Hawks fall to MEAC leading Norfolk State, 75-63
 

SUMMARY

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks dropped Saturday night's MEAC contest to the conference leading Norfolk State Spartans, 75-63.
 

THE SCORE

Norfolk State Spartans (17-8; 7-1) – 75
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (4-20; 0-8) – 63

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

UMES jumped out to an early 5-4 lead before a 11-0 run by the Spartans capped off by a Terrance Jones three pointer put the Hawks down by double-digits early, 15-5. NSU led by as many as 16 in the first 20 minutes of play. 12 first half points by UMES guard Evan Johnson kept the Hawks in contention at half as NSU went into the locker room with a 35-23 edge.
 
Sparked by three pointers from Johnson and freshman Kyrell Shaw, UMES cut the deficit down to single digits in the early stages of the second half, 39-30. The Hawks slowly chipped away at the Spartan lead and trailed by five, 49-44, after a Cardell Bailey jumper at the 10:16 mark. Jaylani Darden responded with back to back field goals on the other end to help NSU reclaim a double-digit advantage.
 
Shaw found his shooting touch down the stretch as the freshman poured in 14 points in the final 10 minutes of play but the Hawks were unable to overcome the efficient free throw shooting of the Spartans. In the bonus with over six minutes remaining, NSU converted 15 of 19 attempts from the line to help maintain the lead and the eventual 12 point win.
 


BY THE NUMBERS

Kyrell Shaw and Evan Johnson led the UMES offense with 21 points each. The two guards combined to make 11 three pointers while both were over 50 percent shooting from the field.

Brian Moore, Jr. paced NSU with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists.

NSU held a 42-12 edge in points scored in the paint.
 
NSU made 24 of 34 free throws while UMES was a combined 8-for-16 from the line.

The Spartans are 7-1 in MEAC play and entered Saturday with a one-game lead in the conference standings over Howard.
 
 

COMMENTS FROM COACH CLEO HILL, JR
 
"I thought we did a good job of competing tonight. We still are struggling to put it all together for the full forty minutes. I thought some guys grew up tonight and made some plays against a good Norfolk State team but we just didn't have enough to make a significant run down the stretch."
 
"Having played them once, I thought we were better prepared tonight. Each time we face a conference opponent for the second time, we want to show improvement. I thought we did that tonight and we will keep working to find ways to compete against the top teams in our conference."
 
"We competed on both ends of the floor tonight and played hard. I think we turned the ball over a little too much and missed a few key free throws which ultimately hurt us."
 
"We will keep getting better as we move through the conference schedule. We know how to practice and how to prepare. It is about putting it all together at the key moments of games in order to come out on top."
 
 
 
UP NEXT
 
The Hawks travel to play Howard on Monday at 3 pm.