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Nov. 24, 2007
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - The route was on Saturday afternoon as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) lost 71-58 to Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) in the consolation game of the South Padre Island Invitational. The hot shooting Eagles stormed out of the gates early, scoring the first nine points of the game and did not stop there as they took a 15 point lead on a Terike Barrowes jumper that made it 19-4. "We just dug ourselves into a hole that we could never recover from," said Interim Head Coach Meredith Smith. "I think we played better offensively in the second half but it was too late." FGCU (2-4) had extended their lead to 20 points on two separate occasions in the first half before UMES (1-5) went on a nine point run to cut the lead to 32-21 with 2:01 remaining. The Eagles would respond to take a 38-23 lead into the break. The Eagles came out strong in the second half and looked poised to put the game away as they took a 48-34 lead with 13:53 left. However, a Josh Bright (Salisbury, Md./Morgan State University) three-pointer would ignite a 12-0 run that featured four different Hawk players score to make it 48-46 with 8:25 remaining in the game. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Landon Adler, an All-Tournament Team selection, would sink two free throws and make a crucial three-pointer that sparked an 11 point run that clinched the win for FGCU. Adler who picked up a double-double in the win led all scorers with 17 points and finished tied for a game-high 10 rebounds with teammate Barrowes who added 11 points. Adam Liddell and Casey Wohlleb chipped in with 15 and 12 points respectively for the Eagles. The Hawks were led by another All-Tournament Team selection in junior Ed Tyson (Baltimore, Md./Walbrook H.S.) who finished with 16 points (7-of-18 shooting), five rebounds, and four steals. Tyson averaged 20.2 points during the four games of the tournament. Marc Davis (Baltimore, Md./Walbrook H.S.) and Denzel Jackson (Philadelphia, Pa./Lincoln H.S.) added 13 and 11 points respectively, while Aleksandar Popovic (Novi Sad, Serbia/Weatherford College) finished just shy of a double-double with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
UMES was out rebounded for the sixth consecutive game by a 50 to 31 margin, including 19 to 10 on the offensive end. For the season, they are averaging 34.5 rebounds compared to 42.7 by their opponents. "Those are the two most telling statistics of the game," said Smith. "You are not going to win many games with those kinds of numbers." The Eagles also out shot the Hawks from the field (48.1 percent to 40.7 percent), including 51.6 percent in the first half, three-point range (33.3 percent to 20 percent), and the line (46.9 percent to 38.9 percent) in the game. UMES is shooting 33.7 percent from the field on the year, while allowing opponents to shoot 45 percent. "The bottom line is they just came out with more intensity than us and it flattened us out early," said Smith. "I felt we ran a more effective offense in the second half and were getting good looks but we just could not make a basket down the stretch." Smith has to be pleased as the Hawks committed fewer turnovers than their opponents for the fourth consecutive game, 14 to 23. "For a team starting three freshmen that is very positive," said Smith. "Not only that, but we are scoring more points off turnovers than other teams. We have learned how to keep ourselves in the game, now we just have to learn how to win" UMES wraps up an 11-day, five game road trip as they now travel to Morgantown to play West Virginia on Tuesday, November 27. The game starts at 7:00 E.T. and can be heard on WTGM-AM 960 The Team or live on the internet at www.umeshawks.com. |
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