PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — As the University of Maryland Eastern Shore heads into their first game in the MEAC Tournament in two years, the sixth seeded Hawks will look to string together three wins to claim their first conference title since 1974.
The drive to bring the program their first MEAC title in 48 years will begin on Thursday night (March 10) in the quarterfinals as they take on the No. 3 seed North Carolina Central University Eagles. The game will tip at approximately 8 p.m. and be broadcast on ESPN+ following the conclusion of the men's quarterfinal between Morgan State and South Carolina State.
"Our mentality coming into this tourney has mainly been on controlling what we can control," head coach Jason Crafton said. "We feel like we've gotten better over the last few days and we are ready to play our best basketball of the season on Thursday night."
In the first two games between the two squads this year, the road team was victorious in both contests. NCCU won 75-63 back on January 24 in the Hytche Center, while Eastern Shore came out on top 79-66 on February 21. The Shore overcame a 16-point deficit in their win to complete their biggest comeback of the season and end an 18 game losing streak to the Eagles.
Each victory saw the winning team have an exceptional shooting night. The Eagles shot 50% from the field and 44% from behind the arc in their victory. The Hawks turned their best shooting night from long distance this season at NC Central when they shot 58.3% and 52.8% overall. The Shore also dished out a season high 22 assists in that game.
Although the offenses of both teams came to the forefront in the earlier games between the two, defense has been the calling card for both squads all year. The Hawks and the Eagles are the second and third best scoring defenses in the MEAC at 66.3 and 68.4 points allowed per game respectively.
Maryland Eastern Shore's defensive prowess has led to them being one of the top defensive teams in the nation in steals per game and turnovers forced per game. The 10.2 steals per game that the Hawks get are tops in the conference and places them tied for fifth with Eastern Kentucky in the NCAA. Their 17.3 turnovers forced per game is 10th in the nation.
"We are so proud of our defense that has been top 10 nationally in multiple categories for most of the season," Crafton said. "Having already broken the school blocks record in my first year, hearing that we are close to breaking the steals record while playing less games than normal (due to COVID-19 health and safety cancellations) is incredible."
Thursday's game will also feature five players that were named to All-MEAC teams following the regular season. Junior point guard Da'Shawn Phillip (Baltimore, Maryland) was named third team all-conference. He is the only person to play and start every game this season for the Hawks and led the team in minutes played, steals, assists and total points.
Senior forward Nathaniel Pollard, Jr. (Richmond, Virginia) and freshman guard Chace Davis (Accokeek, Maryland) were the other Hawks that received All-MEAC recognition. Pollard, Jr. made the All-Defensive team as he was the only player in the conference to be in the top 10 in both steals and blocks per game. Davis was named to the All-Rookie team after averaging 8.0 points and 2.2 rebounds while shooting 84% from the line, which is the third highest percentage in the MEAC.
"Our team showed a lot of excitement when Shawn, Chace and Nate got conference recognition," Crafton said. "We have a great group of guys that consistently exhibit pure joy for their teammates' success----That's family!"
NCCU's two all-conference performers were named first team and second team All-MEAC. Justin Wright was fifth in scoring and free throw percentage in the conference and made the first team, while Eric Boone, who was second in assists and steals in the MEAC, was named to the second team.
The biggest thing for Eastern Shore heading into the tournament is that they will have the entire roster at their disposal for the first time since their game at home on January 22 against South Carolina State. The team's two leading scorers, junior Dom London (Christiana, Pennsylvania) and senior Zion Styles (Uniondale, New York), missed six and five games respectively down the stretch.
London returned February 26 against Coppin State and is averaging nine points and three rebounds per game since then. Styles came back in the final regular season game with Delaware State on March 3 and scored eight points.
With that being said, the rubber matchup between Maryland Eastern Shore and North Carolina Central should be an exciting game as it will close out the quarterfinal round of the tournament. The winner will play on Friday (March 11) at 8 p.m. in the semifinals and be that much closer to a MEAC title and a berth into the NCAA Tournament.
"We are looking forward to an intense battle with NC Central. Our consistent execution versus their pressure defense is paramount along with staying focused on the scouting report for 40 minutes," Crafton said. "We've got our guys taking things one day and one opponent at a time right now, but we know what's at stake and we are not ready for our season to end."
