MARTIN, Tennessee -- The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball team had to battle to the final buzzer, but the Hawks prevailed over the University of Tennessee-Martin for a 63-60 win on Tuesday night. UMES improved to 8-8 with their third straight victory to close out 2014, all coming on the road.
In the first ever meeting between the two schools, UMES and UT-Martin fought to a stalemate in the first half. Both offenses got off to slow starts, scoring 20 combined points in the opening ten minutes. Devon Walker (Philadelphia, Pa.) closed the half with a nice reverse layup after a backdoor cut to knot the game at 26-26. After lighting the nets on fire from the three-point line in their past two games, UMES had to find other ways to score as they went cold from long range. The Hawks were just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc in the first half and 3-of-11 for the game, with Walker contributing all three makes.
UMES controlled the start of the second half, opening up a decent cushion with their largest lead at 52-44 with seven minutes left in regulation. UT-Martin refused to go quietly, going on a 10-1 run to take a lead at 54-53 on two free throws from Twymond Howard. For the final four minutes, the two teams traded buckets and free throws with eight lead changes down the stretch.
With a minute to play, Devin Martin (Baltimore, Md.) came up with big plays to scrap out a win. Down by a point, UMES turned to Martin to create a shot, knocking down a mid-range jumper from the right baseline to take a 61-60 lead with 41 seconds to go. After a crucial steal by Mark Blackmon (Charlotte, N.C.), Martin sunk two free throws to make it a three-point game. UT-Martin missed three chances to tie, including Alex Anderson's attempt at the buzzer which just kicked off the rim.
Mike Myers (Camden, N.J.) put in a workmanlike effort down low, posting his second straight double-double with 14 poitns and 10 rebounds. Perhaps most impressively, Myers successfully passed out of double-teams for a career-high six assists and zero turnovers. Walker led the team with 16 points, shooting 6-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 from deep. Martin finished with nine points, including 5-of-5 from the free throw line with two clutch makes with 18 seconds remaining.
UMES closes the calendar year with a three-game winning streak with road wins at St. Bonaventure, Duquesne and UT-Martin. It is the first three-game winning streak for UMES since the 2010-2011 season. The Hawks have won seven of their last nine games to pull to an even .500 record for the year. This is the latest that UMES has sported a record at .500 or better since the 2001-02 season.
The Hawks will enjoy a week off, next playing on Wednesday, January 7 at N.J.I.T. Tip-off for the first game of 2015 will be at 7:00 p.m. at the Fleisher Center in Newark, N.J. The matchup with the Highlanders will be the final non-conference game of the season before UMES returns to league play against Morgan State.
Box Score
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE SPORTS INFORMATION
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