Photo: Delaware State University
The Delaware State men’s basketball team is advancing to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals, as the team defeated the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks 68-64 on Tuesday at Scope Arena.
The leading scorer of the game for the Hornets was senior guard John Crosby who had 24 points.
Two other Delaware State players scored in double-digits in the game which they were junior guard Myles Carter (21) and Pinky Wiley (10).
Delaware State had the advantage in multiple categories in the game which included points off of turnovers (18-15), fast-break (10-2), bench points (27-18) and blocks (6-4).
Hornets also had the advantage of shooting as well, with the team shooting 40.0 % (24-60) and with Maryland Eastern Shore shooting 39.7 % (25-63). Delaware State also bested the Hawks at the three-point line as the team shot 31.8 % (7-22) and Maryland Eastern Shore shot 25.0 % (5-20).
DSU Leads By One At The Half
The leading scorer for the Hornets in the first half was Pinky Wiley who had 10 points. As a team, DSU shot 35.3 % (12-24) in the first half and they also shot 40.0 % (2-5) at the free-throw line.
Maryland Eastern Shore shot 41.9 % (13-31) in the first half and they also shot 50.0 % (2-4) at the free-throw line.
The game started with the Hawks flying out to a quick 10-3 lead which would balloon to 22-8 at the 9:37 minute mark in the first half.
Delaware State would fight back with a 21-6 run which gave the team a 29-28 lead with 3:25 left in the half. Pinky Wiley was the leader of this run as he scored 10 of the 21 points. The Hornets also made four shots from the perimeter on this drive which came from Pinky Wiley (2), Myles Carter (1) and sophomore guard/forward Omari Peek-Green (1).
Each team would score two points each for the rest of the half but Delaware State would hold on to a 31-30 lead at halftime.
Hawks Battle Till the End But Hornets Free Throw Shooting Helps Them Seal The Win
The leading scorers of the second half for the Hornets were Myles Carter and John Crosby who each had 15 points. Delaware State’s shooting improved in the second half as the team shot 46.2 % (12-26). DSU also shot 78.6 % (11-14) at the free-throw line in the second half.
Maryland Eastern Shore shot 37.5 % (12-32) in the second half and the team also shot 77.8 % (7-9) at the free-throw line.
In the first nine minutes of the second half, the Hornets outscored the Hawks 13-11 to push their lead to 44-41.
At the 8:29 minute mark, the game started getting interesting as the Hornets lead was down to three (51-48) and the Hawks would go on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 53 with 6:07 left in the half.
The Hornets could not get the Hawks out of their driver’s mirror as the team would stay within three points as the clocked ticked down with the DSU leading 60-57 with 3:02 left in the game.
Starting at 2:24 minute mark, Maryland Eastern Shore would score four consecutive points which gave them a 61-60 lead with 1:43 left in the second half.
Delaware State’s free-throw shooting pushed them to a win as the clocked winded down, the team made six free throw shots to seal a 68-64 win.
DSU will play North Carolina Central in the MEAC quarterfinals on March 11th at 6 PM ET.
Team Stats:
FG%: DSU40.0 % & MDES39.7 %
3P%: DSU 31.8 %&MDES25.0 %
FT%: DSU68.4 %&MDES 69.2 %
Rebs: DSU 38 &MDES40
Ast: DSU 10& MDES 15
Stl: DSU 7&MDES10
TO: DSU 16 &MDES14
Blks: DSU 6&MDES4
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