BALTIMORE- UMBC sprinted out to a 23-9 lead, but could not hold
off visiting Albany and the Great Danes came away with an 89-72
America East Conference victory over the Retrievers.
UMBC forward Chase
Plummer (Plainfield, N.J.) posted a career high in scoring
for the second consecutive night. After tallying 23 points in the
82-76 win at New Hampshire on Monday, the sophomore led all scorers
with 25 points, despite fouling out in 20 minutes of action. He was
UMBC's America East Player of the Game.
Albany (10-6, 2-0) won for the fifth time in their last six
outings. Their three starting junior guards- Mike
Black, Logan Aronhalt and Gerardo Suero- all tallied 22
points. Aronhalt, who now has 69 points in his last three games vs.
UMBC, was the Danes' America East Player of the Game.
UMBC hit four of its first five shots and took a 10-0 lead only
1:36 into the proceedings. Junior guard Brian
Neller (Red Bank, N.J.) hit his second trifecta of the
night to increase the margin to 23-9 just 6:01 into the contest
.
But the Retrievers were whistled for 16 fouls in the final 13:30
of the half and Albany made a portion of its run by converting 15
of 20 free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes. The
Great Danes took their first lead of the night at 39-37 on a pair
of Black free throws with 4:14 to play in the half and outscored
UMBC, 31-10 over the last 10 minutes of the half to take a 51-40
lead at intermission.
Albany scored the first two field goals of the second half, but
UMBC countered with a 7-0 run to get within 55-47 with 17:52
remaining. After Retriever senior center Jake
Wasco (Philadelphia, Pa.) hit a layup to keep UMBC within
eight points at 61-53 with 14:31 to play, Albany's Suero scored six
points in an 8-0 run to put the visitors in control at 69-53 just
three minutes later.
UMBC (2-12, 1-1) could not get within single digits in the final
14:20 of play.
Wasco scored 12 points- scoring in double figures in
back-to-back games for the first time in his career, and junior
forward Adrian
Satchell (Windsor, Conn.) came off the bench to hit 5-of-7
shots in a 10-point effort.
UMBC hit 50 percent of better in both halves, finishing 28-of-54
(51.9 percent), while Albany was 26-of-54. Both teams hit seven
treys, but the visitors were 30-of-40 from the stripe, while UMBC
struggled to a 9-of-17 evening.
The Retrievers had outrebounded 10 of its first 13 foes, but
Albany outboarded their hosts, 39-26, and outscored UMBC, 18-8, in
second chance opportunities.
UMBC, the lone league team to play three times in the first six
days of America East play, board a plane Friday morning for a
Saturday afternoon tilt at Maine. The Black Bears (7-5,
1-0) won their opener at Binghamton on Monday and did not play a
mid-week tilt.
