Owens Leads Three in Double Figures with 17 Points; UMBC Defeats UNH, 69-54

Box Score

Durham, N.H.-- Junior guard L.J. Owens (Annapolis, Md./Severn School/William & Mary) led three in double figures with 17 points as UMBC men's basketball returned to their winning ways, 69-54 in game one at UNH on Saturday afternoon. The Retrievers used a strong defensive effort and a balanced attack in the win.

UMBC improves to 8-2, 4-1 AE on the year, while the Wildcats fall to 4-4, 3-2 AE.

Owens led three Retrievers in double figures with 17 points. Senior Brandon Horvath (West River, Md./Southern) added 13 points and R.J. Eytle-Rock (London, England) chipped in 11 points in the victory.

Blondeau Tchoukuiengo was the lone Wildcat in double figures with 10 points. Qon Murphy added nine points and Jayden Martinez added eight in the loss.

The Retrievers jumped out early to an 8-0 lead getting six points from Dimitrije Spasojevic (Vrsac, Serbia). That would extend to an 11-2 lead after an Owens three early. A pair of and one's from Horvath and Owens kept the lead at double digits as the UMBC offense was rolling early on.

However, it was the Retriever defense that kept them in front from the opening tip, holding New Hampshire to under 35 percent from the floor in the first half. Owens drilled a three at the buzzer to send the Retrievers into the locker room up 38-26. Owens netted 12 first-half points with Spasojevic adding eight. UMBC had 18 of their 38 points in the paint.

The Retrievers picked up where they left off in the first half racing out to a 15 point lead after a tough Eytle-Rock turnaround in the paint just minutes into the half. That lead would jump to 20 after Szymon Wojcik (Wroclaw, Poland) nailed a corner triple for his first field goal as a Retriever.

UNH would cut into the deficit late, but it was all Retrievers in a 69-54 win on Saturday. Keondre Kennedy (Atlanta, Ga.) led the Retrievers with a career-best 10 rebounds as the Retrievers finished shooting 38 percent from the floor and going 18-19 from the foul line.

UMBC and UNH conclude their series tomorrow with a noon tip-off on ESPN 3.

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