A last second layup attempt by Marc Davis rolled in and out as the Maryland Eastern Shore fell to Florida A&M, 62-60, in front of a season high crowd of 5,164 during homecoming weekend.
“We couldn’t have gotten a better shot,” said Interim head coach Meredith Smith. “It was right there. A layup is the highest percentage shot in basketball. We got the shot that we wanted. It just didn’t fall.”
After trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half on three separate occasions, UMES (4-24, 2-11 MEAC) went on a 13-2 run over the last five minutes of the game, which concluded with a pair of Davis free throws to make it 59-57 with just under a minute left in regulation.
With a chance to put FAMU (10-16, 6-6 MEAC) up four, Joe Ballard would make only one-of-two at the line, giving the Hawks a chance to tie it up.
Indeed they did as Davis found Gary Lee wide open in the corner for a 3-pointer that evened the score at 60 with 36 seconds remaining.
However, on the ensuing possession Byron Taylor would sink a jumper from the top of the key that put the Rattlers up 62-60 with eight ticks left on the clock. Taylor finished with four points and a game-high six assists.
Davis received the inbounds pass with 3.5 seconds left and drove to the basket but his heroics were not to be in front of the Hawk faithful.
“On the play that we designed, Tyson was really a diversion because we knew they were going at him,” said Smith. “He drew players with him so somebody could get to the rim.”
The Hawks had only two player’s finish in double figures and were led by MEAC leading scorer Ed Tyson with a game-high 26 points. Davis added 13 points, including 11 in the second period, on nine-of-11 free throws. Omar Akram provided a spark off the bench as he set career-highs with seven points and six rebounds in 15 minutes of action, all of which came in the second half.
“Fortunately some other people stepped up in the second half,” said Smith. “In the first half Tyson was 80 percent of our offense. We only had two other people score from the field.
Larry Jackson led FAMU with 21 points off the bench, while Leslie Robinson chipped in with 14 points as he was limited to only 17 minutes due to foul trouble. Lamar Twitty finished one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
“We didn’t execute at all offensively in the first half,” said Smith. “It was big-game
anxiety I guess in the first half because we didn’t do anything right.”
Despite missing their starting center, UMES stayed close on the boards losing the battle by one to FAMU (36-35). The Hawks held the advantage on the offensive glass (17-12) and points in the paint (14-8).
BJ Nimocks controlled the boards for the Hawks with a team-high eight.
Both teams were mild from the line where they combined to shoot just over 58 percent from the line each. FAMU shot a more respectable 43.2 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from beyond the arc, while limiting the Hawks to 35.8 and 25 percent from both areas, respectively.
The Hawks committed fewer turnovers (17-12), had more points off them (19-15), and put in more second chance opportunities (15-8), but were outscored on the bench (32-10).