The University of Maryland Eastern Shore men’s basketball team had gone four years without a double-digit win total before last season’s 11-16 mark, and this year, the Hawks are well on their to their first winning season since 2014-15.
For fourth-year head coach Jason Crafton, it’s been a process to get this point. UMES went 5-27 during Crafton’s first campaign, then missed the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season, then took a step forward last year and now is looking to win a MEAC championship.
The Hawks are 14-8 overall and 6-1 in the MEAC heading into their showdown against Norfolk State on Feb. 11. UMES dealt Morgan State its first home loss of the season on Jan. 30, and the Hawks defeated the Bears the same way they’ve beaten everyone else: defense. UMES held Morgan to 58 points on 36.8 percent shooting.
“We are defense-first,” senior guard Kevon Voyles said following the Morgan game. “We feel like the defense is what keeps us in games, because we can stop you all day. Defense is definitely our calling card.”
UMES ranks No. 140 in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency, according to KenPom, a college hoops analytics site. That’s the top mark in the MEAC. The Hawks are third in Division I hoops in steals per game at 10.8 and fourth in turnovers forced per game at 18.32. UMES is also first in the MEAC in points allowed per game (65.9), third in opponent field-goal percentage (.437) and second in opponent 3-point percentage (.310).
So how do the Hawks do it? Crafton said the team emphasizes fundamentals heavily.
“We probably do a lot of basic closeout drills, help-side drills and a lot of basic basketball stuff consistently, and we do that every day in some way, shape or form,” Crafton said. “Those guys buy into it. They’ve stayed consistent with it. Those basic drills are fundamentals that carry over to the games.
“And then they really buy into the scouting report. We give them specific things that we want to try to do or things we want to try to take away from the opponent. We’ve got veteran guys that have been around and they all see the benefits of following the scouting report and it’s worked for us.”
UMES had a rare hiccup against Coppin State on Jan. 28, when the Hawks allowed 50 first-half points to the Eagles … before correcting course in the second half, allowing just 25 points en route to a 19-point victory.
“We stop people. We shut them down,” Voyles said. “… Our defense is what really separates us.”
Voyles is one of eight graduate students or seniors on the UMES roster. He is also one of three players remaining from Crafton’s first recruiting class. The two others are senior guard Da’Shawn Phillip, a product of Dunbar High School in Baltimore, and senior guard Glen Anderson.
Other program veterans include graduate guard Donchevell Nugent, graduate forward Nathaniel Pollard Jr. and graduate guard Zion Styles, all of whom stuck around despite the season being canceled in 2020-21.
Voyles (12.9 points per game), Styles (11.0), Pollard (10.1) and Phillip (9.7) lead the way offensively for the Hawks. Pollard and Voyles combined for 39 points at Morgan, with Pollard having his way down low en route to a 9-of-13 night and Voyles making his mark from deep by shooting 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
UMES posted 21 assists against Morgan, and Pollard was one of the chief beneficiaries. The Hawks had 23 assists against Coppin, too.
“We were sharing the ball more than usual, and we work on that even more because the last couple games, what did we have, like 20-something assists?” Pollard quipped. “In this game we want to keep emphasis on passing the ball, sharing the ball and trusting each other. I trust my guards, trust my teammates to pass me the ball inside. They trust me to pass it outside. It’s all built on trust.”
UMES has never qualified for the NCAA Tournament, but it has a good shot to change that this year. The Hawks currently sit atop the MEAC standings with Howard at 6-1, giving them a real chance to earn the top seed in the MEAC tournament with seven regular-season games remaining.
The conference tournament takes place at Norfolk Scope Arena from March 8-11, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the Big Dance. Norfolk State has earned the last two bids, but the Hawks are determined to change that trend.
Just ask the veterans who have been through it all in Somerset County.
“We’ve been through so much,” Voyles said. “I’ve been here since my freshman year. We were 5-27 to go into my sophomore year where they canceled the whole season and going into last year, we just continued to build and build and continue to chase after what we wrote down in the summertime, our goals. So we’re just chasing our goals that we want for ourselves and what we hold ourselves accountable for.”
That the Hawks are reaching their goals is no surprise to them. Now, they just have to peak at the right time. They’re on the right track, having won 11 of their past 12 games. That stretch includes an 86-78 win at AAC foe Temple on Dec. 20.
“We’re excited about what we’re doing,” Crafton said. “We knew this is what we would do. This is the mission. And the job’s not done yet.”
Photo Credits: FotoJoe Photography