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Dec. 5, 2009
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - It had been a long time in the making, but with a 53-50 win the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) men's basketball team secured bragging rights over their Rt. 13 rivals, Delaware State University (DSU), in front of 2,000 plus fans at the William P. Hytche Center Saturday night. The Hawks and Hornets tangle regularly each season, usually twice, but DSU had been the victor in every meeting since 2004. In fact they hadn't lost in the Hytche Center since 2001. Tonight head coach Frankie Allen's squad changed that. Despite a 29.2 first half field goal percentage and trailing by seven points at the half, the Hawks defeated DSU in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) season opener for both teams. UMES not beaten the Hornets since a 69-66 overtime victory on February 7, 2004 in Dover, Del. Since then, DSU has won 10 straight against the Hawks. Additionally, they had won seven straight games at the Hytche, losing last on January 6, 2001, 59-54. "Delaware State is a hard team to beat," said redshirt sophomore Hillary Haley (Oxon Hill, Md.) "UMES-DSU is a big rivalry and we knew coming in that it would be a battle and a hard fought game." Haley led all scorers with 14 points in the game, going 5-for-13 from the floor, one for three from behind the arc and a perfect three for three from the free throw line. He also added four steals, two assists, one rebound and one blocked shot in 35 minutes of play. "This was a gritty win for our guys and was a complete team effort," said head coach Frankie Allen. "I give a lot of credit to Tyler Hines (Sicklerville, N.J.) as he was a key for us getting this win." Hines, a sophomore, made his first start of the season and ended the contest leading UMES with seven rebounds and adding five points in 20 minutes.
Junior Kevin White (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was another Hawk who scored in double digits with 12. He continues to dish out assists with five on the night. The first half was a low-scoring affair for both teams. Heading into the under 16 timeout, UMES led 5-4. A layup by freshman Sean Berry (Irvington, N.J.) at 11:17 ended a five-minute scoring drought for the Hawks to make it 10-7 in favor of DSU. A trey by Haley at 11:01 tied the score at 10 apiece and woke up a quiet crowd. A combination of good Hornet defense and missed shots by UMES held the Hawks scoreless the final 4:25. A layup by junior Freddy Obame Obame (Libreville, Gabon) cut the Hornets' lead to 18-16. DSU added five more before the horn to make it 23-16 at the break. Allen's half time speech must have jumpstarted the Hawks as they came out of the gate with a quick layup by White just six seconds in to make the score 23-18 in favor of DSU. A tremendous dunk by Haley at 19:16 brought the crowd alive as UMES got within two, 23-21. A pair of missed layups, offensive rebounds and the eventual tip-in by DSU's Frisco Sandidge the Hawks called a timeout at 15:17 trailing 29-28. Coming out of the timeout, the Hornet's James Marcellus hit a jumper to go up three. It would be DSU's last field goal for the next five minutes. This drought was critical to the UMES win as the Hawks would never trail the rest of the game. In that five-minute stretch, the Hawks would go up by as many as seven. A rebounded tip-in for Hines at 9:23 got the crowd on their feet in excitement as UMES went up 40-33. The Hawks continued to lead until Marcus Neal hit a 3-pointer coming out of the last media timeout of the game to tie things at 45-45. The UMES faithful stayed loud and cheered their the Hawks as they rattled off five straight free throws to go up 49-45 with just over a minute remaining in the game. DSU called an immediate timeout after another 3-pointer by Neal at 1:11 to put them within reach at 50-48. Haley then put UMES up by four at 52-48 with a layup. Neal would collect his third foul of the game with 13 seconds left to play and the Hornets trailing 52-50. White missed his first free throw, but made his second to put the final score on the board at 53-50. A missed 3-pointer by Neal with five seconds remaining sealed the deal for the Hawks as the Hytche erupted in celebration. "We really played together tonight and pulled it out for the win," said senior Neal Pitt (Fort Washington, Md.) "We're getting better in every game and continue to improve." Sandidge led DSU in scoring with 10 points (4-5) while Neal led the team with eight rebounds. With the win, UMES improves to 2-5 on the season and 1-0 in the MEAC while the Hornets fall to 4-2 (0-1 MEAC). The Hawks and Hornets continue their rivalry and end the regular-season on March 4, 2010 in Dover, Del. Next up for UMES is their last home game for over a month as they host the Navy Mids on Wednesday, Dec. 9 at the W. P. Hytche Athletic Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. |
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