PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – The Hampton University men's basketball team began Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play for the 2017-18 season with a 92-83 loss at Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday.

After falling behind 11-6 early in the opening half of play, the Pirates were forced to fight back throughout the opening 20 minutes of play. Hampton (5-11, 0-1 MEAC) was able to take a one-point lead twice, but could not overcome the Hawks and Ahmad Frost, who scored 23 points in the first period leading UMES to a 50-41 lead at the break.

UMES closed the first half with a 10-3 run over the final three and a half minutes, with Frost and Tyler Jones each hitting three-pointers. Frost was good for 6-of-7 from three-point land and Jones scored 13 for UMES, marking 36 of the team's 50 points.

Jermaine Marrow scored 11 for the Pirates in the first half, while dishing out three assists and recording three steals.

The Hawks (5-12, 1-1 MEAC) pushed their lead to as many as 19, going ahead 68-49, seven minutes into the second half, but the Pirates made a run. Marrow got his first basket of the second half in transition, slicing through the UMES defense, sparking an 8-3 run, which got the deficit to 14 points, bringing about a timeout from the Hawks.

Out of the quick break, the Pirates continued to chip away, with Marrow hitting another layup, before a pair from the line by Greg Heckstall got the lead down to 11 points at the midway point of the second half. Marrow finished with a team-high 19 points in the game for the Pirates.

Frost, who had been held to just three points in the first 10 minutes of the second half ended the Hampton run, hitting a contested layup down the left wing while taking contact and hit the free throw for the three-point play, for a 75-61 UMES lead.

A five-point spurt in a span of just seven seconds allowed the deficit to dip inside single digits for the first time in more than 10 minutes. Charles Wilson-Fisher was able to get a quick steal under the basket and put home the layup before another UMES turnover on the inbounds gave Wilson-Fisher another layup and a foul. The three-point play made it a 76-70 game with just under eight minutes left in the game. The spurt for Wilson-Fisher marked five of the senior's career-high 16 points in the contest.

After five UMES free throws looked to pull the Hawks away, Trevond Barnes buried a three-pointer from the left wing, getting the edge back down to six points, but that was as close as the Pirates could get through the remainder of the game.

UMES made its way in the second half at the free-throw line, scoring 15 points from the charity stripe, going 15-of-26 from the line while Hampton attempted just 11 free throws in the closing 20 minutes.

Heckstall finished a point shy of a double-double, scoring nine and grabbing 10 rebounds along with blocking two shots, while Malique Trent-Street scored 15 points and a season-high 10 assists off the bench.

Hampton remains on the road, traveling next to Howard University for a MEAC contest, originally slated for Monday, the game has been postponed to Tuesday, January 9 and will tipoff at 5:30 p.m.

For more information on Hampton University men's basketball, please contact the Office of Sports Information at 757-727-5757 or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.