Vestal, N.Y.- UMBC held host Binghamton to 34 percent shooting
and defeated the Bearcats, 70-56, at the BU Events Center.
UMBC sophomore forward Chase
Plummer (Plainview, N.J.) led all scorers with 15 points,
scoring 12 in the second half as the Retrievers broke the game
open. Freshman guard Joey
Getz (Philadelphia, Pa.) added a season-high 12 points and
sophomore wing Jamar
Wertz(Suffolk, Va.) added 10.
Plummer, UMBC's America East Player of the Game, has scored in
double figures for a career-best ninth consecutive game.
Binghamton guard Jimmy Gray led his side with 13 points.
Both teams started out quickly, as Binghamton sprung to a 15-14
lead at the 10:34 mark of the first half. UMBC would then go on a
7-0 surge, capped by a Chase Plummer trey and took a
22-16 advantage with 7:53 to play in the stanza. But the Retrievers
would not score in the final 6:17 of the half after a Jamar
Wertz (Suffolk, Va.) gave the visitors a 24-18 lead.
Binghamton scored just one field goal and UMBC maintained a 24-20
advantage at the break.
The Bearcats cut the deficit to 28-26 on a Gray 3-point field
goal five minutes into the half. But Retriever junior guard Brian
Neller (Red Bank, N.J.) countered with his lone trey of
the night 19 seconds later, triggering a 13-5 run, which gave the
visitors a 42-31 advantage with 9:37 to play.
Binghamton could get no closer than eight points the rest of the
way. The outcome was still in doubt when Wertz hit a baseline trey
to extend a ten-point margin to 55-42 with 2:11 remaining.
UMBC (4-22, 3-11) would lead by as many as 21 points at 65-44
with 70 seconds left, but missed seven of 12 free throws down the
stretch. Nevertheless, the Retrievers came away with their largest
margin of victory since late in the 2009-10 season.
The Retrievers allowed their fewest points during the campaign
and snapped a seven-game losing streak overall and a five-game
slide at the Events Center.
Freshman forward Chandler
Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind.) led UMBC with eight rebounds and
scored eight points. UMBC outrebounded the Bearcats, 43-36 and
outscored the hosts, 32-18, in the paint.
UMBC heads back to New York on Friday and they will face
Canisius in the Sears BracketBuster series on Saturday
afternoon.
