Men's Basketball | 2/2/2015 4:30:00 PM

Washington, DC --- Howard University (11-10, 5-2 MEAC) faces a daunting task when it hosts surprising University of Maryland Eastern Shore in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) tilt tonight at 7:30 pm in Burr Gymnasium. The game will webcast (audio only) on WHBC (http://www.whbc963hd3.com/welcomehome). Trevin Jones will handle the play by play.

In the Hawks (13-10, 6-2 MEAC), Howard faces an opponent who has won three in a row and five of the last six. UMES has made great strides under first year head coach Bobby Collins, who had success at Winston-Salem State and before that at Hampton.

UMES will test the vaunted Bison defense as it has averaged just under 80 points during that stretch. The Hawks are one of the top three point shooting teams in the MEAC, boasting three players who rank in the Top 10 in the league.

Teams have found it difficult finding accuracy against the Bison zone defense, which ranks 15th overall nationally in field goal percentage defense and 18th in shooting from beyond the arc.

"Tonight's game against a much-improved UMES team will be a huge challenge for us because of their size and the pressure and trapping that they use on defense," said Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry.

The Hawks rely on the inside presence of Michael Myers (15.4 ppg, 7.0 rpg) and the perimeter shooting of the trio of Devon Walker, Ryan Andino and Devin Martin, who combined for 11 of 18 from three-point range in the win over Coppin State.

UMES will have its hands full with James "JC" Carlton, who is playing as well as anyone in the MEAC.  The 6-8 senior forward transfer from College of Charleston, poured in a career-high 32 points on 14 of 17 from the field, Saturday against Morgan State.

"We need to win at home to keep us in the top tier of the standings in the league, especially with a bunch of road games coming up," noted Nickelberry.  "I'm confident that we will respond to the challenge tonight.  I believe in this group of young men."

GAME NOTES:  The 11-10 and 5-2 conferencestart is the best for Howard in almost 14 years.  The Bison are 7-1 at home, the only loss a three-point nailbiter to Delaware State.  Following this game, Howard will play four straight on the road, starting at Norfolk State next Saturday, then onto Hampton, Savannah State and finally at South Carolina State before closing out the home season with games vs Hampton and Norfolk State.