Hawks outlast Coppin State to remain unbeaten in MEAC play
SUMMARY
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks outlasted the Eagles of Coppin State in a 70-67 victory on Saturday night to remain undefeated in MEAC play. Now at 4-0, UMES is off to their best start in conference play since the 1973-74 season.
THE SCORE
Coppin State Eagles (3-18; 1-3) - 67
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (8-13; 4-0) - 70
HOW IT HAPPENED
Dorion Staples, who has been averaging 14 points per MEAC contest entering Saturday, opened the game with two makes from three point range to give UMES an early 6-2 edge. Coppin State used the three point shooting of their own, hitting five from beyond the arc over the next eight minutes of play to build a 21-14 lead by the eight minute mark.
Zion Obanla came off the bench for the Hawks and provided a spark with back-to-back baskets in the pain to bring the Hawks to within three, 21-18.
Coppin State extended its lead to 30-22 before UMES scored the final six points of the half to pull to within four, 32-28, at the intermission.
Staples began the second half with two straight tip ins followed by a midrange jumper to put the Hawks ahead 34-32 at the 17:50 mark. After a free throw from Coppin State, a
Justin Monden three ball put UMES up by four.
Torrin Andrews came up big for the Eagles at the 8:25 mark with a five point trip. Andrews scored the basket and hit three free throws after a personal foul and technical gave the guard three shots from the line. With 6:47 to play and down by two, the Hawks hit two free throws by way of Obalna to tie up the game. Staples hit another three pointer to put UMES back on top, 57-54, with just over five minutes to play. The Eagles responded with the next two baskets to reclaim a 58-57 lead with 4:20 to play. Two Monden makes from the line put UMES back up by one followed by a layin from
Joseph Locandro to up the lead to three.
The Eagles came back to tie the game on a traditional three point play from Taj Thweatt at the 2:53 mark. Monden responded again for the Hawks as the offense rotated the ball to the open shooter for the go-ahead make with under two minutes to play. The Hawks scored on the next possession on an entry pass to Locandro down low for the score to go up by five. The two teams continued to battle during the final minute of play. With the Hawks up 70-67 with under 25 seconds to play, UMES came up with a big defensive stop what would turn out to be the final possession of the game for their fourth straight victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
The Hawks begin MEAC play with a 4-0 record for the first time since the 1973-1974 season. It is the first 4-0 start for the Hawks since gaining exclsuive NCAA Div. I status in 1981.
Winners of their last four games, UMES is on its longest winning streak since the 2022-2023 season when the Hawks won seven straight contests from Jan. 9 to Feb, 2.
Led by the play of
Zion Obanla and
Justin Monden, the UMES bench outscored the CSU reserves by a count of 40-28.
UMES forced 20 turnovers by Coppin State and held a 24-12 edge in points scored off giveaways.
Both teams were extremely efficient from the free throw line on Saturday. The Hawks made 18 of 19 free throw attempts while Coppin State made 20 of 21 attempts from the line.
Dorion Staples and
Zion Obanla led all scorers with game-high performances of 20 points each. Staples was eight for 12 from the field while recording four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Obanla was six for eight from the field and was a perfect eight-for-eight from the free throw line.
Justin Monden scored 14 points in the victory.
Nelson Lamizana led the Eagles with 16 points and seven rebounds.
COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH CLEO HILL, JR
"We came up big in our man to man defense at the end of the game to seal the win. We did a good job of communicating and ended up forcing a turnover."
"
Zion Obanla continues to be solid for us. Down the stretch, he and
Dorion Staples have really played well together during these conference games. I also thought Obanla has done a great job working on his game from the line and he came through tonight with some big makes at the end of the game."
"We have shown that we can win in a variety of ways. We have the ability to play a big or small lineup. I like how this team can score on all three levels. We now go on the road for the next five games and we feel that our non-conference schedule has been prepared us for this stretch of basketball."
UP NEXT
The Hawks are on the road for the rest of the month with the road trip beginning at South Carolina State next Saturday.
