The Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks held a brief second half lead on the road against the Florida A&M Rattlers, but came up short, 72-62 on Saturday in the Gaither Athletic Center.

"Our guys definitely fought hard," Interim Head Coach Meredith Smith said. “At the end of the day though, this game was still more about the shots that we didn't make, as opposed to those that we made."

UMES did shoot the basketball better than they had, going 25 of 50 from the floor, including 5-of-11 from beyond the arc. The Hawks came into Saturday's contest shooting just 33 percent on the season.

The two teams exchanged baskets over the first 10 minutes of the game, with neither team leading by more than four points. The Rattlers then opened up a 14-4 run over the next five minutes to take a 34-21 lead with 4:23 remaining in the first half.

FAMU guard E.J. Maul scored nine of his 12 points before the half time break.

The Hawks would then rally, closing the gap to 38-36, by scoring eight unanswered points before the halftime buzzer. Both Marc Davis and Ed Tyson were in double figures for UMES at the half, with 11 and ten points, respectively.

FAMU would score five points within the opening minute of the second half, pushing their lead to 43-36. The Hawks, playing in front of a rowdy homecoming crowd, would show composure, tying the game at 45, and then again at 47. Gary Lee would then hit a 3-pointer to give UMES a brief three point lead, 50-47. Lee would finish with a season-high 14 points.

However, the game's final ten minutes belonged to the Rattlers' senior guard Leslie L.C. Robinson, whose 5-of-13 shooting from downtown was too much for UMES to overcome. Robinson finished with a game-high 19 points, after hitting his final 3-pointer with just over three minutes to play, putting FAMU in front, 65-58.

"Number 11 [Robinson] got hot," Smith said. “We knew he was a good shooter, and he made some big shots in the second half."

FAMU had four players finish with double figures in scoring, led by Robinson. Lamar Twitty added 13 points, while Maul and Larry Jackson chipped in with 12 and 11 respectively. Joe Ballard, after playing all but one minute, scored nine points, grabbed ten rebounds, and handed out six assists. Both Davis and Tyson finished with solid numbers; Davis had 16 points on six-of-10 shooting before fouling out, while Tyson scored a team-high 18 points on 50 percent shooting from the field.

Although the Hawks were without the services of both their centers they were only outrebounded by the Rattlers, 35-33. Unfortunately, UMES also turned the ball over nine more times than FAMU, 16-9, which led to 25 points for the Rattlers compared to just nine from the Hawks.