March 11, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Hawks will face the Florida A&M Rattlers Wednesday in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament at the RBC Center.

UMES (4-27, 2-14 MEAC) dropped their sixth straight to end the regular season with a 67-52 decision against Delaware State University on Thursday. Marc Davis, an All-MEAC Rookie Team Selection, led the Hawks with 13 points. BJ Nimocks and Ed Tyson, an All-MEAC Second Team Member, finished with 11 points apiece. Nimocks also grabbed six rebounds before leaving midway through the second half with a broken nose. Omar Akram added eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds off the bench.

FAMU (14-16, 9-7 MEAC), the defending MEAC Tournament Champions, enters the matchup on a five game winning streak after defeating Bethune-Cookman on Thursday, 69-50. The Rattlers offensive attack is led by Leslie Robinson who is averaging 15 points per game on the season, while Lamar Twitty is adding 12.8 points per game. Akini Akini is tops on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game.

The Rattlers swept the season series against UMES with the first win coming back on January 26, 72-62. They picked up another victory over the Hawks on February 23, 62-60. Coincidentally, both contests were on homecoming night for each team.

FAMU was led by Robinson with 16.5 points per game. Larry Jackson, an All-MEAC Rookie Team Selection, added 16 points per game, while Twitty chipped in with 11 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

Tyson and Davis led UMES in scoring for both contests with 22 and 14.5 points per game. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The winners will face third-seeded Norfolk State on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Wednesday's game can be heard on the internet at www.umeshawks.com thanks to www.AllInBroadcasting.com.

Read Wednesday's game notes here.

Listen live to the game here on the Hawk Radio Network.

Watch the game live from the RBC Center.