Princess Anne, MD—James "J-Byrd" Daniel, III scored a game-high 28 points and Marcel Boyd and Kofi Andoh chipped in with 15 and 14 respectively, but it was not enough to offset some hot three-point shooting as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore rolled to an 85-67 win over Howard University in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference men's game at the Hytche Center.  The game was televised on ESPNU.
           
The Hawks (7-16, 4-4 in the MEAC) bolted out to the early lead and never trailed as they connected on 5 of 14 from the three-point line and 13 of 15 from the free throw line to take a 48-31 lead at the half.  Daniel (12 points) and Andoh (7 points) combined for 19 of their team's points, but UMES got most of its scoring from the trio of Bakari Copeland, Devin Martin and Dominique Elliott who hit on 10 of 14 from the field for 43 points.
           
"This is the third straight game that we have got off to a slow start," said Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry.  "We dig ourselves into and have to fight our way out of it.  It becomes a problem because our lack of depth.  We have to find a way to fix that."
           
The Bison (10-12, 4-3 in the MEAC) were able to put a dent in the lead when Daniel opened the second half with a rare four-point play that reduced the deficit to 48-35.  But the Hawks countered with a 15-5 run that increased the margin to 23 at the 9:05 mark.
           
Ahmed Frost and Ryan Andino got into the act for the Hawks in the second half and took turns scoring during the run. 
           
Daniel, the nation's leading scorer with 28 points per game, added 6 rebounds to his point totals while Boyd recorded his sixth double double of the season (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Andoh had his best all-around effort of his career with 14 points and six rebounds off the bench.  Collins just missed double digits in scoring with 9 points to go along with five rebounds.
           
"They did a good job of trapping J Byrd and limiting our shots," said Nickelberry.  "We have to be able to get more shots up.  We had only 41 and they had something like 60.  We have to find a way to solve.  We have to go back to the drawing board and find a way to fix this."
           
Elliott finished with a double double (17 points, 12 rebounds), Copeland with 20 and Martin with 21, 17 coming in the second half.

NEXT UP: The Bison host Norfolk State on Saturday at 4 pm in Burr Gymnasium while the Hawks entertain Hampton, also on Saturday at 4 pm.