It’s week three of Lasky’s Lounge and I feel like the season is flying by. It needs to slow down a bit so we can all enjoy more basketball. Before you know it, both basketball teams will be in full MEAC mode. Hey, as always, if you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free to email umesbroadcast@gmail.com. Talk to you all on the radio soon!

Shout out of the Week: I want to start this week with my shout out because the term student-athlete gets tossed around aimlessly and the student part is sometimes lost. Last Friday morning, Josh Bright of the men’s basketball team officially graduated from UMES. Josh stayed in Princess Anne on Friday and flew to Pittsburgh on Saturday morning. Josh is a business administration major at UMES. I think it’s important to celebrate academic achievement as much as athletic success. Josh is enrolled in graduate school at UMES and will begin his pursuit of a master’s degree this coming spring. Congrats Josh!

Trivia Time: In honor of Hillary Haley connecting on 13 free throws against Washington College, who is the last UMES player to hit at least 13 free throws in a single game? Keep reading for the answer.

Did that Happen?: Full disclosure, I wasn’t at the women’s game against Towson because I was in Pittsburgh. Here is a puzzling discrepancy from the box score. Towson shot 34 free throws in the second half and UMES shot eight. The Hawks were whistled for 20 fouls in the second half while Towson was called for just eight. The number of fouls is a bit skewed because the Hawks committed five fouls in the final 1:51 trying to come back. Towson shot just 44.1 percent (15-34) in the second half. They were 0-2 from the line in the first half.

Century Mark: It’s not often that a team hits the century mark in a game (100 points). Against Division III Washington College, UMES scored at least 100 points for the first time since a 3OT game against Albany during the 2000-01. The Hawks won 102-96. The last time UMES scored 100 points in regulation was during the 1996-97 season when they scored 112 against Centenary. Through 119 MEAC games this season, only three teams have scored 100 points. North Carolina A&T beat N.C. Wesleyan 100-66, Delaware State beat Philadelphia Biblical 103-41 and UMES beat Washington College 102-86.

Endorsement from Jamie Dixon: Following the UMES vs. Pitt game, Pittsburgh head coach Jaime Dixon uttered this message during the opening remarks of his postgame press conference (and I quote) …

“Maryland Eastern Shore is a good team. I think they’ll be at the top of their league at the end of the season; they just get worn down with all these road games at the start.” The only caveat that I feel obliged to mention is that Dixon said this after Pitt played Delaware State 10 days prior, “I anticipate that Delaware State is going to win their league and make it to the NCAA Tournament.” Not sure what to make of the statements. Is it just coach speak or did he think Delaware State was the best and then changed his mind after seeing UMES?

Jets: Raise your hand if you have stayed at the same hotel as an NFL football team. Yep, probably not many of you can claim that. Last Saturday, many of us (players, coaches, staff) were in the lobby of our team hotel in Pittsburgh waiting for the bus to pull up, when a gathering of people formed in the far corner. All of a sudden, Rex Ryan and the New York Jets begin to appear one-by-one. Oh yea, I’m taking LaDainian Tomlinson, Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes, Jason Taylor…all of them. They were checking into the same hotel as us to prepare for their game against the Steelers. Pretty neat to see how they travel and all the fine details that go into travel with an NFL team.

Jackson’s Improvement: Bria Jackson made 13 total 3-pointers in 26 games last season. She has seven after eight games this year. Take it a step further. Jackson scored 83 total points in 26 games last season. She already has 41 points in eight games this season. She has scored eight points in three of her last five games.

Trivia Answer: Ed Tyson is the last UMES player to hit 13 free throws in a single game. He did it on Feb. 2, 2008 on the road at Morgan State. UMES lost the game 67-52. Tyson poured in 28 of the 52 UMES points.

Five-Stars: Time to celebrate the best two players from last week. For the men, my “five-stars” go to Dishawn Bradshaw. The Charm City native poured in 33 points between Pittsburgh (12) and Washington College (21). More impressive in my book was that he handed out nine assists between the two games. He led the Hawks in assists in both games. He adds another dimension to his 3-point game when he puts the ball on the deck and creates for his teammates. On the ladies side, the senior Casey Morton is the recipient. Morton scored 26 points combined in the three games last week. She finished with 13 against ACC foe Wake Forest.

Numbers of the Week: 17 – the number of fast break points the men’s team scored against Washington College, by far the most of the season. In the other 10 games combined, the Hawks scored a total of only 26 fast break points. In the first ten games, the Hawks never totaled more than 4 fast break points. Nice to see the Hawks get out on the break. 94 – The Lady Hawks have hit a 3-pointer in 94 consecutive games. The last time that the Lady Hawks did not hit a 3-pointer in a game was on Nov. 14, 2007 against NCCU. The interesting thing about that game was UMES won by a wide margin, 54-32. That is impressive stuff.

Two for the Road: 1) The men’s team leaves for Colorado on Tuesday with their game set for Wednesday (Dec. 29, 9:00 EST). The Buffaloes have won 19 consecutive non-conference games at the Coors Event Center. Further, the last time UMES made the trek to Boulder was on Dec. 30, 1993. It will be just about 17 years from the day on Dec. 29, 2010. 2) The Lady Hawks are 0-2 all-time against Canisius. It will be the second meeting in Buffalo. The last meeting in Buffalo was on Nov. 17, 2006. Canisius won the game 48-44. Only one player in the whole game scored in double figures (Amanda Cavo, 10 points).

Have a happy and healthy holiday season. Good luck to both the men’s and women’s teams when they resume play.

Lasky's Lounge Week 2

It’s week two of Lasky’s Lounge and I just returned from Evansville, Indiana with the men’s basketball team. This is your one stop shop for some interesting tidbits about UMES athletics, in particular, the men’s and women’s basketball programs. If you have any questions or comments for me, please feel free to email, umesbroadcast@gmail.com. Talk to you all on the radio soon!

Did that Happen?: It was relatively easy to find something that screams “Did that Happen?” this past week. The Lady Hawks were locked in a dandy against LIU on Wednesday evening. With the score tied at 49, there was a 30-second timeout called by LIU. Ashley Palmer was ready to inbound the ball from the sideline near her team’s bench. Palmer was up against the 5-count, panicked and called a time out. However, LIU was out of time outs. Technical foul. The Hawks weren’t able to capitalize and win in regulation but it brought back memories of Chris Webber. Let’s take you into the time machine. It was April 5, 1993 and Michigan was playing UNC for the NCAA title. Michigan is trailing 72-69 with 46 seconds left when they call their last time out. Then, Webber scores after a UNC turnover to trim the deficit to 72-71. UNC’s Pat Sullivan is fouled and he makes the first and misses the second free throw. Webber grabs the rebound (gets away with a travel) and brings the ball into the forecourt. He then gets trapped and calls a timeout. Technical foul. UNC’s Donald Williams hit both free throws and UNC seals the title. Williams was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. (Kansas and Kentucky were the other two teams in the final four in case you were wondering).

10 Second Violation: During the LIU broadcast, one thing that Dave Byrd and I discussed was the missing 10-second violation in women’s college basketball. It puzzles me that the men’s game enforces a 10-second count in the backcourt but the women’s game doesn’t. I understand that the men’s game is played at a different speed but still. You mean to tell me that Bria Jackson, Casey Morton and Amber Cook can’t get the ball across in 10-seconds? I don’t buy that for a second. The only thing the lack of a 10-second count affords the ladies is a chance to casually bring the ball across. Sometimes late in games you’ll see the point guards dribble in the backcourt and evaporate the clock. They could do the same thing in the frontcourt right? Also, I feel that at least 95% of the time, they get the ball across in under 10 seconds anyway.­­­ I’ll have to get coach Batchelor’s thoughts on this. Maybe he has a profound explanation. What are some of your theories? Should the 10-count be enforced?

Two Good Reads: I was doing my homework on coach Frankie Allen and his dominance in the Old Dominion state of Virginia before the ODU game and I stumbled upon this article. It’s a really interesting read about coach Allen’s time at Roanoke and some of the obstacles he has overcome in his career. http://spec.lib.vt.edu/archives/blackhistory/timeline/frankie_allen.htm

On a sad note, the 33^rd anniversary of the horrific 1977 Evansville basketball team plane crash was yesterday (Dec. 13). Since the Hawks just played Evansville, I have read quite a bit about the incident. For those that were born after 1977, you might not remember a lot about the tragedy. Here is one of the many articles I found. http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/local/article_0bb7d4e2-e7b8-11de-8314-001cc4c03286.html

Trivia time: Who is the only UMES basketball player (men’s or women’s) to make at least 100 3-pointers in a single season since the 2002-03 campaign?

Shout(s) out of the Week: I have multiple so let’s start.

1. Adobi Agbasi for stepping to the forefront and making the coaching staff look like geniuses for diagramming the biggest two plays of the game (against LIU) for her. Agbasi tied the game with a lefty lay in with 57 seconds left. She is tough to guard when moving to her left and turning over her right shoulder.
   
2. Kevin White for chasing a ball in the second half against Evansville (when they Hawks were down big) that was destined for his own bench and diving full-extension after it to try and save it. It wound up being out of bounds off the Hawks but it’s those types of hustle plays that will be paramount come conference play. Kevin really asserted himself in the second half.
   
3. Tyler Hines for recording his third career double-double against Evansville (11 points, 11 rebounds). Hines ripped down six offensive rebounds. He is a tireless worker.

Road Warriors: We had a Thursday afternoon departure with the men’s basketball team for Norfolk, Virginia. The hotel in Norfolk might be one of my favorites for three reasons…1) It’s literally right across the street from the Ted Constant Center. We left the hotel and walked across the street – can’t beat that for convenience. 2) Breakfast provided a wide variety – eggs, sausage, fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, bagels, muffins, waffles, pastries, juice and more. 3) Complimentary tea and honey…for a broadcaster suffering through a winter cold, that is as clutch as a free throw with seconds left to ice a game. We awoke at 6:30 a.m. to catch our flight to Chicago (we transferred and caught a flight to Louisville and then bused to Evansville). One thing I found interesting on the aircraft was the food the flight attendants handed out. Everyone was offered a “Newtons Fruit Crisps” bar. Whatever happened to pretzels and peanuts? I guess I’m just old fashioned. Nothing out of the ordinary in Evansville except for the constant change of the time zone we were in. We flew to Chicago (central time) then transferred and flew to Louisville (eastern time) and then bused to Evansville (central time). Easy trip though. Kudos to Curtis Peery and the coaching staff for taking good care of everyone. It’s a lot harder than you think to travel with a group of 19 people, especially when there are practices, games, laundry to be done, food to buy, scouting reports to finalize, flights to catch and so on.

Number(s) of the Week: 406 – the number of points Tim Burns has scored since arriving on the UMES campus. Burns scored 10 second half points against Evansville to cross over the 400 points marker in his career with the Hawks. Burns has 640 college points (two seasons at High Point). 15.2 – the percentage that the Lady Hawks are holding the opposition to from beyond the 3-point line. Through five games, opponents are 12-of-79 from 3-point range against UMES. Syracuse sputtered to a 1-for-23 night from deep and LIU shot 1-of-7 from deep. 41 – The number of bench points that Fred Batchelor received last week against Manhattan and LIU combined. The Hawks scored a total of 107 points. Therefore, 38% of their points last week came from the reserves.

Five Stars: Time to crown the crème de la crème from the last week. Ladies first. She sometimes reminds me of watching a game on West 4^th street in the cage or at Rucker Park with her razzle-dazzle shake-‘n-bake dribbling style but she has a silky smooth jumper that will splash the net from NBA range. Kwinnyata Mercer had a “Five-Star” type of week. Mercer poured in 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the two games last week. She made the two technical free throws late in the second half to give the Hawks a brief lead vs. LIU. She nailed a three-pointer early in overtime to give the Hawks a 54-51 lead. She also made two free throws in OT. It was a challenging week for the men’s basketball team so it took some thought to decide who would receive the award. I’m giving “Five-Stars” to Tim Burns this week. He scored ten points (all in the second half) against Evansville. In the four UMES games prior, Burns had only scored six total points. Burns has lost a lot of playing time of late (8.0 minutes per game in the four games prior to Evansville) and maybe his performance against the Purple Aces will get him back in the thick of the rotation. Remember, Burns started 21 games last season and averaged 33.1 minutes per game (second most of the team). He was also second on the Hawks in scoring (11.2).

Two for the Road: Next up for the men’s team… the Pitt Panthers. Here is a little nugget to digest about Pitt. Before Tennessee tripped them up on last Saturday, they had won 58 consecutive non-conference games in the city of Pittsburgh. Bucknell downed Pittsburgh on Jan. 2, 2005 (last loss before Tennessee). The Lady Hawks next two opponents are Towson, Saturday Dec. 18, and Wake Forest on Monday, Dec. 20. The Lady Hawks have never beaten Towson (0-7 all-time). It has been 23 years since the UMES women’s basketball team has faced Wake Forest. The ‘Deacs beat UMES 73-61 in 1987.

Trivia Answer: If you guessed Toni Kennedy of the women’s basketball team, you are correct! Kennedy knocked in exactly 100 3-pointers during the 2005-06 season. Kennedy made 157 3-pointers in two seasons with the Lady Hawks.

 If you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at umesbroadcast@gmail.com.

This week’s broadcast schedule:

Thursday – Coaches’ Corner 7-8 @ Peaky’s Pub (WGOP 540 AM, 100.7 FM)

Saturday – Men’s basketball @ Pittsburgh (95.5 The Sports Animal)

Lasky's Lounge - Week One

Welcome and thanks for stopping by my weekly column dedicated to UMES athletics, in particular the men’s and women’s basketball programs. This will be your one-stop-shop for all the behind the scenes information that doesn’t make the previews/recaps that our sports information guru’s post before/after each game. I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions, comments or concerns, please email me at umesbroadcast@gmail.com. Talk to you on the radio soon!

Did that Happen?: I’ll start each week by throwing out something that I’m really puzzled by. I was sitting courtside at Memorial Hall in Dover on Saturday broadcasting the UMES men’s basketball game when Dishawn Bradshaw drove down the right lane line and was fouled hard by Casey Walker. Then, I faintly heard Frankie Allen say to G. Jamal Brown, “that’s our first trip to the line.” The head coach was as shocked as I was. It took the Hawks exactly 29 minutes and 51 seconds to earn a trip to the free throw line. They didn’t shoot their first free throws until 10:09 left in the SECOND HALF. I have never seen that before. Believe it or not, UMES actually shot more free throws than Del. State (10 to 9). Only 24 total fouls were called in the game. For comparison, in the Hawks game against Navy, there were 41 fouls called.

Trivia time: Ok, who is ready for some trivia? When is the last time the women’s basketball team beat a team that hails from the great state of New York (either at home or on the road)?

Shout out of the Week: My shout out of the week goes to the UMES students, fans and supporters that made the haul across Route 13 to Memorial Hall for the men’s game on Saturday night. Even with my headset on, there were numerous times when I could hear “defense” chants echoing through Memorial Hall when Delaware State had possession. I saw many familiar faces in attendance including AD Keith Davidson and several members of the women’s basketball team including Amber Cook, Chelsea Sanders, Bria Jackson and Casey Morton. The support is awesome and definitely noticed.

Road Trip Happenings: Each week, I’ll provide some road trip insight. Our destination last week was Syracuse, N.Y. with the Lady Hawks. The departure time left most of us with bags under our eyes (how does 5:30 a.m. sound to you?). The trip up to central N.Y. was easy, especially when the best bus driver in America (Mo) is behind the steering wheel. On Tuesday night, we all had a chance to catch the Syracuse men’s basketball game against Cornell. We sat in the upper deck of the Carrier Dome and watched the ‘Cuse win. It was neat to see former UMES men’s basketball assistant Mike Blaine in action again. Coach Blaine is now an assistant at Cornell. The following day was gameday (Wednesday). We hopped on the bus for shootaround late in the morning and it wasn’t snowing. We left shootaround an hour later and it was snowing (welcome to Syracuse, I guess). The Lady Hawks showed a lot of grit to hang tight with the ‘Cuse. Remember, they were only down 17-14 at the 11:46 mark in the first half. Also remember that Syracuse has dominated teams this year. They beat Delaware State recently by 70 points if that gives you some perspective. After six games, Syracuse is winning by an average margin of 38.7. UMES lost by 23.

Number(s) of the Week: I have two this week, one of the men and one for the women. 22: The number of offensive rebounds that hard-nosed Hines (Tyler) has pulled down so far this season. He ranks fourth in the MEAC in total offensive rebounds. For the women, 85: The number of wins Fred Batchelor is eyeing with one more win. He has accumulated 84 (through 4 games this year) in his seven years at UMES, the most of any women’s basketball coach in program history. Kudos to a great coach and an even better person; just ask his players.

Birthday Fun: Caitlyn Dillard of the women’s basketball team celebrated her 22^nd birthday in style on Dec. 1. She had the chance to play at the Carrier Dome. Caitlyn went to Cayuga C.C., which is in Auburn, N.Y. (less than 30 miles from Syracuse). After the game, this is what Caitlyn told the Auburn Pub about the experience: “I felt I had a big opportunity to play where I dreamed of playing,” Dillard said. “It’s amazing to finally get on this court and play against Syracuse.” The next day when we returned, Caitlyn was our guest on the “Coaches Corner” radio show live from Peaky’s restaurant (I must admit that it was coach Whitley’s idea to bring the birthday girl on the show). She did a great job on the show and even got a birthday cake courtesy of Peaky’s.

Five Stars: I’ll hand out my stars of the week. For the men, it’s probably easy to just pick Hillary Haley for his 32 point gem against Navy and his team high 16 vs. Delaware State, so I’m going in a different direction (sorry Hillary). The men’s recipient of this coveted prize is Mark Robertson. After playing a grand total of seven minutes against American, Kean and NIU combined, Robertson stepped up big against both Navy and DSU. Against the ‘Mids, he played 20 minutes and tied his career high with six rebounds. The real testament to Robertson against Navy is this: He checked in at the 15:47 mark in the first half and the Hawks were up two points. When he was subbed out (8:36), they were up seven. ‘Nuf said. Against DSU, Robertson had a season high 11 points and hit three 3-pointers. Let’s go deeper. Robertson checks in at the 10:42 mark in the first half and DSU is up 13-10. He was subbed out at the 5:03 mark and UMES was up 23-18 (seven point swing). ‘Nuf said. For the women, my star of the week goes to Amber Cook. She’s just so efficient in every area. Cook had 11 points, three steals, two rebounds, an assist and countless hustle plays that don’t make the boxscore. I didn’t realize this at the time, but Cook scored 9 of the first 11 UMES points. ‘Nuf said.

1 for the Road: As I bid you farewell this week, here is something to look forward to. The UMES men’s team is playing ODU on Thursday. One of ODU’s stars is Ben Finney. He is third on the team in scoring (11.7) and second in rebounding (6.4). Does his last name ring a bell? It should, he is the older brother of Sha-Kiyla Finney of the UMES women’s basketball team. We’ll see how the Hawks handle Finney.

Trivia Answer: November 17, 2007 when the Hawks dumped Niagara University 67-60 at the Hytche Athletic Center. Tiffany Reid led the Hawks with 17 points. April McBride had 16 and Casey Morton had 12 points. Since that game, the Lady Hawks have lost 11 straight games against teams from N.Y. Let’s hope the trivia question is no longer worthy after Wednesday’s game against Long Island.

If you have any questions for me, please feel free to contact me at umesbroadcast@gmail.com.

This week’s broadcast schedule:

Monday – Women’s basketball vs. Manhattan

Wednesday - Women’s basketball vs. Long Island

Thursday – Men’s basketball @ ODU

Saturday – Men’s basketball @ Evansville

Hawk Hysteria!

Basketball season is officially upon us as Hawk Hysteria was a huge success on Friday night!

What also made the night so special was that UMES introduced the new pep band, the Thunderin' Hawks. It was a packed house as the fans, staff and teams celebrated the beginning of men's and women's basketball practices. The women's volleyball team also beat Hampton the same night (great job ladies!). Harry The Hawk also celebrated his birthday with many of his mascot friends and UMES family.

Now the season is FINALLY here. Good luck to the men's and women's basketball teams and also the volleyball team as their season winds down.

--Tyler

HAWK HYSTERIA

Hawk Hysteria is just two days away!!!! There has been ton of preparation for this big event, which kicks off basketball season!

The night is just jam packed with fun and entertainment. The evening begins at 6 p.m. as the volleyball team takes on Hampton. These ladies are fun to watch, so make sure you get here early to see them! Before the end of the volleyball game, the men's and women's basketball teams will be signing autographs (and their 2010-11 posters will be revealed! I know a lot of people are excited about this).

Once the volleyball game is over, the night continues with introductions of the brand spankin' new Pep Band, the Thunderin' Hawks! After this we will honor the 2010 Outdoor Track & Field National Championship participants for their hard work.

In addition to it being Hawk Hysteria, we will also celebrate our wonderful mascot's, Harry T. Hawk, birthday! We have about 10 local mascots confirmed to appear, so it's bound to be hysteria! (Oh, and there'll be FREE cake!)
After Harry's birthday celebration, we'll host contests (for fans and the teams!) before the introduction of the men's and women's teams.

I've heard a lot of rumblings about what song each player is coming out to (in addition to various dances) and I'm very curious to see this. Knowing this team, it's bound to be hilarious.

Overall, it's pretty much a night that you shouldn't miss. So much is going to happen that I haven't even described... it really is going to be hysteria.

Lady Hawks vs. Delaware State - Opening Round

Congratulations to the Lady Hawks who just defeated Delaware State in the Opening Round of the MEAC Tournament! Way to go ladies!

April McBride accepts her All-MEAC First Team award prior to the game

The men's team came out to help cheer on the Lady Hawks... Tyler was the only one who wanted his picture posted.

Excited for MEACs

First off, I would like to say GOOD LUCK to the Lady Hawks as they take on Delaware State this morning in the Opening Round of the MEAC Tournament.

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to the Lady Hawk Cheerleaders that received second place in their competition last night.

Finally, it is just our first full day here in Winston-Salem, but I have already met a lot of alumni while I was eating breakfast this morning. Listening to all of them talk about UMES and the history at our school made me even more focused and excited for our first game tomorrow.

We're about ready to leave the hotel to go watch the women's game... I'll write again soon.

--Tyler