coffin, but DSU would rally to make the game interesting.
The Hornets scored on two straight possessions to make the score 54-47. Pollard, Jr. knocked down two from the line to push the lead back to nine after that with 1:36 remaining.
After turnovers by both squads, Delaware State made a 3-pointer to make the score 56-50 with 36 seconds left. Styles would make two from the line and after that the Hornets committed their 25th turnover of the night before the Hawks dribbled the ball out to end the game.
"I thought that we made some key plays in some key spots defensively and that helped us get the win," Crafton said. "Also, I came into the game telling the staff that 25 is the magic number that we needed to turn them over to win, and we got the 25 turnovers."
Pollard, Jr., Styles and Nugent all were in double figures in scoring with 14, 13 and 10 points respectively. Davis had a tough night shooting, but pulled down a game and season high six rebounds.
The Shore will now start the second half of their MEAC schedule on Saturday (February 12) when they travel to Norfolk State. The Spartans won the first meeting 72-58 back on January 17 inside the Hytche Center.
