UMBC

, Va.—Senior forward Cavell Johnson’s dunk with 3.2 seconds left broke a 68-all tie and propelled visiting UMBC to a 70-68 victory over Richmond at the Robins Center.

The win is UMBC’s third without a loss this season, their first 3-0 start since the 2002-03 campaign. Richmond falls to 2-3.

Johnson had tied the game on a short baseline jumper with 29 seconds left. On the game-winning play, Retriever junior guard Jay Greene stole the ball from UR freshman guard Kevin Anderson as he tried to penetrate into the lane. Greene drove down the left side of the court and found a streaking Johnson down the center and the UMBC forward slammed home the game winner.

Richmond’s Justin Harper’s desperation shot from 35-feet fell short at the buzzer.

Johnson led four Retrievers in double figures as he scored a game-high 20 points. He also added nine rebounds. Senior guard Brian Hodges scored 17 points off the bench, while Darryl Proctor and Ray Barbosa scored 14 and 11 points respectively. Barbosa posted a double-double with a game-high and career-best 10 rebounds.

After leading by as many as 10 points at 30-20 midway through the first half, UMBC settled for a 39-25 lead at intermission, their first halftime edge of the young season. But the Spiders quickly rallied and built a seven-point advantage at 64-57 with 4:09 to play. Trailing 66-61 with 91 seconds to play, Barbosa hit a three-point field goal to bring UMBC to within a pair. UR’s Dan Geriot and UMBC’s Proctor exchanged two free throws each on the next two possessions. A Richmond turnover with 35 seconds left gave UMBC the ball and Johnson converted the jumper on an out-of-bounds play.

UMBC hit 27 of 59 shots (45.8%) from the floor, their top mark of the season, but the Spiders hit 26 of 53 (49.1%).

The Retrievers have now defeated both Atlantic 10 teams on their schedule and will face one more when they host George Washington on Nov. 24. Before that, UMBC travels to Lafayette to face the Leopards on Tuesday.