UMBC

Jay Greene tied a school record by hitting five of five from behind the arc.

Burlington, Vt.—Junior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa.) scored a career-high 26 points and senior backcourt mate added 21 as visiting UMBC (15-7, 7-2) regained sole possession of first place in the America East Conference with a thrilling 75-73 win over Vermont (11-10, 6-3) before a sold-out crowd of 3,266 at Patrick Gym.

UMBC has won three straight games and triumphed for the first time ever in five attempts at Vermont. The Retrievers erased an 11-point second half deficit and won without the services of leading scorer, senior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md.), who did not accompany the team after suffering a left ankle sprain in the second half vs. Albany.

The Retrievers trailed, 46-35 with 16:51 remaining in the second half, but embarked on a 16-3 run, capped by a three consecutive three-point field goals. Barbosa’s bomb from the left wing gave UMBC a 52-51 lead with 11:00 minutes remaining. UMBC would maintain the lead until Vermont’s Mike Trimboli made a pair of free throws with 3:53 to play to give the hosts a 66-65 advantage.

But Barbosa, who scored all 21 points in the final 20:01 of play, put UMBC ahead, 70-69 on a three-point field goal and the 2:00 mark, then hit three free throws with 1:24 to play to give the visitors a 73-71 advantage. UMBC would stop Vermont on the Catamounts’ next two possessions and Barbosa hit two free throws to give the Retrievers a 75-71 margin with 14.7 seconds to play. Vermont’s Marqus Blakely converted a lay-up with 9.9 seconds remaining and the Catamounts had a chance to tie or win as UMBC senior forward Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md.) missed a pair of free throws with 9.1 seconds to play. But Johnson played outstanding defense on Blakely and the sophomore forward’s three-point attempt from 23 feet was well short and UMBC celebrated the hard-fought victory.

Greene was brilliant at the start, scoring 18 of UMBC’s first 20 points as the Retrievers trailed, 21-20 with 9:15 remaining in the first half. He tied a school record by hitting five of five shots from behind the arc and was 9 of 13 overall with six rebounds, four assists, a blocked shot and just one turnover in 40 minutes of work. Barbosa hit four of six from behind the arc as the Retrievers made nine of 14 attempts. Junior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md.) posted his tenth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds and he added four steals.

UMBC trailed, 35-31 at intermission and won for the sixth time this season when trailing at halftime. Sophomore wing Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa.) got the start in Hodges’ stead and scored four critical second half points, but fouled out with 3:32 remaining. UMBC played the final 3:32 with Proctor, Barbosa and Johnson each playing with four fouls.

The Retrievers return home for three straight, beginning with a Wednesday encounter with Stony Brook.