UMBC

Brian Hodges scored 19 points for the second consecutive game

Baltimore, Md.—The UMBC men’s basketball team scored the final 18 points of the game and snapped a three-game losing streak with an 83-62 win over Maine at the RAC Arena.

The Retrievers improved to 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the unpredictable America East Conference, while Maine fell for the first time in three outings and dropped to 7-11, 2-5.

The first 34 minutes looked eerily similar to UMBC other nail-biters at home this season as the Retrievers blew a double digit lead. The home side built a 26-14 lead on a Brian Hodges jumper with 7:24 remaining in the first half, but the Black Bears rallied behind 18 first half points by junior guard Rashard Turner to bring the visitors to within 36-34 at halftime.

Maine took its first lead since an early 6-4 advantage when senior forward Freddy Petkus hit the Bears’ tenth three-point field goal to give his squad a 50-48 advantage with 13:26 remaining. UMBC inched back ahead, but a pair of Petkus’ free throws kept the Bears within 65-62 with 6:35 remaining.

 But Maine would not score again. Senior forward John Zito started UMBC’s end of game surge by hitting a baseline jumper near the end of the shot clock. Freshman guard Jay Greene, who fed Zito on the play, came back after a Maine miss and hit a three-pointer from the right wing to extend the lead to 70-62. After senior forward Jerrell Dinkins hit one of two free throws with 3:11 remaining, sophomore guard Brian Hodges ostensibly ended Maine’s chances when he buried a three-pointer from the left baseline to give the Retrievers a 74-62 advantage with 2:46 remaining.

Five of the seven Retrievers who saw action scored in double figures. Hodges led all scorers with 19 points, hitting three of four shots from behind the arc in a 15-point second half. Greene, who played all 40 minutes, tied his career high with 16 points and added four assists, three steals and no turnovers. Dinkins posted his first career double-double with 16 points and a career high 13 rebounds. Juniors Chris Pugh and Mike Housman added ten points each.

Hodges is now averaging 18.0 points per game in his last three outings, while UMBC is now 5-0 when Housman scores in double figures.

Rashard Turner led Maine with 18 points, but did not score, missing all four field goals attempts in the second half. Turner had hit six of seven shots, all from behind the arc, in the first 20 minutes. Older brother, Ernest Turner, added 14 points and had five steals for Maine.

UMBC hit 17 of 28 shots (60.7%) in the second half and eight of 13 from behind the arc. They finished at 52.4% for the game. They also outrebounded Maine, 40-27, for the game and committed only ten turnovers, including four in the second half. The Black Bears did hit 11 of 25 shots (44.0%) from behind the arc.