UMBC

Vestal, N.Y.—The top-seeded UMBC Retrievers advanced to the semifinals of the America East Conference men’s basketball championships with a 76-60 win over eighth-seeded Stony Brook in the first game of the quarterfinal round.

UMBC is now 22-8 on the season and will play the winner of No. 4 Vermont vs. No. 5 Binghamton at noon on Sunday.

Six Retrievers scored at least eight points as UMBC shot 56.6 percent (30/53) from the floor and hit 11 of 21 from behind the arc. Junior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa.) again orchestrated the offense, dishing out 12 assists, the fourth-most ever in an America East tournament game. He added nine points.

Junior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md.) posted his 13^th double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds and senior post Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md.) added 15 points on seven-of-nine shooting and added five blocked shots. Sophomore forward Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa.) scored 14 points, his most against America East competition this season and senior guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa.) added 11 points.

“I’m happy with the way we performed today. I was happy with the overall effort from an execution standpoint,” head coach Randy Monroe said.

The Retrievers fell behind, 8-3, but went on a 18-2 run to take the lead for good. Spadafora hit a pair of three-point field goal in that surge. UMBC would go on to hit nine of 16 behind the arc in the first half and built a 44-29 advantage.

Stony Brook never sliced the gap to single digits in the second half. They would get as 13 points at 55-42 with 10:32 remaining, but a 9-0 UMBC surge ended the Seawolves’ chances for an upset.

“We share the ball very well and all the credit goes to Jason Greene,” said Proctor.

Senior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added eight points, hitting two of three shots from behind the arc in 14 minutes of action. Senior guard Ricky Lucas led Stony Brook with a game-high 18 points. The Seawolves managed just 35.4 percent shooting (23 of 65) from the field. 

The 22 wins by UMBC is now the second most in the 42-year history of the program, just one behind the 1979-80 squad, which went 23-5.