Baltimore - A furious rally by the UMBC men's basketball team short, as the visiting American Eagles defeated the Retrievers, 74-61, in a match-up of two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago.
Both squads are now 5-5 on the season.
Senior forward
Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md.) was UMBC's America East Player of the Game, posting his fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
American's Garrison Carr was brilliant, posting career highs with eight three-point field goals and 34 points.
The visitors surged out to a 16-2 lead in the first 5:30, as Carr scored half of the Eagle points. American built a stunning 32-9 advantage with 6:27 remaining in the half before ending the first
20 minutes with a 39-17 advantage. UMBC hit only six of 22 attempts from the floor in the stanza and were outrebounded, 24-9.
UMBC trailed by as many as 26 points at 45-19 early in the second half before beginning a gritty comeback. Trailing 60-38 with 9:26 remaining, the hosts matched AU's earlier 16-2 run, holding American to no field goals over the next eight and a half minutes.
Junior Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa.), held scoreless in the first half and benched to begin the second stanza, hit for seven straight points to cap the surge and trim the deficit to 62-54 with 3:15 to play. American turned the ball over on their next possession, but Fry's entry pass intended for Proctor was intercepted and Carr buried his final trifecta of the night to restore the Eagle lead to 65-54 with 1:55 remaining.
Senior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa.) hit four three-point field goals en route to a 14-point effort, while junior guard Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa.) added 11 points. UMBC hit 16 of 30 shots from the floor in the second half (53.3 percent).
It was the 33rd time that Proctor has recorded a double-double in 102 collegiate games.
UMBC heads to Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers on Tuesday.
