UMBC

Washington, D.C.-UMBC sophomore guard Chris De La Rosa’s (Washington Heights, N.Y.) left elbow jumper with 1.9 seconds remaining broke a 57-all tie and gave the Retrievers a 59-57 victory at American.

Sophomore wing Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md./Hammond) led all scorers with 17 points, leading four Retrievers in double figures. Junior post Robbie Jackson (Aberdeen, Md.) posted his second double-double of the season with 12 points and ten rebounds. De La Rosa added 11 points, five assists and committed no turnovers in 34 minutes and senior forward Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa.) contributed 10 points.

The Eagles (2-9) were coming off a 62-57 win at De Paul on Wednesday. The game was originally scheduled to be played on Saturday, but 20 inches of snow in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area forced a one-day postponement.

Trailing 32-25 at halftime, UMBC scored the first 13 points of the second half to take a 38-32 lead with 15:08 remaining. Gilliam scored seven points during that run. The Retrievers led, 53-47, but American went on a 6-0 run to tie the game at 53-all with 2:56 to play. UMBC took two-point leads on field goals by Gilliam and Spadafora , but American countered with four free throws, the final two by Simon McCormick tying the score at 57-all with 37 seconds remaining.

The Retrievers ran the shot clock down and De La Rosa pulled up on a drive and buried the jumper. After a time-out, a long inbounds pass by the Eagles was picked off by Spadafora.

After falling behind, 14-2, to start the game, UMBC rallied and cut the deficit to 20-18 on a driving layup by De La Rosa with 5:34 remaining in the half. But AU scored just before the halftime horn to take a 32-25 lead at intermission.

UMBC hit 14 of 29 shots from the floor in the second half and finished at 42.4 percent for the game. The Retrievers committed only three second half turnovers (eight for the game) and forced 10 second-half Eagle miscues.

American shot only 35.2 percent from the floor for the contest. Gilliam scored 12 of his 17 points in the final 20 minutes.

The win snapped the Retrievers (1-9) losing streak at ten straight, dating back to last season’s America East Championship game setback at Binghamton.