St. Louis - UMBC senior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md.) scored 29 points, his most ever in a UMBC uniform, but the Retrievers dropped a 81-60 decision at Saint Louis University.
The Retrievers fall to 6-6 overall and now begin America East play with a home date against an improved Stony Brook (6-5) squad on Saturday at the RAC Arena (7:05 p.m.). The Billikens won their sixth straight home game and improved to 8-5 on the year.
Proctor also eclipsed the 1,500-point plateau, as he now has scored 1,522 points in his 104 career games played. He hit 11 of 18 shots from the floor, all seven free throw attempts and corralled a team-high seven rebounds in 39 minutes of action.
But freshman wing Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md.) was the only other Retriever in double figures, as he scored 10 points, but hit just four of 11 from the floor. UMBC made only 21 of 55 attempts from the floor (38.2%) and managed only a season-low seven assists.
The Retrievers led only once at 5-4 two minutes into the contest. Saint Louis, which hit 11 of its first 16 shots from the floor, went on a 16-4 run over the next five and a half minutes to lead 20-9 at the 12:38 mark. The Billikens built the lead to as many as 18 points at 35-17 with four minutes left in the first half, before UMBC whittled it back to 39-26 at intermission.
UMBC tried to rally and got within ten points six times in the first 12 minutes of the second half. But they could never slice the lead to single digits and UMBC's fortune dipped as juniors Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa.) and Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa) fouled out down the stretch.
The Retrievers committed a season-high 23 fouls and the Billikens hit 27 of 40 attempts from the free throw line. UMBC was a tidy 18 of 22 from the stripe and outrebounded SLU, 36-29.
Proctor's career high occurred vs. North Carolina A&T, as he scored 31 points in his sophomore season while playing for Coppin State.
UMBC did not hit a three-point field goal for the first time in 162 games, dating back to a Jan. 27, 2003 game at St. Francis (N.Y.).
