West Hartford, Conn.-- Sophomore R.J. Eytle-Rock (London, England) recorded a career-high 19 points adding seven rebounds and seven assists, as UMBC snaps a four-game losing streak, 69-60 against Hartford on Wednesday night. UMBC used a big 22-1 run over an 11-minute stretch to take the lead and help fuel them to victory. 

The Retrievers improve to 8-12, 1-4 AE on the year while Hartford falls to 10-10 3-2 AE.

Eytle-Rock led all scorers with a career-high 19 points, adding seven rebounds and seven assists. K.J. Jackson (Missouri City, Texas) added 16 points and six rebounds with Dimitrije Spasojevic (Vrsac, Serbia) chipping in 12 points and five boards.

Moses Flowers led the Hawks with 17 points going 4-8 from three. Traci Carter chipped in 13 points in the loss.

UMBC picked up right where they left off in the first half, extending their run to 25-4 over a 13-minute stretch to take their first lead since the first possession of the game, 39-35.

Eytle-Rock took over from there, extending the lead to six after a steal and splitting two defenders with a behind-the-back move for the bucket. That steal helped spark a 12-0 run that gave the Retrievers a double-digit lead.

However, the Hawks never quit, tying the game at 45 midway through. Hartford would temporarily take the lead 50-49 with five minutes to go, but the Retrievers took the lead and never looked back. UMBC would knock down their free throws late in a 69-60 win.

Hartford used an 18-3 spurt early in the game to take a big lead, as many as 17, but the streak would end with a Spasojevic reverse layup. That helped spark an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits thanks to a pair of Spasojevic buckets and a big three from Ricky Council II (Durham, N.C.). Another 8-0 spurt to end the half over the last 3:55 of the half-cut a 17 points deficit to just three at the half. Spasojevic led the way, connecting on five of his last six shots of the half trailing 34-31. 

Jackson and Spasojevic each had ten points in the open half with 18 of the team's 31 points in the paint.

The Retrievers will return home on Saturday, Jan. 25 to take on Maine at 1 p.m. The game will be the team's Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers game. The UMBC coaching staff will be wearing sneakers on the sideline to support and promote awareness for cancer prevention efforts.