Hawks unable to keep pace with 24^th ranked Virginia

 
SUMMARY

 
The University of Maryland Shore Hawks fell to No. 24 ranked Virginia on Tuesday, 84-60.
 

 
THE SCORE
 
Maryland Eastern Shore (4-9) - 60
No. 24 Virginia Cavaliers (9-1) - 84
 

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

 
The Hawks surrendered an early 7-0 run to the Cavaliers to start the game before baskets by Dorion Staples, Joseph Locandro and Michael Teal erased the UVA lead to tie up the contest at 10-10 with 14:35 left in the opening half.


Virginia responded with a 11-0 run and continued to hit from beyond the arc. The Cavaliers sank 11-of-19 attempts from three point range in the opening 20 minutes of play. UVA led by as many as 23 in the half. UMES scored on baskets by Jayden Cooper and Teal late in the half to cut the deficit down to fourteen, 46-32, at intermission.

 
UMES cut the deficit down to ten in the early stages of the second half before a nearly four minute scoring drought allowed Virginia to go back up by seventeen. A Justin Monden jumper ended the UMES shooting woes at the 13:48 mark. Trailing by 15 points, the Hawks were unable to sustain any momentum. Virginia took full control with a 16-2 run to up the lead to 29 with 7:33 to play. UMES knocked the deficit down to 20 points with 3:14 to go before the Cavaliers cruised to the 24-point win.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
BY THE NUMBERS

 
The Hawks were 25-of-54 from the field including three-for-12 from three point range. UVA converted 30 of 62 attempts from the floor and hit on 13 of 31 three point attempts.

 
UMES outscored UVA, 36-32, in the paint. The Cavaliers held advantages in points off turnovers (17-11), second chance points (11-7), fast break points (14-12) and bench scoring (33-29).

 
Sam Lewis led Virginia with a game-high 15 points. Thijs De Ridder added 13 points and six rebounds. Six Virginia players registered two or more makes from three point range on Tuesday.

 
UMES was paced by nine points from Joseph Locandro and Jaden Cooper. Cooper also registered a season-high eight rebounds.

 
UMES is now 0-5 in the all-time series against Virginia.
 

 
 
 
COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH CLEO HILL, JR


"They did an excellent job of shooting the ball in the first half and I thought we did a good job of continuing to fight and keep it within striking distance after the first twenty minutes. Virginia had a lot of confidence on their home floor. I thought it was a competitive first half and was happy with our effort on both ends of the floor."
 
 
"We had some really good stretches of basketball. During our bad stretches, Virginia took advantage every time. We made a few defensive mistakes which led to a few runs by them. We do have some good depth on the bench and tried to make some adjustments but we couldn't find the momentum in the second half."

 
"We continue to look for guys who can take care of the ball under pressure and buy into the system of play. Right now, we have a rotation of about fourteen guys. As the season progresses, I don't intend to go that deep but we want to continue to give guys opportunities and get a look at what each player does well against a quality opponent."

 
"We are looking forward to getting back to competition on Friday at North Carolina A&T. We know the coaching staff very well at NC A&T and we know it will be a great game between two HBCU programs. It will be good to go back to the state of North Carolina and play infront of quite a few family members and friends."



 
UP NEXT


The Hawks travel to North Carolina A&T on Friday at 7 pm.