GREENVILLE, N.C. – After a back-and-forth first half, the Hawks were unable to manage the second half runs by East Carolina in a 63-52 road loss on Monday night.

With Monday night's loss, UMES is now 2-5 overall while ECU upped its record to 6-3 on the year.
 
UMES played well defensively to start the game as the Hawks held the Pirates without a field goal for a span of nearly seven minutes. UMES led by as many as six in the opening 20 minutes of play but an 8-0 run late in the half helped the Pirates take a 32-31 lead at half.

ECU catapulted to a double-digit lead by opening the second half on a 12-0 run. The Hawks chopped the deficit down to six by the 9:34 mark on back-to-back baskets by Devon Ellis before ECU's Brandon Johnson made a three pointer sparked a 15-1 Pirate run as the margin ballooned to 20. The Hawks never fully recovered from that point on as they fell to 0-4 on the road

"I thought we did an excellent job of rebounding the ball and playing defense," head UMES coach Jason Crafton said. "ECU is one of the top rebounding teams in the country so I was glad of the way we competed in that area. Shot selection and turnovers were ultimately what hurt us tonight. We will have to be better at taking care of the ball and playing smarter as we prepare for Wednesday night's game at NC State."

While both teams struggled from the field, ECU managed a better second half shooting percentage of 40.63 (13-32) while UMES was 29.17% (7-24). Ball possession was also an issue for the Hawks as they gave the ball away 17 times resulting in being outscored 24-6 in points off turnovers.

Chace Davis was the leading scorer for the Hawks with 13 points. Ellis finished with 12 points and four rebounds.

Ezra Ausar led ECU with a game-high 18 points along with 10 rebounds and three steals. Johnson recorded 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Hawks remain on the road throughout the month of December with the next game against North Carolina State on Wednesday.