UMES Looks for Third Straight Win

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team will have a chance for a third straight victory as they face the University of Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday evening. UMES (7-8) has won six of their last eight games with back-to-back road wins over Atlantic 10 opponents leading up to Tuesday.

The Hawks are riding high after another stellar performance on Sunday afternoon, defeating Duquesne by a final score of 78-69. The win gave UMES their seventh victory of the year, already surpassing last season’s win total. Mike Myers (Camden, N.J.) posted his first double-double as a Hawk with 22 points and 14 rebounds, career-highs in both categories. The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference named Myers the league’s Player of the Week for his efforts against Duquesne and St. Bonaventure. In addition to the conference accolades, Myers also earned recognition from CollegeInsider.com, winning the Lou Henson National Player of the Week Award for the top mid-major performer.

Freshman Ryan Andino (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was also honored after his recent performances, receiving the MEAC Rookie of the Week Award on Monday. Andino is one of several Hawks who have lifted the offense with deadly three-point shooting. Against Duquesne, the Hawks made 9-of-15 three-point attempts, including six triples by senior Devon Walker (Philadelphia, Pa.). As a team, UMES has shot 37.4% percent from beyond the arc on the season, best in the MEAC. Both Andino and Devin Martin (Baltimore, Md.) are in the top five in the conference in terms of three-point percentage. As a result of the shooting and Myers’ inside presence, the Hawks have put up their best offensive outputs in the last two games at 82 and 78 points.

UMES will try to conclude the month of December with another victory as they face UT-Martin. After getting off to a 2-6 start in November, the Hawks have turned the season around with a 5-2 mark in the final month of 2014. UMES has shown marked improvements, especially on the road where they have four non-conference wins already. Before this season, the Hawks’ program had gone nearly four years without a non-conference road victory.

UT-Martin (7-4) is also in the midst of a rapid turnaround under a first year head coach, showing several similarities to UMES under Bobby Collins. Heath Schroyer took over a Skyhawks team that went 8-23 a year ago, including a 3-13 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference. Much like UMES, UT-Martin has had to play primarily on the road, with only two home dates so far this season. The Skyhawks have gone 4-5 away from Martin, Tennessee, including a big road win against fellow MEAC school, Bethune-Cookman.

Deville Smith leads the Skyhawks on both ends of the court, topping the team in several offense and defensive categories. The senior guard tops the team in minutes played (35.1 per game), points (13.7 per game) and assists (4.6 per game). Smith also paces the team on defense with nearly two steals per contest and one block per game, both team-highs as well.

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Skyhawk Arena in Martin, Tenn. Pregame coverage begins twenty minutes before tip-off at 7:10 p.m. on the Hawks SFMSports.net and Fox Sports 960 AM in Salisbury, Md.
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