Princess Anne, Md. (Mar. 6, 2014) --- The Delaware State University men's basketball team appeared to get back into the game after trimming a 14-point second half deficit to five, but UMES held off the Hornets en route to an 84-70 MEAC win in the 2013-14 season finale for both teams at the Hychte Center this evening.
Delaware State ends the regular season with a 9-20 overall record and a 5-11 mark in the MEAC. The Hawks finished the regular year at 6-23 and 4-12.
UMES also avenged an 84-71 loss to the Hornets on Feb. 22 at DSU's Memorial Hall.
The Hornets trailed 35-25 at the half, and fell behind 41-27 on a basket by Pina Guillaume with 16:54 left to play.
DSU trailed 43-29 before climbing back.
DeAndre Haywood capped off a 12-3 Delaware State run with a lay-up to cut the Hawks' lead to 46-41 with 12:14 remaining. Tyshawn Bell hit two three-pointers to key the DSU run. Bell led the Hornets with 18 points. He also matched his career high with four three-pointers.
The Hornets trailed 54-48 after a three-point play by Kendall Gray (13 points) with 7:05 showing on the second half clock. Gray also had a game-high 11 rebounds to record his 11th double-double of the season.
UMES responded with an 18-7 run over the next five minutes to take control of the game. The Hawks opened up a 72-55 lead on two free throws by Hakeem Baxter with 2:08 left to go.
Baxter and Troy Snyder each scored 30 points for the Hawks to lead all players.
Casey Walker (14 points) and DeAndre Haywood (13) also reached double figures in scoring for the Hornets.
Walker climbed into eighth place on the Hornets' all-time scoring list during the contest. He now has 1432 career points.
Delaware State shot 61.3% in the second half (19-for-31), but was outscored 49-45 in the final 20 minutes.
The Hornets were 27-for-51 from the field for the game (52.9%), including five-of-15 from three-point territory (33.3%).
UMES nailed 28 of its 53 shots from the floor (52.8%). The Hawks were six-of-18 from beyond the arc (33.3%).
UMES won the rebound battle 31-25. The Hornets had more turnovers, 16-12.
The Hornets will return to action next week in the 2014 MEAC Tournament at the Scope Arena in Norfolk, Va. The tournament pairings will be announced by the MEAC.
