PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore won back-to-back games for just the second time this season on Monday and their reward is a third game in five days as they host Coppin State on Wednesday (Feb. 22). The contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 28 and was rescheduled because of COVID protocols within the Eagles program.
The reschedule resulted in not only three conference games in five days, but also the rare repeat opponent as the Hawks (7-17, 3-7 MEAC) will travel to Baltimore to face Coppin this weekend as part of a men's and women's doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
"This is going to be a unique situation to play them back-to-back," Hawks coach Fred Batchelor said. "We haven't seen them all year long. To be in the season this late and have to play them with the short recovery is a challenge. We have to really be able to turn around and come back on Wednesday and play against a team we are competing with in the standings. This is huge for us."
Both contests come against an Eagles (6-19, 3-7 MEAC) team that currently stands just behind the Hawks in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference standings, but has an identical conference record. If the Hawks are able to secure a No. 5 or better seed after the dust settles on the final four games of the regular season it would put them in a better position heading into the conference tournament.
After pulling away early in its last two games, victories against South Carolina State and North Carolina Central, UMES was able to cut back on the minutes of the regulars and use the bench to mitigate the toll of playing three games in close succession. Just one player — redshirt-junior Mahogany Lester (Virginia Beach, Virginia) — played 30 minutes or more in either contest and no player played more than 23 minutes against the Bulldogs.
"We didn't have as much wear and tear as far as the minutes being played," Batchelor said. "That's good, but it's going to be important that we are able to do what we need to do to start the game off on the right foot on Wednesday."
