PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore will face its final regular season challenge of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season on Thursday (Mar. 2) when it travels up Route 13 to Delaware State.

The Hawks (9-18, 5-8 MEAC) will be looking to avenge a home loss to Delaware State earlier this season when the team struggled to make baskets from everywhere on the floor including the free throw line.

"We have to get ready for a tough team," Hawks head coach Fred Batchelor said. "Del State is playing their best basketball right now. They seem to be motivated and it's going to be their senior night. It's going to be another challenge for us."

What would normally be a quick turnaround for the Hawks comes one week after they played three games in five days due to a rescheduled game against Coppin State. So having two days between contests was fine.

"We actually got the day off on Tuesday, which was nice," Batchelor said. "I was yawning the whole second half on Monday."

The Hornets (6-18, 4-9 MEAC) had back-to-back wins against South Carolina State and Morgan State before falling 34-32 at home to Coppin State (5-8, 8-20 MEAC) on Monday.

The win is important heading into the conference tournament because UMES is currently fifth in the conference, but has the same conference record as the Eagles and are just one win ahead of Delaware State.

"I told the young ladies two weeks ago that we started playing conference tournament games already because every game right now is important for seeding and it also helps you understand how important momentum is," Batchelor said.

The Hawks do have momentum on their side right now as winners of four of their last five games, where they are averaging 70.2 points per game while allowing just 57.2. UMES is shooting 47% from the field, 27% from behind the arc and 74% from the line over that stretch. They are also averaging just 14 turnovers per game down from their season average.