Lamar Twitty scored a team-high 19 points and Leslie Robinson and Akini Akini each added 13 to lead Florida A&M University to a 70-61 win over Maryland Eastern Shore in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament at the RBC Center.

The Rattlers (15-16), the Number 6 seed, advance to the quarterfinal round against Norfolk State, the Number 3 seed on Thursday at 6 pm.

Twitty, a member of the 2007 MEAC Tournament championship team that competed in the NCAA tournament, got FAMU off to a good start with a 32-20 halftime lead. The 6-4 junior forward also grabbed seven rebounds.

“We know that Twitty is a prolific scorer,” said UMES Head Coach Meredith Smith. “If he catches the ball, then it’s difficult to contain him because he is an excellent shooter. We tried to contain him, but he was still effective early and they had a lot of contributors.”

The Hawks (4-28), the Number 11 seed, scrapped and battled the taller and deeper Rattlers, but they were hurt by turnovers (9) and some poor shooting (33 percent). Ed Tyson led all scorers with 12 points.

UMES was able to put together a 16-5 run that cut the deficit to 37-36 at the 11:56 mark. Tyson and Marc Davis, who scored 8 of his 12 points after intermission, combined to get the Hawks to within striking distance.

Then Twitty, Robinson and Byron Taylor helped counter the UMES run with a 16-5 blitz that all put the game away. The Rattler aided their cause at the free throw line where they converted 83 percent (15-of-18) in the second half.

“It was a good win for our basketball team tonight,” said FAMU head coach Eugene Harris. “We came out sluggish at the start of the game and missed too many easy shots. But then our guys got together and played Rattler basketball and started making some outside shots and rebounding the ball better. That’s what got us rolling.”

Tyson led all scorers with 28 points and Davis added 12. Florida A&M got a double-double from Twitty (19 points, 11 rebounds) and a nice floor game from Taylor who added 7 assists and no turnovers.

“In addition to our defense and rebounding, we took care of the basketball and did not make a lot of turnovers.