Dover, Del. (Feb. 3, 2020) --- Maryland-Eastern Shore hit three free throws in the closing moments to hold off Delaware State 68-66 in a MEAC men's basketball contest in Memorial Hall this evening. Gabriel Gyamfi nailed two free throws with 13 seconds left to give the Hawks 67-66 lead. After a Delaware State miss and a foul by the Hornets, A.J. Cheeseman hit the first of two at the line to give the visitors a two-point lead with three seconds left.
The Hornets grabbed the rebound after the miss on Cheeseman's second free throw but John Crosby's heave from near mid-court fell short to give the Hawks their sixth straight win over the Hornets.
The stretch run by the Hawks overshadowed a late rally by the Hornets. Delaware State trailed 63-56 after a MDES basket with 3:47 remaining, but scored the next eight points, and pulled ahead 64-63 on two free throws by Crosby with 1:47 to go.
The Hawks regained the lead on the ensuing possession on a shot in the lane by Cheeseman.
Delaware State took the lead again when Fahim Jenetto grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Crosby, who connected from 15 feet to give the Hornets their final lead, 66-65 lead with 1:06 on the clock.
"We struggled with our offensive execution for a lot of the game, especially down the stretch," said Delaware State second-year head coach Eric Skeeters. "I give Maryland-Eastern Shore a lot credit for their defense, but we need to do a better job of handling pressure."
The Hornets were also plagued by poor free throw shooting in the game, hitting just 15 of their 27 attempts from the line (55.6%), including 8 of 17 in the first half (47.1%).
Ahmad Frost led four Maryland-Eastern Shore double-figure scorers with 15 points, while Cheeseman added 13 points. Gyamfi contributed 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds  for the Hawks.
Crosby led all players with 19 points, while Omari Peek-Green added 16 points for the Hornets. Peek-Green was five-for-nine from the field , including two three-pointers (2-4), and was perfect on four free-throw attempts. The other DSU players were a combined 11 for 23 at the free throw line.
Delaware State led for much of the first half, and opened up the biggest lead of the game, 38-31, on a jumper by Peek-Green with 1:34 to go before intermission.
The Hornets were ahead 44-38 before the Hawks began their comeback. MDES out-scored DSU 11-4 over the next five minutes, and opened up a 49-48 lead on a three-pointer by Frost with 13:53 left in the game.