UMBC

Albany, NY--Senior guard Kareem Washington scored a season high 18 points, and backcourt mate Rob Gogerty added 18 as UMBC (4-6, 1-0) debuted in the America East Conference with a 67-62 win over Albany (2-8, 0-1).

It is the sixth straight year that UMBC has opened league play with a victory and are now 9-5 in 14 years of conference lid lifters.

UMBC struggled against a depleted Albany team that dressed only eight healthy players. The Great Danes built a 20-13 lead with 7:47 to play in the first half, but the Retrievers outscored the hosts, 16-6, over the final stages of the stanza to take a 29-26 lead at intermission.

The Retrievers built the lead to seven points on three occasions early in the second half, but UA rallied from a 47-40 deficit to take a 51-50 lead on a layup by Courtney Johnson with 5:18 to play. But Washington hit a free throw on the next possesion, and after missing the second attempt, got his own rebound and hit a jumper to put UMBC ahead, 53-51. UA came within a point on two occasions, but a Gogerty jumper and a pair of free throws by Washington restored the lead to three points. Washington then put UMBC ahead, 61-56, on a put-back layup, and combined with Gogerty to hit all six free throw attempts in teh final 30 seconds to secure the win.

Washington surpassed the 900-point plateau with 914 in his career. Cory McJimson recorded his first career "double-double" with 10 points and a season high 12 rebounds. Levi Levine led the Great Danes with a game high 22 points.