Final Score
84
UMES UMES 0-2,0-0 MEAC
85
Winner Penn Penn 2-0,0-0 Ivy League
UMES UMES
0-2,0-0 MEAC
84
Final
85
Penn Penn
2-0,0-0 Ivy League
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UMES UMES 31 53 84
Penn Penn 34 51 85

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Hawks edged by one point at Penn

Hawks edged by one point at Penn
 

SUMMARY

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore erased a double digit second half deficit before being narrowly defeated at the University of Pennsylvania, 85-84, on Thursday night.
 
 
THE SCORE

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (0-2) – 84
Penn Quakers (2-0) - 85

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
In a rematch of last year's thrlling overtime contest, the Hawks hoped to carry their success against Penn into Thursday's contest. UMES jumped out to a 18-15 lead sparked by the early scoring of Ketron "KC" Shaw and inside presence of Christopher Flippin. Penn gained confidence on its home floor in the late stages of the first half and managed to build a 30-23 lead thanks to a series of free throws and a stretch of making four of five shot attempts. Shaw holted some of the Quacker momentum with a pullup jumper followed by second chance points by Flippin on the next Hawk offensive possession to climb back to with three. Points by George Smith and Nick Spinoso put Penn back up by seven, 34-27, before Hawk guard Cardell Bailey scored on a stepback jumper and hit two free throws to bring UMES to within three at half, 34-31.
 
Converting five three-pointers in the first half compared to one make from UMES, the Quaker shooters opened the second half with a perimeter make from Dylan Williams. Another three pointer from Sam Brown and a layup by Augustus Gerhart upped the Quaker lead to 12 by the 15:27 mark.
Penn maintained a comfortable lead, 55-40, by the 11:55 mark. Down by as many as 16, the Hawks battled back to cut the deficit down to single digits as freshmen Kyrell Shaw and Maurice Vassel each came off the bench to combine to go five-for-five from the field in a three and half minute span. With the freshmen making an impact, the Hawks climbed back into contention and trailed 62-57 with 5:27 remaining.
 
Penn regained its composure as Nick Spinoso knocked down two free throws after the final media timeout and a three pointer by Brown upped the lead back to double digits with 2:46 to go. Kyrell Shaw added to his solid second half totals with baskets on back to back possessions while Ketron drew a foul from three-point range and went on to convert his free throws to cut the deficit down to six, 75-69, with 59 seconds left.
 
After free throws from Brown, Flippin converted on a second chance jumper. Two more made free throws from Brown were followed by a three-point make by Hawk guard Jose Cuello. Brown added to his totals with another two makes from the free throw line. Kyrell Shaw kept the Hawks in the game with another three ball to bring his team to with four with 15 seconds remaining. After forcing a turnover, Kyrell would step up again for another make to bring UMES to within one point with 4.3 remaining.
 
Forced to foul, UMES sent Ethan Roberts to the line who converted both to put the Quakers back up by three. After splitting a pair of free throws on the other end, UMES trailed by two. More free throws by Brown helped seal the game to give a four point lead to Penn. Cuello knocked down a final three pointer to bring the final tally to 85-84 in favor of the Quakers.
 
 
 
KEY STATS

Penn held a significant advantage from three-point range early on and finished the game making 12 of 34 attempts. After managing just one three-point make in the first half, UMES made six in the second frame to finish seven of 19 from beyond the arc.
 
Ketron "KC" Shaw paced UMES scoring for the second game in a row with 24 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out five assists.
 
UMES forward Christopher Flippin was efficient from the field, going nine for 11 for 20 points. He also led all players with 13 rebounds.
 
Hawk freshmen Kyrell Shaw and Maurice Vassel made significant impacts in the second half. Shaw scored all 16 of his points in the final 20 minutes of play while Vassel recorded six points, three rebounds and a block in 11 minutes of play.
 
UMES committed 11 turnovers compared to seven giveaways by Penn
 
Penn converted 23 of 31 free throws in the game while UMES was 17 for 26 from the line.
Thursday marked the second year in a row the two schools have played to the final possession. The Hawks took down Penn on a overtime buzzer beater last season to win 83-80.
 
 
 
COMMENTS FROM HAWK COACH CLEO HILL, JR
 
"We had an intense timeout when we fell behind in the second half. We talked about discipline, energy and passion. I thought those were the things we saw down the stretch. We were able to battle back and make tonight a basketball game."
 
"I think we are all still learning each other. Our players are learning us as coaches and we are learning the best ways to motivate them. We will continue to work towards establishing our identity throughout these early games and will keep working on finding ways to put our players in the best position to succeed."
 
"We had been pushing Kyrell and Maurice to step up. I thought they both stepped up and played very well tonight. Vassel did not play in the first half but was ready when we called his number. He brought a lot of energy and helped us turn the game around. Kyrell did what we have expected him to do. He came in as one of the best shooters in the entire state of North Carolina and we glad to have him and his brother KC as part of the program."
 
"We like to go to Chris (Flippin) early on and see if he can make things happen. I thought he played big tonight and was up to the challenge tonight with a double-double."
 
"Over the last two games, we have found out a lot about ourselves. We have been a little shorthanded with our depth right now but I was very proud of the team today and feel like we took a step forward today against a quality team in Penn."
 
"As we turn our focus towards our homecoming game, we are excited to welcome back our alum. I am especially excited to welcome back our 1973-1974 team and to experience the energy on our campus. We can't wait to get home and be a part of the Hawk pride."
 
 
 
 
NEXT UP
 
The Hawks host Penn State Schuylkill on Saturday at 4 pm. Game details available on https://umeshawksports.com/news/2024/11/6/mens-basketball-mbb-preview-hawks-host-psu-schuylkill-on-homecoming.aspx
 
 
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