Albany, N.Y. – UMBC hit 7-of-14 shots from behind the arc, but were outrebounded, 33-21, and fell to league leader Albany, 69-55, at SEFCU Arena.

UMBC (3-17, 1-6 AE) junior post Cody Joyce (Churchton, Md./Southern) led all scorers with 16 points, tallying in double figures for the eighth consecutive game.  

Albany (12-7, 7-0 AE) took command in the first half with a pair of big runs. The Retrievers struck for the first two field goals of the game, but UA went on a 14-0 run to take a 14-4 advantage with 12:11 remaining in the half. UMBC would slice the deficit to 14-11 after back-to-back treys by freshman guard Malcolm Brent (Silver Spring, Md./Northwood), but a subsequent 11-0 response by the hosts gave them a 25-11 advantage with 4:58 to play.

The Danes took a 35-22 lead into halftime, but the Retrievers scored the first six points of the second half to close with 35-28. But UA countered with a 9-0 surge and took control at 44-28 with 15:07 remaining. UMBC outscored Albany by two points in the final 15 minutes, but could not complete a sweep of its two northern trips in a five-day span.

Brent hit 4-of-5 from behind the arc and finished with 12 points. Graduate student guard Wayne Sparrow (Baltimore, Md./St. Frances) added 10 points and freshman guard Jourdan Grant (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) added eight points and a game-high five assists.

UMBC shot a tidy 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the free throw line and were a solid 43.9 percent from the field. Albany opened the second half by hitting 6-of-9 from the floor and finished at 46.9% (23-of-49).

The Retrievers return home briefly and complete the first half of the conference schedule with a contest versus Binghamton on Jan. 28.