PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team made history on Saturday evening at the Hytche, winning its fifth consecutive contest over Coppin State by a 94-75 final.
The win moved the Hawks to 5-1 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play, the best start to league action since the program returned to the MEAC in the 1981-82 season. It also moved UMES to 8-0 at home, the best home start since returning to the conference, and a five game winning streak, the best run since the 1997-98 season.
"Every team in the league is extremely good, and we have to be ready to go every single night," Hawks coach Jason Crafton said. "It's a new time and everybody is coming at us with their best shot. What we've been challenging our guys with is that we have typically been the hunters, not the hunted, so we're trying to maintain that hunter mentality."
The basket seemed bigger than normal in the first half, with both teams shooting 63 percent from the field and scoring 50 before the intermission. Coppin State lit up from range in the opening act, shooting 10-of-15 from beyond the arc.
Out of the break, the Hawks seemed to have the answers to slow the Eagles attack down. UMES surrendered just 25 points in the second half while adding 44 of their own to stake their claim on the night.
Those answers came in the original Hawks plan: keep the ball away from Coppin's transfer guard from Penn State, Sam Sessoms.
"We didn't really start the game in the right frame of mind in terms of executing our defensive game plan," Crafton said. "Sessoms is an unbelievable player and we did not want him to be having the ball in his hands as freely as he was in the first half."
"In the second half, it wasn't really as much of an adjustment as it was doing what we were supposed to do from the start," Crafton added. "We also changed some matchups and we rebounded the basketball, we wanted to be one-and-done against them and we did that."
Several Hawks posted career-highs in the win. Nathaniel Pollard Jr. logged his fourth double-double of the campaign and the fifth of his career, comprised of career-highs in points (23) and assists (6) with 12 boards.
Zion Styles nearly reached his career scoring mark, pouring in 20 points with five rebounds while doubling his previous career-high in assists with eight.
Kevon Voyles finished with 16 points on the night including multiple clutch threes down the stretch to fend off the Eagles. Da'Shawn Phillip swiped five steals, his most of the season, while adding 12 points and a trio of boards. Chace Davis added seven points and three rebounds off the Hawk bench as well.
"I thought so many guys stood out, total team effort," Crafton said. "From Nate Pollard's double-double to Zion's 20 points, 8 assists and five huge rebounds. Kevon had a quiet 16, but it was big and he made some timely threes."
"Da'Shawn's five steals to go along with 12 points was big, and then a lot of guys came in and played good minutes. Chace Davis was solid for us off the bench and Kohen Thompson doesn't have big numbers tonight, but he did a lot of great things for us defensively: being alert, being in gaps and getting some great stops against Sessoms when we wanted to put some more size on the basketball."
The Hawks shot 31-of-59 (52.5 percent) from the field and 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) from three. Free throws were huge in this one and UMES nailed 19 of their 23 opportunities (82.6 percent). The Hawks also piled up 23 assists, their most in any game this season.
In the second half, the Hawks held Coppin State to a stingy 25.9 percent clip from the field and 28.6 percent from range. UMES outrebounded the visitors 33-27 on the night and surrendered just four offensive rebounds to Coppin. The hosts also collected their 13th game with double-digit steals this season, collecting 10 against the Eagles.
"It was great to get some of our young guys in to close the game out," Crafton said. "Big time win for us and excited for our guys, now we've got a quick turnaround to get ready for a really good Morgan State team."
That quick turnaround sees the Hawks battle the Bears from Baltimore on Monday, January 30. Tip against Morgan State is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and is part of the usual men's and women's conference doubleheader.
