DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Mark Gordon scored a career-high 27 points as Bethune-Cookman pulled away from Maryland-Eastern Shore in the second half en route to an 89-68 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory Monday afternoon.

Cletrell Pope scored 13 of his 15 in the second half and Malik Maitland all of his 11 as the Wildcats (9-11 overall, 3-2 MEAC) shot a blistering 64.3 percent (18-28) in the final 20 minutes. BCU finished with a season-best 59.3 percent (32-54) for the game.

The Hawks (3-18,0-5) tied game at 31 on a Tyler Jones jumper with 18:35 remaining.  BCU opened a seven-point lead that the Hawks trimmed to three points on three occasions, the last on a Ryan Andino three-pointer that made it 55-52 with 11:53 left.

A 14-0 run gave BCU a 71-53 advantage on two Pope free throws with 7:37 left.  BCU led by as many as 23 down the stretch.

Gordon made six of his seven shots to score 19 first-half points, but BCU saw its 30-20 lead evaporate as MDES took a 32-31 on Bryan Urrutia's lay-up with 2:06 left. The Wildcat managed a 39-37 halftime lead.

Soufiyane Diakite added 16 points, while Pope posted 12 rebounds to record his 11th double-double of the season for the Wildcats, who by 20 or more for the second straight game.

The Hawks, coached by former BCU Head Coach Clifford Reed, were led by Tyler Jones with 17.

BCU travels to Baltimore this weekend to face Morgan State on Saturday and Coppin State on Monday.