UMBC

Junior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) has been named America East Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for games ending January 7, 2007. One of the nation’s top-scoring “sixth-men” becomes the first Retriever to earn solo honors on multiple occasions in the same season during UMBC’s three-plus years in the league.

The 2-0 Retrievers take on defending league champion Albany at the RAC Arena on Tuesday, then entertain perennial America East power Vermont on Thursday. Tip-off times both nights are at 7:00 p.m.

Hodges was UMBC’s America East Conference Player of the Game in each of the last three contests. Last week, he led all scorers in both games with 22 points at Binghamton and 20 at Stony Brook. Hodges scored the Retrievers’ final nine points, including the game winning three-point play with 5.5 seconds remaining in UMBC’s 73-71 win at Binghamton on Wednesday, Jan. 3.  He then tallied 18 of his 20 points in the second half, hitting seven of nine shots from the floor in the Retrievers’ 72-53 win at Stony Brook on Saturday, Jan. 6. UMBC’s fifth all-time leading three-point field goal scorer (128) hit 16 of 28 shots from the floor and seven of eight from the free throw line.

The 6’3”, 200-lb. wing player is averaging 19.6 ppg over his last ten games and averages 17.0 ppg in his eleven games coming off the bench. He is third in the America East Conference with an overall scoring average of 15.4 ppg, despite only playing 23.9 minutes per game.

Hodges also won the league award on December 10 after a 22-point effort in a win at La Salle. Last season, UMBC forward John Zito was named co-Player of the Week on two occasions.