UMBC

, Md.—Long Beach State senior guard Aaron Nixon scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the visiting 49’ers nipped UMBC, 57-53 before 1,922 fans at UMBC’s RAC Arena.

Sophomore guard Thomas Young scored a career high 17 points for UMBC and was named the Marlow Sports America East Player of the Game.

Long Beach State snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 3-4 on the year, while UMBC lost for the second time in less than 48 hours and fell to 3-5. The 49’ers had dropped a 74-49 decision at Temple on Saturday afternoon.

After a ragged first half of play, both teams made sustained runs in the second stanza. Leading by 23-22 at intermission, the Retrievers built a 37-30 advantage on a layup by Mike Housman with 13:30 remaining. But UMBC lost momentum after a length delay due to a discrepancy with the official score and the 49’ers went on a 16-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 46-39 advantage with 7:25 remaining.

But UMBC battled back, as sophomore guard Jay Greene hit a pair of three-point goals on consecutive possessions and Thomas Young hit a pair of inside shots to key a 11-3 response. Young hit the second of two free throw attempts to give UMBC its final lead of 50-49 with 3:38 remaining.

LBSU’s Dominque Ricks scored on an awkward tip-in on the next possession, and after a UMBC missed attempt, Nixon hit on a drive in the lane to give the visitors a 53-50 advantage with 1:32 remaining. Young committed UMBC’s second straight turnover on the next time down the court and Nixon drove to the basket to score and converted a free throw to give the 49’ers a 56-50 advantage at the 33-second mark.

UMBC junior guard Brian Hodges sliced the lead in half with a leaning three-pointer with 17 seconds left, but Nixon made one of two free throws five seconds later, and Hodges baseline shot from behind the arc was too strong as Long Beach secured the rebound and ran out the clock.

Nixon hit six of 13 second half attempts and three of five from behind the arc. Reserve forward Mark Dawson added 11 points and rejected six UMBC shots.

Young hit seven of 11 field goal attempts as six of his team-high eight rebounds came off the offensive glass. But the rest of the Retrievers hit just 15 of 48 shots from the field as the squad hit 22 of 59 (37.3%) for the game. Chris Pugh added 10 points for UMBC.

Greene picked up two early off-the-ball fouls and played only six first half minutes. He finished with eight points and four assists in 25 minutes. The Retrievers were whistled for 22 fouls, as Long Beach hit 12 of 19 from the line, while UMBC was just three-of-six from the charity stripe.

It was the first game of the season for UMBC which was decided by less than six points and the Retrievers have lost four straight in that situation.

The Retrievers now face four straight on the road, beginning with a contest at La Salle on Thursday.