UMBC

The UMBC men’s basketball team (18-7, 10-2 America East) faces a huge showdown on Wednesday, Feb. 20 as the league race enters the stretch run. The Retrievers face two-time defending league champion Albany (13-12, 8-5) at the SEFCU Arena with the scheduled tip-off time set for 7:00 p.m. Air time on WVIE (1370 AM, www.v1370.com is 6:55 p.m.

UMBC snapped a six-game losing streak to the Great Danes with a 69-65 win before 3,381 fans at RAC Arena on Jan. 30, but have not won in Albany since the 2003-04 season.  

UMBC has won six straight games, which ties the 2001-02 team for the second longest Retriever winning streak at the Division I level. The team is 11-1 at home this season and the 11 victories are tied for the third-most in the program history. Retriever fans have certainly appreciated the team’s success--the current average attendance of 2,530 is up nearly 32 percent over last year’s single season record of 1,920 per game. The turnstile count of 3,492 on Sunday vs. Boston University is the third-largest in school history, with the aforementioned encounter with Albany now in the fifth spot.

Randy Monroe’s squad has benefited from its unselfish play. UMBC leads the nation in fewest turnovers per game and three players, seniors Brian Hodges, Ray Barbosa and Cavell Johnson and junior Darryl Proctor are all averaging more than 13 points per game. UMBC’s floor general, five-foot-eight junior point guard Jay Greene is the only player in the nation to be in the top five in assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio.

On the horizon is “Senior Night” on Saturday, Feb. 23 as the UMBC community will certainly turn out to see Hodges, Barbosa and Johnson in their final regular season home game.

UMBC currently has a tenuous 1 ½ game lead over fast-charging Hartford (9-4 in the league). Should the Retrievers win the regular season conference title, they will play post-season basketball for the first time in their 22-year Division I history with an automatic bid to the NIT Tournament. In addition, UMBC would host the league’s championship game on March 15 if they advance through the quarter and semifinals at Binghamton University the previous weekend. The winner of the America East Tournament receives a bid to the NCAA Tournament, also known as “March Madness.”