GAME DAY: UMES @ Hampton - Starters (ESPNU)

UMES - Maroon uniform
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

Hampton - White uniform
1 - Pellum
4 - Agbelese
5 - Tunnell
20 - Funches
32 - Morgan

GAME DAY: UMES @ NCCU - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniforms
3 White
5 Bell
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

NCCU - Gray uniforms
3 Clement
5 Leemow
12 Wilkerson
35 Chasten
42 Manns

South Carolina State Photos

Just three photos from earlier...

Outside of the arena

Athletic trainer Randi Kaplan tapes Tyler Hines before the game

The guys stretch and warmup in the hallway

UMES @ South Carolina State - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniform
3 White
5 Bell
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

South Carolina State - White uniform
1 Toombs
4 Porter
5 Sanders
12 Pitt
22 Bennett

Tip in about six minutes.

GAME DAY: UMES @ Oklahoma - Starters

UMES -Maroon uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Oklahoma - White uniform
2 Pledger
4 Fitzgerald
14 Blair
21 Clark
34 Davis

GAME DAY! UMES @ Colorado - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Colorado - Gray uniform
1 Tomlinson
5 Relphorde
10 Burks
11 Higgins
33 Dufault

GAME DAY - Washington College at UMES - Starters

UMES - White uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Washington College - Maroon uniform
4 Bernstein
20 Holcombe
25 Naymick
33 McShane
44 Breslin

GAME DAY - UMES @ PITT - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniform
3 White
11 Burns
23 Bradshaw
24 Haley
32 Hines

Pitt - White uniform
5 Brown
14 Gibbs
22 Wanamaker
42 Zanna
52 McGhee

Game day shootaround

We just got back from shootaround... a few photos from the morning.

 Post-shootaround huddle

Coach Allen talks to Brooke Weisbrod and Rob King from ESPN Regional in preparation for the game

After shootaround, a bunch of the guys were having some fun doing some random dunks, they were definitely having a good time!

 Hillary Haley brings one down after an alley-oop from Diyaaldin Kelley

 Pop goes up for another dunk, this time with a pass from Dishawn Bradshaw

 Coach Brown and his son, Gilbert, play one-on-one

 Pop, going up for yet another dunk, this side from the other side of the court

 Tyler now talks to Brooke and Rob about his brother, Kyle, their AAU team and some other interesting stuff bound to make it on the broadcast

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)

GAME DAY - UMES @ Evansville - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniform
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

Evansville - White uniforms
2 - Lacey
11 - Ryan
32 - Harris
34 - Holmes
41 - van Tongeren

GAME DAY - UMES @ Old Dominion - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniform
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

ODU - White uniform
3 - James
20 - Cooper
21 - Hassell
24 - Bazemore
35 - Finney

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

GAME DAY - UMES @ Delaware State - Starters

UMES - Maroon uniforms
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
23 - Bradshaw
24 - Haley
32 - Hines

Delaware State - White uniform
4 - Threatt
5 - Washington
21 - Stowe
22 - Walker
32 - M. Oliver

GAME DAY - Northern Illinois at UMES STARTERS

UMES - Gray uniforms
00 - Obame Obame
3 - White
11 - Burns
23 - Bradshaw
32 - Hines

Northern Illinois - Cardinal Red uniforms
1 - Hall
5 - Toler
12 - Rucker
13 - Silas
24 - Landers

GAME DAY - UMES @ American - Starters

UMES - Maroon Uniform
oo - Obame Obame
3 - White
11 - Burns
23 - Bradshaw
32 - Hines

American - White Uniform
3 - Brewer
14 - Moldoveanu
21 - Hendra
22 - Luptak
32 - Lumpkins

First game - Tulane

It's less than two days until our first official game of the season - this year against Tulane University from Conference USA. I can't wait... I'm getting chills just writing about it.

As a team we are working hard on and off the court. We know the first game is the most important because it sets the tone for the year. Trust me, we are ready.

Come to the Hytche and support us on Friday at 7:00 p.m. It's going down!

Hawk UP!
--Tyler

Sorry to all

Sorry to everyone that keeps up with my blogs, I've been so busy with practice, class, school work and just trying to get some rest that I haven't had much time to blog. However, that is definitely the life of a student-athlete. My goal is to write two blogs a week to keep the fans up with Hawk Basketball. Just know that we appreciate your support and we won't let you down!

Hawk UP!

--Tyler

Bowling

Yesterday we had the opportunity to take on the bowling team for the second year in a row. We did this last year and it was really a great time so I'm glad the coaches arranged this again this year.

Our entire team was talking trash to the ladies all day but since they beat us so badly last year, this year we really believed we could get them. (Maggie's edit: men's basketball had no chance.)

I started out with two strikes, but just know that I lost every game afterward. (I do still believe that I am the best.)

We also got a chance to watch Freddy dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller, which was definitely the treat of the day. I don't want to say exactly what happened, but just know that Freddy ended up on his butt and it was quite hilarious. Sorry, Freddy, we still love you.

--Tyler

Coach Blaine

As many already know, our assistant coach, Mike Blaine, has received another opportunity at Cornell University. We had a team meeting where he broke this news to us and as a team, hearing the news was very tough for us, in addition to me personally.

I spent three years with Coach Blaine and he taught me a lot in that time. While we run sprints as a team, I can still envision him throwing up his hand and saying, "didn't touch the line!" or "face cut Hines!" I'm glad he did this as this made us better as a team and as men.

I know I can speak on behalf of my teammates and myself in saying Good Luck to Coach Blaine... you will always be a Hawk.

--Tyler