Hawks take down South Carolina State on Senior Day
SUMMARY
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks celebrated Senior Day with a come from behind 69-57 victory over South Carolina State on Saturday.
THE SCORE
South Carolina State Bulldogs (7-21; 5-7) - 57
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (9-20; 5-7) - 69
THE BREAKDOWN
The Bulldogs of South Carolina State built an early 9-3 lead after a good jumper by Christopher Parker at the 14:44 mark of the opening half. UMES responded with baskets from
Justin Monden,
Levi Beckwith and
Dorion Staples to pull within one, 11-10, with 9:50 on the clock. With the score knotted at 13-13, the Hawks mounted a 8-1 run sparked by traditional three point plays from Staples and
Joseph Locandro to go up, 21-14. UMES remained ahead and went into the break with a 25-22 advantage.
The Bulldogs began the second half with five straight points scored by Noah Treadwell and gained momentum with 11-2 run to build a 38-29 lead at the 13:57 mark. Trailing and looking for energy, the Hawks received a lift from senior
Christopher Flippin. Flippin delivered a dunk followed by a smooth arching hookshot on the next possession. He found a streaking Staples for two more points and a 8-0 run by UMES was capped off with a steal and layin by
Jaden Cooper to get the Hawks within one point, 38-37, with 11:11 remaining. The Hawks reclaimed the lead, 44-42, on a Staples three pointer at the 9:04 mark. The Hawks held the Bulldogs to just one field goal over the next six minutes of play. A dunk from Staples put UMES up by six, 52-46, with 4:43 left to play. The Hawks remained in control down the stretch. Flippin scored seven points in the final four minutes while
Michael Teal made four of four attempts from the line and throwing down a fastbreak dunk to help seal the 12 point victory.
THE NUMBERS
The Hawks were led by a a trio of seniors in
Dorion Staples,
Christopher Flippin and
Michael Teal. Staples led all players with 15 points. Flippin recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Teal added 13 points to go along with three steals.
Michael Teal spent the previous two seasons playing at South Carolina State.
UMES held a 38-20 edge in points scored in the paint.
The Hawks made 25-of-55 shot attempts (45.5%) while holding the Bulldogs to a 15-for-46 performance (32.6%)
Dorion Staples and
Justin Monden were both a plus-16 rating for the Hawks on Saturday.
The victory snaps a seven game losing streak by the Hawks. The win also breaks a five game losing streak to SCSU.
With the win, UMES is currently fifth in the MEAC standings.
COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH CLEO HILL, JR.
"Today was a game where our senior leadership stepped up. I thought guys like Chis Flippin led the way. When we hit the ten minute mark of the second half, I thought Chris did a great job of establishing himself in the post.
Dorion Staples was superb and hit big shots when we needed it. I also thought the play of
Michael Teal, a former Bulldog, was crucial for us. Teal along with
Justin Monden played well on both ends of the floor for us tonight in the back court."
"It is so important for us to stay together. Emotions in practice and during film sessions have been high throughout our recent losing streak. We just wanted to keep focusing on getting better. I thought we did a much better job tonight of handling the press from South Carolina State to come out on top."
"We really want to be playing our best basketball going into the conference tournament. I thought we had played well last week at Coppin State but fell in overtime. Today, we responded after falling behind by nine. We called a timeout around the ten minute mark and our guys came out and got back into it and made it a new ball game."
NEXT GAME
UMES hosts North Carolina Central on Monday at 7 pm.
