COPPIN — Not many things are certainties in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference basketball, but one that is almost a sure bet is that Coppin State will have its way with Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Coppin -- which at one point had beaten UMES 28 straight times -- dominated the visiting Hawks again last night, rolling to a 79-53 victory that was never in doubt.
The win was doubly important for the Eagles (7-13, 7-2), who pulled to within a game of front-running Delaware State, which was upset by Bethune-Cookman at Dover and absorbed its first conference defeat.
Coppin has now raised its current victory streak against UMES to five after capturing its seventh in the past eight starts.
Superior size was of little advantage to the Hawks (5-14, 2-7), who were forced into air balls and off-target shots by aggressive Coppin defense. The three UMES guards who overpowered Morgan State on Saturday -- Troy Jackson, Jesse Brooks (Spalding) and Ed Tyson (Walbrook) -- were a combined 5-for-30 from the field, including 2-for-17 on three-point attempts.
"I thought we did a pretty good job of mixing it up [zone and man-to-man] on defense," said Coppin coach Fang Mitchell. "We were well aware that our first responsibilities were to play defense, block out and rebound and then look to score. I think we learned that from the last game and we kept them off balance."
Sophomores Tywain McKee (17 points, eight rebounds) and Darryl Proctor (16 points, nine rebounds) led the offense while the Eagles played without starting center Robert Pressey, who is thought to have a sprained ankle, but is undergoing additional tests to determine if there is a fracture.
"Their starting guards didn't do much because we were really playing defense," McKee said. "We were focused on it a lot more."
UMES never led in the game and was tied just once -- at 5. The Eagles pulled away to leads as large as 18 in the first half, then held the Hawks without a score for seven minutes midway through the second period to ice the outcome. At the end of that stretch, Coppin had its largest margin of the game at 70-36.
Antonio McMillion (Randallstown) paced UMES, a team with nine freshmen on its roster, with 21 points.
"I'm happy because for the most part, we put two halves together," said Mitchell. "We played tonight as a team, looking for other people. The way this conference is anybody can beat you from top to bottom, so you have to do the best job you can every night."
The most exciting moment for the crowd of 788 came in the waning moments when seldom-used Enrico McCleary came in to a roaring ovation. He played four minutes at mop-up time and scored two points.
kent.baker@baltsun.com
UMES--Parham 3-5 1-2 7, McMillion 8-16 3-6 21, Tyson 1-12 0-0 2, Brooks 3-10 1-1 8, Jackson 1-8 0-0 3, Waddell 3-5 0-0 6, Valentine 2-3 0-0 4, Harris 0-5 0-0 0, Warrick 0-1 0-0 0, Prince 0-0 0-0 0, Barav 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 22-67 5-9 53. COPPIN STATE--Norwood Jr. 2-4 0-0 4, Proctor 8-12 0-0 16, Roberts 4-12 2-2 11, Bell 1-3 0-0 3, McKee 7-15 1-2 17, Ivey 0-1 0-0 0, Otis 0-2 0-0 0, Miller 0-2 0-0 0, McCleary 1-1 0-0 2, Woodlin 2-5 0-0 6, Harrison 2-3 3-4 7, Chesnut 3-6 7-8 13. Totals 30-66 13-16 79. Halftime--Coppin State 39-22. 3-point poals--UMES 4-24 (McMillion 2-2, Brooks 1-5, Jackson 1-8, Barav 0-1, Warrick 0-1, Harris 0-3, Tyson 0-4), Coppin St. 6-25 (Woodlin 2-4, McKee 2-7, Bell 1-3, Roberts 1-6, Ivey 0-1, Otis 0-2, Miller 0-2). Fouled out--None. Rebounds--UMES 39 (Parham 7), Coppin St. 48 (Proctor 9). Assists--UMES 9 (Brooks 5), Coppin St. 14 (Roberts 5). Total fouls--UMES 14, Coppin St. 16. A--788. kent.baker@baltsun.com
