Vestal, N.Y.-- UMBC men's basketball got a career-high 18 points from R.J. Eytle-Rock (London, England), but the Bearcats won a back-and-forth battle, 79-75 on Wednesday. UMBC held leads late in the half, but could not hold off the Bearcats despite four Retrievers reaching double figures.

The Retrievers fall to 7-10, 0-2 AE while the Bearcats improve to 7-8, 1-1 AE. 

Eytle-Rock led the way with a career-high 18 points on 6-11 shooting. L.J. Owens (Annapolis, Md./Severn School/William & Mary) added 17 with Brandon Horvath (West River, Md./Southern) and Daniel Akin (London, England) adding 16 and 11 respectively. 

Brenton Mills and Sam Sessoms each netted 20 with Mills scoring 22 points and Sessoms adding 20 for the Bearcats.

Binghamton started the second half on a 7-0 spurt that gave them a double-digit lead, but UMBC rattled off five straight to cut into the deficit. That would spark a big 18-2 run over a six-minute stretch that gave UMBC their first lead of the second half.

But as was the story of the game, Binghamton battled back and held the lead for the latter portion of the half. The Retrievers would get to within one late after an Owens floater in the paint, and then again on an Eytle-Rock driving layup. However, the Bearcats would hit free throws late to hold on for a 79-75 win on Wednesday.

The Retrievers scored 48 of their 75 points in the paint, but Binghamton went 18-21 from the charity stripe to hold off the Retrievers.

UMBC would jump out to an early 5-0 lead in the first half after a pair of buckets on their opening two possessions. Binghamton would respond with an 11-2 run to take their first lead of the contest, one of 12 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes. 

Keondre Kennedy (Atlanta, Ga.) gave the Retrievers the lead back thanks to a driving coast-to-coast layup. That was followed by a thunderous dunk from Brandon Horvath who split the defense and drove down the lane for the jam. 

Binghamton would go on an 8-0 spurt to regain the advantage and would hold a 39-32 lead at the break. Horvath led the Retrievers with nine points with Daniel Akin added six points as UMBC shot 48 percent from the floor. The Retrievers scored 26 of their 32 points in the paint in the half.

The Retrievers return action on Saturday when rival Vermont comes to Baltimore. The Retrievers and Catamount get underway at 1 p.m. at the UMBC Event Center. The game will also be UMBC Alumni Day with the 1979-80 team being honored on their 40th anniversary with the best season win percentage in school history. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com.