UMBC

Baltimore, Md.—Despite another outstanding second-half effort by UMBC, the Retrievers fell just short of knocking off defending America East champion Albany, as the Great Danes edged the Retrievers, 65-61 before 1,410 fans at the RAC Arena.

Junior guard Brian Hodges maintained his torrid pace, leading all scorers with 24 points and he was named UMBC’s Marlow Sports America East Player of the Game. Albany senior guard Jamar Wilson, who hit two go-ahead free throws with 31 seconds left, earned America East Player of the Game honors for the Great Danes.

UMBC’s two-game winning streak came to an end and they fell to 6-10 overall, while Albany improved to 9-6. Both teams are now 2-1 in league play, but the Retrievers fell to 1-4 at home this season.

Hodges, the reigning America East Player of the Week, capped his night by hitting a long three-point field goal to tie the score at 61-all with 47 seconds left to play. But Wilson drove to the basket on the ensuing possession,   drew a foul on Chris Pugh and calmly sank the two free throws. With the shot clock off, Hodges went down trying to cut to the basketball and sophomore guard Jay Greene caught the rim on a 24-foot attempt with nine seconds left . Albany wing Jason Siggers gathered the rebound and converted both ends of a one-and-one with 4.6 seconds left to give the visitors their fifth straight win over UMBC.

UMBC built an early 15-11 lead, but a 12-2 Great Dane run gave them a 23-17 advantage with 7:45 remaining in the first stanza. They built the lead to as many as eight points before settling for a 33-27 halftime edge. But the Retrievers, who rallied from halftime deficits to win at Binghamton and Stony Brook last week, came out to make it three straight as they outscored Albany, 13-4 to open the second half. A three-point play by sophomore guard Thomas Young and a three-point field goal by Hodges built UMBC’s largest lead to 52-45 with 9:11 to play.

However, UMBC missed its next three field goal attempts and committed three turnovers as well and Albany crept back to draw even at 54-all on a three-point play by forward Brian Connelly.

Hodges hit nine of 14 shots from the floor and three of five from behind the arc. The nation’s leading scoring “sixth-man”  is now averaging 17.6 ppg in his 12 non-starts. Greene added 16 points and five assists, while Young hit all seven free throw attempts in a 13-point performance.

Wilson scored 19 points and posted a double-double with 10 rebounds. Siggers added 14 points and eight boards, including six of Albany’s 15 offensive caroms. The two teams combined to hit 20 of 23 free throw attempts.  

The Retrievers face another league heavyweight in two days as they host Vermont on Thursday.