BALTIIMORE – UMBC junior guard K.J. Jackson (Houston, Texas) stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high 20 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists, leading the Retrievers (2-1) to a 75-52 victory over Manhattan (0-2) at the UMBC Event Center.

Jackson led four Retrievers in double figures, including junior forward Arkel Lamar (Bridgeport, Conn.), who scored 15 points and added five steals.

Manhattan reserve freshman guard Elijah Buchanan was the lone Jasper in double figures with 10 points.   

The Retrievers missed their first five shots from the floor, but did not miss many after that, knocking down 15-of-21 over16 minutes of the half. The onslaught was led by Jackson, who swished all four of his attempts from long range and Lamar who converted 4-fo-5 from the floor, including both of his long range attempts.

The half was marked by two big runs. UMBC was first, extending a 23-18 advantage to 37-18 by virtue of  a 14-0 surge which ended at the 3:50 mark of the half. Then, Manhattan used its pressure defense to score 12 of the game's next 15 and go into the half trailing only, 40-30.

The Retrievers opened the second half on a 13-2 run to lead 53-32 with 15:28 remaining and the lead never dipped below 17 points the rest of the way. Jackson opened the half by converting a pair of drives, and junior guard Ricky Council II (Durham, N.C.) added a pair of treys to key the surge.

Graduate student forward Joe Sherburne (Whitefish Bay, Wisc.) added 15 points and sophomore forward Brandon Horvath (West River, Md.) added 11 points and six caroms.

UMBC converted 13-of-29 shots (44.8 percent) from behind the arc and 26-of-53 (49.1 percent) overall. After committing 13 miscues in the first half, the hosts cut back to just five in the final 20 minutes.

Jackson, who hit 7-of-10 from the floor on the night, is now 7-of-13 from long range in his first three NCAA Division I contests.  

UMBC improved to 30-7 at home under head coach Ryan Odom.

UMBC departs for the Bahamas and the Bimini Jam on Wednesday. The Retrievers open the three-game tournament by taking on Air Force on Friday, Nov. 16 at 3:30 p.m.