SUMMARY


The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball season came to an end in the first round of the MEAC tournament with a 87-81 loss to second seeded North Carolina Central on Wednesday night.

 
THE SCORE

 
University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks - 81
North Carolina Central Eagles - 87


 
HOW IT HAPPENED

 
The Hawks hit on their first two field goals of the contest while NCCU knocked down two shots from the same spot in the corner in the early minutes of the game. Dionte Johnson made a three before the first media timeout to give the Hawks an early 9-5 lead. Baskets by Chace Davis, Troy Hupstead and Devon Ellis off the bench kept the Hawks ahead 20-17 by the 9:19 mark. A three pointer by Tyler Mack and free throws from Hupstead and Elijah Wilson gave UMES a seven point advantage, 26-19, by the 7:40 mark. NCCU responded with a 9-0 run to jump up by two, 28-26 with 5:50 to play in the first half. Johnson broke the Hawk scoring drought with a midrange jumper. Another jumper by Ellis cut the deficit back to one, 31-30, with 3:37 to go in the half. The team's traded buckets down the final stages of the half highlighted by back-to-back dunks by UMES forward Kelechi Okworogwo while NCCU managed five free throws in the final three minutes to take a 40-37 advantage into the locker room.

 
Okworogwo led the Hawks in the first half with nine points while Johnson recorded seven. NCCU's Fred Cleveland, Jr. led all players with 11 points while the Eagle bench had key contributions with eight points from Timmy Adedire and Ja'Darius Harris.

 
NCCU extended its lead to seven by the 15:16 mark after a Po'Boigh King make from three point range. King hit again on the next Eagle possession to give NCCU a 54-45 lead. The NCCU lead went up to as many as 11 while the UMES offense went nearly four minutes without a field goal. A Johnson three pointer broke the field goal drought with 12:06 to go. UMES continued to keep the margin to single digits going into the nine minute mark as Ellis converted a three-point play.

 
Ellis continued to keep the Hawks within striking distance with three straight baskets as UMES trailed by eight, 73-65, with 3:39 left. After a Mack three pointer brought UMES to within seven, Ellis split a pair of free throws on the next possession to narrow the gap, 76-70. After a NCCU free throw, Hupstead converted on a putback to bring the Hawks to within five with under two minutes to go. The Hawks continued to cut into the lead as a Johnson make in transition made it a three point game with just over a minute to go. UMES came up empty on its next two offensive possessions while NCCU added free throws by King, Cleveland and Keishon Porter. A Wilson make and a Okworogwo put back dunk kept the game interesting as UMES trailed 83-79. Two misses by NCCU at the line and a Johnson layin brought UMES to within two with 11 seconds to go. Cleveland drew the foul and calmly knocked down two from the line to put the Eagles back up by four. Cleveland added two more free throws after a missed UMES shot to give NCCU the six point win.

 
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 
 
NCCU was an efficient 28 of 36 from the free throw line while UMES made 17 of 26 free throw attempts.

 
NCCU was paced by Fred Cleveland's 21 points and Po'Boigh King had 17 points in the victory.

 
Dionte Johnson recorded a new career-high 21 points in the loss. Devon Ellis had 18 points going eight for 10 from the field. Kelechi Okworogwo finished with 13 points.

 
UMES went into Wednesday's game with their top two scorers in Hupstead and Ellis limited due to injury.
 
 
The Hawks had lost the previous two games to NCCU by a combined margin of 51 (L 65-57, L 88-55)

 
 
 
COMMENTS FROM COACH JASON CRAFTON
 

"We had a good game plan and our guys gave everything tonight. I thought free throws and some missed shots in key moments ended up being the difference in tonight's game. I am proud of our effort and competitiveness tonight."

 
"Dionte (Johnson) has really been playing well over the last few weeks of the season and he was able to make plays for us tonight. He has been working with some of our former players and putting the work in to get better. We saw that tonight."

 
"Troy and Devon showed leadership tonight. After missing the last few games with injuries, they were willing to come off the bench and allow others to step into the starting lineup. Both played hard despite their injuries and were effective for us."
 
 
"NCCU is an extremely talented and well coached team. They did a better job of executing when it matters and were able to move on."
 
 

 
MEAC TOURNAMENT

 
For details on this year's MEAC Tournament, visit - https://meacsports.com/tournaments/?id=2617