Last second shot waved off as Hawks fall to Wagner, 63-61

SUMMARY

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks erased a 15-point second half deficit and nearly completed a comeback before a potential overtime forcing shot was waved off as time expired in a 63-61 loss to Wagner.

THE SCORE

Wagner Seahawks (5-4) - 63

Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (2-11) - 61

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Hawks opened the game with an efficient offense scoring on their first three possessions and taking a 8-7 lead by the 15:42 mark behind three field goals by forward Christopher Flippin. UMES suddenly went cold, going scoreless for over three minutes as the Seahawks pulled ahead, 9-12, at the 11:27 mark.

Both teams struggled to find their rhythm offensively as the teams managed a combined two field goals and 17 shot attempts. Ketron "KC" Shaw managed to get the Hawks out of the shooting slump by making his next two shots followed by a Jose Cuello three pointer to bring UMES to within one, 21-20 by the 4:47 mark.

Wagner grabbed the momentum late in the first half with a 15-2 run sparked by baskets by Keyontae Lewis and a three ball by Ja'Kair Sanchez as the Hawks went into the locker room down 35-24.

UMES began the second half managing just one field goal over the first three minutes as the Seahawks maintained their double-digit lead. A three ball by Javier Ezquerra  put Wager up 42-28 at the 16:01 mark of the second half.

Evan Johnson knocked down back to back shots from beyond the arc to bring UMES to within eight, 46-38. The Seahawks responded with their own three point play as RJ Greene converted a tip in and free throw with 11:43 on the clock.

Jalen Ware scored on the other end for the Hawks to bring the deficit back down to single digits. Another Evan Johnson three pointer brought UMES to within six, 49-43. Wagner scored the next five points to back up by double digits. A Shaw layup and free throw narrowed the gap down to eight, 56-48, with 5:36 remaining.

A Hassan Perkins make from three point range with just under five minutes to play along with two Ralph Martino, Jr. free throws cut the Wagner lead down to 57-53 with 4:28 to go. Two more Perkins free throws after the final media timeout brought the game to within one possession, 57-55, with 3:34 to play.

Shaw knotted up the game at 57-57 with two free throws at the 1:49 mark. Green converted in the pain on the other end to put Wagner back up by two. After coming up with a defensive stop, Wagner went up by four with two Sanchez free throws. An offensive rebound and put back by Martino brought UMES back within two. With just eight seconds remaining, the Hawks came up with a turnover on the inbound.

After a timeout, the ball worked its way around to Martino who drove to the lane and converted an open layin but could not get the ball out his hand before the horn as the refs waved off the basket resulting in a Wagner two-point victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

Three point shooting was a factor for the Hawks as they began the game going 1-for-11 from beyond the arc before finished the game with a 5-for-17 performance (29.4%). Wagner was 6-for-14 from three-point range (42.9%)

Led by RJ Greene's 18 points off the bench, Wagner outscored the Hawk reserves, 23-12.

KC Shaw and Evan Johnson led UMES with 19 points each. Shaw also led UMES with six rebounds and four streals while Johnson tallied a team-high five assists.

Sunday was the Hawks fourth loss by four points or less this season (Penn, Old Dominion, Longwood, Wagner).

COMMENTS FROM COACH CLEO HILL, JR

"We have to develop confidence and be more cohesive in order to come out on top in some of these close games."

"We did a better job in some areas like rebounding today but still need to be better at following our assignments. I am proud of the way our guys battled back to tie the game. We did some good things during the comeback. These close games are good for us and experiences we will learn from."

"Wagner is a pretty good team and took advantage of some of our mistakes late in the first half and built a healthy lead at the break. Those are the types of stretches we can not have and need to look at being better moving forward."

"I thought we had some guys step up today in Hassan (Perkins) and Ralph (Martino). I think both played better defense today and made plays for us in our comeback. We need them to keep playing well as we prepare for the last stretch of games in December and enter conference play."

"The last play was close to being a great moment for us. Ralph did a great job of driving to the basket and just couldn't get it off in time."

NEXT UP

The Hawks host Bryn Athyn on Saturday at 4 pm.