Baltimore, Md. - UMBC senior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa.) exploded for a career high 36 points, leading the shorthanded Retrievers (11-13, 5-7) to an 81-76 win over visiting New Hampshire (9-14, 4-7) in an America East Conference game played at the RAC Arena.
Greene hit eight consecutive field goals in the second half and finished 12 of 18 from the floor, five of eight from behind the arc and seven of seven from the charity stripe. He tied Brian Hodges for the fourth-most points in a game for a Retriever, as Greene's former teammate had 36 at Morgan State on Nov. 27, 2006.
He also tied Boston Univesity's Corey Lowe for the most points in a game by an America East player this season. Lowe scored 36 vs. Marshall in December.
UMBC senior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md.) added 23 points and posted 10 rebounds to record his eighth double-double of the season.
The Retrievers dressed only seven players, as starting forward Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa.) suffered a knee injury late in the game at Maine on Saturday. In Fry's place, freshman wing Brett Burrier (Westminster, Md.) scored seven points and tied Proctor for team rebounding honors with 10.
New Hampshire was led by guard Alvin Abreu, who led four Wildcats in double figures with 20 points.
The Wildcats led by 32-31 at intermission and extended the advantage to 51-45 with 14:54 remaining. But Greene, who entered the game tenth in the nation in assists, would ignite a 23-4 run, scoring 11 points in the surge. He capped it with a three-point field goal to give UMBC a 68-55 lead with 9:19 remaining.
But UNH fought back, using a barrage of threes to climb within a single point on two occasions. Wildcat forward Radar Ongeutou's putback with 1:40 remaining cut the deficit to 77-76, but Greene hit two free throws 20 seconds later and UNH would misfire on a pair of three-point attempts down the stretch. UMBC wing Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa.) sealed the win with a pair of free throws with 14 seconds remaining.
UMBC travels to Hartford to face the Hawks on Saturday afternoon.
