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Feb. 16, 2004
Princess Anne, MD - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (UMES) (7-16, 6-8 MEAC) are on a roll lately, knocking off Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) foes right and left. Tonight it was South Carolina State's turn, as the defending MEAC Champions came to the Hytche Center looking for a season sweep of the Hawks. It wasn't to be as UMES soared past the Bulldogs 64-61. UMES got 21 points from senior guard Tee Trotter and 12 from Antoine Joiner to push them to another MEAC win, this time over the Bulldogs of South Carolina State University (12-10, 9-4 MEAC). They got strong rebounding from Javes Wiggins. Coming off of a career high on Saturday, Wiggins pitched in for seven points and seven rebounds, none bigger than the ones coming at the end of the game to force free throws and one final one from a Brandon Trapp three-pointer that clinched the win. In a game of 15 ties, UMES went up at the 1:21 mark for good on a free throw by Joiner. A Trotter lay-in pushed it to three and then a jumper by last year's MEAC Rookie of the Year, Thurman Zimmerman found bottom and it was 62-61 with just 37 seconds remaining. Wiggins made the second of two free throws and then again made the back end of a pair to push the lead to three with just 14 seconds left. That would be the difference as the Hawks won, 64-61.
The Bulldogs controlled the first minutes of the game jumping out to a nine-point lead at the 9:23 mark, 18-9. Then the Hawks came roaring back, a pair of Joiner three-pointers, followed by a pair of Didier Socka free throws cut the lead to one, 18-17 just three minutes later. Jareem Dowling would curl out and get a Lawrence Smith pass to knock I a three-pointer and give UMES the 20-18; lead, their first of the game at the 5:38 mark. A Jermaine Cannon lay-in would tie the game on a floater in the lane and the accompanying free throw gave the Bulldogs a one-point advantage. Joiner would make a pair of free throws to add push his first half points to eight. Trapp would knock in a pair from the charity stripe on his end to again take a lead, 23-22. Zimmerman followed up the free throws with one of his own but a Brandon Wilson jumper went down to tie it again, this time at 24 with just 1:35 in the half. A Socka lay-in would give the Hawks a 26-24 lead but a pair of Zimmerman tied the game with 27 seconds remaining and a 26 all half-time score.
The big difference in the game was the play of the UMES bench as Wilson, Smith, Socka, and Wiggins played big minutes as Parham, Trotter, and Wellington played limited minutes with foul trouble. Their defense held the Bulldogs on a scoreless stretch of more than four minutes, an 11-0 run for the Hawks. "That was a key point in the game for us," said Head Coach Thomas Trotter. "The guys are coming together and playing hard for each other, that is a perfect example of how our guys are stepping up and wanting to win for their teammates," he added. South Carolina State, playing without Brian Mason, the team's second leading scorer, was undermanned tonight, but the Hawks didn't seem to mind. They revenged an earlier 25 point loss at South Carolina State in early January. They were paced by Zimmerman with a game-high 29 points, 22 in the second-half, to go along with nine rebounds. Demeco Heath added 14 points in the loss. The Hawks take a few days off before hosting Norfolk State on Saturday, February 21st during the UMES Homecoming. Game time is slated for 4:00 pm, immediately following the women's game at 2:00 pm. At half time of the men's game UMES will honor its Hall of Fame class of 2004, including an honoring of the 30-year anniversary of the 1974 NIT Basketball team. |
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