UMBC

Burlington, Vt.—For the third straight year, the UMBC men’s basketball team had its chances to knock off America East power Vermont at Patrick Gym, but again came up short, losing to the first-place Catamounts, 66-57.

Senior forward Mike Housman, who did not compete in shoot-around this afternoon due to a fever, was UMBC’s America East Player of the Game as he tied his season high with 17 points and added a team-high eight rebounds. But UMBC continued to struggle offensively, as they shot just 32.4% from the floor and lost despite attempting 21 more field goal attempts than their hosts.

The Retrievers trimmed a 41-27 early second half deficit to 55-52 on a three-point field goal by sophomore guard Jay Greene with 1:35 remaining. But Vermont’s Marqus Blakely, a 56 percent free throw shooter, hit both attempts with a minute remaining and UMBC could not get the ball in a one-possession situation the rest of the way.

Vermont, the poorest free throw shooting team in the America East, hit 18 of 19 free throw attempts in the second half and 22 of 26 for the game.

UMBC forced 13 first half Catamount turnovers, but missed 22 of its first 28 attempts from the floor. The Retrievers trailed, 24-23 at intermission and took its final lead just 12 seconds into the second half on a Housman half-hook shot. But on the next possession, Housman committed his third foul and went to the bench. Vermont responded with six unanswered rebounds en route to an 11-0 run which gave them a lead they would not relinquish.

UMBC led late, but lost 66-61 two seasons ago in Burlington and missed 15 of 27 free throws in last year's 68-57 setback.

Greene was a stat-stuffer, with 15 points, seven assists and five steals. Brian Hodges added 13 points, but the two combined to hit just nine of 31 shots from the floor.

Vermont, one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, outrebounded UMBC by ten in the second half and 43-32 for the game. The Catamounts, however, missed all eight three-point attempts after hitting nine of 14 vs. UMBC in early January.

Vermont (18-6, 10-1 AE) won its sixth straight game. The Retrievers (9-16, 5-7) have a week off before traveling to Hartford next Thursday.