Hawks edged by Coppin State Eagles, 62-57


SUMMARY
 
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks were outdueled down the stretch in a 62-57 conference loss to Coppin State on Monday night.
 
 
THE SCORE
 
Coppin State Eagles (4-18; 2-5) - 62
 
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (4-18; 0-6) - 57


 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Hawks jumped out to an early 15-10 lead by the 11:44 mark of the first half behind six points from forward Christopher Flippin and five from Ketron "KC" Shaw. A UMES scoring drought lasting over four minutes allowed Coppin State to tie the game up. 15-15, with 7:22 to play in the half.
 
UMES guard Kyrell Shaw ended the scoring drought with a three pointer at the 6:48 mark. With a slow pace to end the half, Coppin State used two threes to in the final stages of the half to take a narrow 25-23 lead.
 
Former Hawk Toby Nnadozie knocked down a shot from beyond the arc and an off balanced midrange make to help the Eagles build a 38-31 lead by the 15:36 mark. CSU extended the lead to 11 on another Nnadozie three at the 13:43 mark before UMES finally answered with a Cardell Bailey three pointer on the next possession.
 
The Hawks battled back into the game thanks to interior presence of Flippin, who converted on a spinning layin followed by a dunk on the next possession to bring UMES to within three, 46-43, with 7:11 to go. An Evan Johnson make cut the lead down to one, 48-47, before a Julius Ellerbe three ball put the Eagles back up by four with 5:20 remaining.
 
After a technical clear path foul was assessed to the Hawks, CSU added two free throws to up their lead to six. A Kyrell Shaw contested three pointer found the bottom of the bucket to bring the game back to within one possession, 53-50, with 3:46 on the clock. After a Shaw free throw, Ellerbe hit again from three point range as the Eagles went up by five with 2:06 left.
 
Another three ball from Coppin State's Khali Horton gave the Eagles a seven point cushion. Trey Hall answered with a three ball of his own at the other end to bring UMES to within four, 59-55, with 1:12 remaining.
 
Two KC Shaw free throws cut the deficit down to two, 59-57. After CSU split a pair of free throws, a potential game tying shot by the Hawks was off the mark with under seven seconds to play. Two free throws by Ellerbe sealed the victory for CSU, 62-57.
 
 
 
 

 BY THE NUMBERS
 
Free throws hurt the Hawks chances on Monday night as UMES was eight of 16 from the line (50%).
 
Ketron "KC" Shaw led the Hawks with 16 points along with six assists followed by Chris Flippin's 14 points. Kyrell Shaw led UMES with seven rebounds to go along with 10 points.
 
Toby Nnadozie scored a game-high 17 points to lead Coppin State.
 
CSU was eight for 19 from three point range (42%).
 




COMMENTS FROM COACH CLEO HILL, JR
 
 
"Tonight was an extremely tough loss at home tonight. I thought the energy was good inside of our gym but we just couldn't make enough plays down the stretch. I give them a lot of credit. Coppin hit some very timely shoots down the stretch that made the difference."



"Free throws proved to be our Achilles heal tonight. We are at fifty percent and have to be better in that area to win games. We have been working on them and have to have them in order to come out on top."



"I thought we had some great moments from Chris Flippin at times and we have to find more ways to get the ball in his hands for him to take advantage of his matchups. I also thought we did a better job of playing defense and boxing out tonight."
 



NEXT GAME



The Hawks host Howard next Monday (February 10).