UMBC

—The UMBC men’s basketball team produced one of the top victories in program history as they defeated George Washington, 89-79 before a holiday crowd of 2,312 at the RAC Arena.

Senior guard Brian Hodges, named America East Player of the Game,  hit a career-best seven 3-pt. field goals and led all scorers with 27 points. The Retrievers improved to 4-1, its best start since a 5-0 beginning to the 2000-01 season. George Washington, which has earned three consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, dropped to 2-1.

“This win says a lot about our program,” head coach Randy Monroe said. “I feel very fortunate to be coaching these young men. They showed a great deal of character bouncing back about a tough loss to Lafayette and beating an Atlantic 10 power. They deserve a great deal of credit.”

The Colonials came out on fire, hitting 10 of their first 12 shots and eventually building 28-16 lead. But sparked by the inspired play of junior forward Darryl Proctor, who hit six of seven first half shots, the Retrievers went on a 17-4 run to take its first lead of the game at 33-32 with 1:13 remaining in the first half.

The Retrievers would not relinquish the advantage. Leading 35-34 at intermission, Hodges hit back-to-back trifectas as UMBC opened the second half on an 8-0 run. After GW’s Wynton Witherspoon hit a jumper to trim the lead to 49-43, UMBC surged again, outscoring the visitors 15-3 to lead 64-46 with 9:56 remaining.

GW whittled the lead back to eight points on another Witherspoon jumper at 67-59 with 5:46 to play. But Hodges answered on the next possession with another bomb to stem the tide. The Colonials would get as close as 85-79 with 49 seconds remaining, but senior guard Ray Barbosa hit two free throws, and after a Colonial turnover, Proctor hit two more to put the hosts ahead, 89-79 with 31 seconds remaining.

Hodges hit seven of ten three-point attempts, one shy of tying a school record. The Retrievers were 12 of 25 from behind the arc, also missing tying a UMBC record by one.

“My teammates did a great job finding me by penetrating,” Hodges said. “Once my shot felt good, I wasn’t going to stop shooting until I missed.”

Hodges led four Retrievers in double figures, as the Retrievers surpassed the 70-point for the fifth straight game. Barbosa added 21 points, while Proctor and senior forward Cavell Johnson tallied 17 each. Proctor added a game-high 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, as UMBC outrebounded the larger Colonials, 42-32. Junior guard Jay Greene contributed 10 assists for his second double-figure assist contest of the season.

Witherspoon led George Washington with 21 points, hitting nine of 11 from the charity stripe.

Hodges moved into 11^th place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 1,172 points, surpassing Kareem Washington (1,145 points). UMBC completed a season sweep of Atlantic 10 rivals, with previous road wins at La Salle and Richmond.

The Retrievers will host local rival Morgan State on Thursday. The game will be televised by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.