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March 10, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Hillary Haley scored a game-high 25 points, but it was Kevin White, who proved to be the difference as he scored the last 13 points of the game and lead the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) to a 64-58 win over Coppin State in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference(MEAC) Tournament at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The Hawks (11-20), the Number 6 seed, will take on the Bulldogs of South Carolina State, the Number 3 seed on Thursday at 6 pm in the quarterfinal round. The win is the first for UMES in the MEAC Tournament since 2004 when they topped the eight seed Bethune-Cookman 51-50. They would go on to lose to the Bulldogs in the next round. "This is a big win for our program," said UMES head coach Frankie Allen. "Probably the biggest win in my UMES career. We get great support from our administration and fans and this is good for those fans. I think being the 6 seed as opposed to the 11 built some confidence in our guys and this win is a step in the right direction for what we are trying to build here." UMES controlled the tempo through most of the game and led, 33-30 at the half, mostly on the scoring of Haley, who tallied 20 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field. "Hillary is a very versatile player," said Allen. "He has a reputation as a scorer and he carried us offensively in the first half." The Eagles were able to stay close on the production of Kareem Brown and Ceslovas Kucinskas, who combined for 19 points. Haley and White led the Hawks on an 18-11 run that opened a 10-point lead at the 8:51 mark. Then Brown, Vince Goldsberry and Brandon Doughty helped Coppin State erase the deficit with an 8-0 run that made it 51-49 at the 5:22 mark. "To be able to battle back is good and we did, but we did not take advantage of the opportunity when we had it," said Coppin State head coach Ron 'Fang' Mitchell. "In a one-and-done situation, you have to be able to close out. That has been our problem all season." That is when White took over. First he hit a three pointer to up the margin to 54-49. He then added a basket to go along with an 8-for-8 free throw shooting performance over the last 2:32 to salt the victory away. "I thought Kevin did a great job of managing the game," said Allen. "He found Haley in spots where he likes to score. And when they made the adjustment on Hillary, he was able to score and knocked down free throws which was big in a game like this." In addition to his scoring, White flirted with a triple double as he recorded 7 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds. Haley added 6 rebounds to his stat line. "I just tried to keep the defense honest," said White. "I have a reputation as passing first, and I do play with that in mind, but tonight when they gave me the shot, I took it." The Eagles were led by Brown's 16, Kucinskas' 11 and Goldsberry's 10. MEAC Hall of Famer Ed Hill contributed large portions of this story.
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