Spartans outlast Hawks in Monday night battle in the MEAC
 
 
SUMMARY

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks were outlasted by the Spartans of Norfolk State, 70-66, in Monday night's MEAC action in Maryland.
 
 
THE SCORE

Norfolk State Spartans (13-14; 6-4) – 70
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (8-19; 4-6) – 66 
 
 
 
GAME BREAKDOWN

 
The Hawks jumped out to an early 9-2 lead thanks to two three pointers by Jaden Cooper and a traditional three point play from a driving Zion Obanla. The Spartans quickly erased the UMES lead with a 10-3 run to knot up the score, 12-12 by the 11:57 mark. Free throws from Chrstopher Flippin and a three pointer by Justin Monden helped the Hawks climb ahead 17-14. The Spartans came right back with three straight three balls to go back on top, 22-17. After a Cleo Hill, Jr. timeout, the Hawks responded with a layin from Dorion Staples. Staples hit a three pointer of his own to narrow the gap down to two with seven minutes to go. After the media timeout, the shooting of Staples kept the Hawks within striking distance. Staples hit his next three attempts from beyond the arc as UMES went into the final two minutes of the half down by three, 31-28. Neither team generated any offense in the final 120 seconds of play as UMES went into the break down by three.

 
An early dunk and put back by Maurice Vassel along with a three ball from Jaden Cooper had the Hawks within one point, 38-37, by the sixteen minute mark. Obanla makes in the paint gave UMES its first lead, 41-38, with just over 14 minutes to go. NSU answered with next five points before another Obanla make ended the run and tied the game at 43-43 with 12:09 to go. Obanla continued to provide the spark offensively for the Hawks. He scored two more times down the court and added a pair of free throws to put UMES up 49-46 but picked up his fourth foul at the 8:52 mark.


Forced to sub out one of their top scorers, the Hawks responded with a old school three point play from Cooper. UMES remained with the slight advantage until the 7:06 mark. A layin by NSU's Devon Ellis gave the Spartans a 54-53 lead and a 9-2 NSU run had the Spartans up by eight with 3:20 to play. Trailing 66-60 with under a minute to go, the Hawks were forced to foul. After NSU split a pair of free throws, Justin Monden scored on a putback to cut the deficit down to five with 29.8 to go. The Spartans were called for a five second call on the next possession, UMES split a pair of free throws to make the score, 67-63. With 12.4 seconds left, NSU split again from the free throw line. Staples hit from the right side of the arc for the Hawks to cut the lead down to two, 68-66 with six seconds left. Forced to foul again, the Hawks sent Anthony McComb to the line. McComb calmly hit both free throws to seal the victory. 
 


 
BY THE NUMBERS

 
Zion Obanla finished with 19 points and nine rebounds to lead UMES. Dorion Staples also had 19 points with 15 coming by way of the three point shot. Jaden Cooper added 12 points to the Hawks efforts.


UMES was 7-of-13 from the free throw line while NSU was 13 of 21 from the line.


The Spartans shot 24 for 46 from the field (52.2%) while the Hawks converted 25 of 53 attempts (47.2%)


NSU's bench scored 28 points while UMES reserves managed just eight points.


After starting conference play with a 4-0 record, UMES has dropped its last six conference game. 
 
 
 
 
QUOTES FROM UMES HEAD COACH CLEO HILL, JR
 

"While I think we did some good things, we did not do a good enough job of executing our defensive gameplan. We lost some of the shooters at times and gave up too many offensive rebounds. Defensivlly, there were way too many times of us losing track of personnel. We can't let shooters get good lucks and drivers drive."


"We had some foul trouble with Zion (Obanla) early but Dorion Staples came in and really shot the ball well. I thought the team played well with Zion out. Once he came back in, he was able to establish himself and that was where we were able to grab the lead."


"I thought that we didn't do the greatest job of making the extra pass at times. While I thought we have been better from the line, we also missed some free throws at key moments throughout tonight's game."


"We know most of our games are going to come down to one or two possessions. We have to learn from games like tonight and be better at executiing when it matters most.".

 
 
NEXT GAME
 
The Hawks continue MEAC play at Coppin State on Saturday in Baltimore, Maryland.