Washington, D.C. – UMBC ended its five-game road swing with a tough 55-47 loss at American.

The Retrievers held the host Eagles to a single 3-point field goal in 20 attempts, but could not overcome 25 turnovers at Bender Arena.

Graduate student Onome-Juliet Esadah (Warri, Delta State, Nigeria) led the visitors with 14 points. Graduate student Danae Marquez (Fresno, Calif.), who scored eight points, hit a pair of treys and keyed a late UMBC rally which cut a 10-point deficit to 51-47 with 3:38 remaining.  

HOW IT HAPPENED
·       1Q – UMBC used a 6-0 run in the middle of the quarter to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 12-7 advantage and settled for a 14-12 advantage after 10 minutes. The Retrievers converted 7-of-15 shots from the floor, while the Eagles knocked down only 3-of-14.
·       2Q – An Esadah driving layup with 2:24 to play in the period extended UMBC's lead to a game-high seven at 27-20. But American scored the final five points of the half to trim UMBC's lead to 27-25 at the break. Esadah lead all scorers with 12 points, hitting 6-of-7 shots from the floor.  The Retrievers held AU to 1/14 shooting from behind the arc.
·       3Q - American outscored UMBC, 17-7, in the period and took a 42-34 advantage after 30 minutes.
·       4Q – UMBC trailed, 50-40, but cut the deficit to 51-47 on a field goal and follow-up trey by Danae Marquez with 3:38 remaining. The Retrievers had three chances down the stretch to make it a one-possession game, but could not convert and American scored a pair of field goals in the final 90 seconds to finalize the scoring.

The five-game road trip is in the rear view mirror and the Retrievers return home to face St. Francis- Brooklyn on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 1:00 p.m.