South Orange, N.J.-  In their final dual meet of the campaign, the UMBC men's swimming and diving squads dropped a 162-136 decision at Seton Hall on the Pirates' Senior Day.

UMBC did not earn gold in the first five events of the program, but then rallied to capture first-place finishes in five of the next eight swimming events.

The meet was the Retrievers' first outside competition since Dec. 3-5 when they cruised to a big victory the ECAC Championships.

"Today was a tough meet against a great opponent," said Head Coach Matt Donovan. "It was exciting to see the team race after a long layoff.  I enjoyed watching our team put up a great fight all day long.  We are positioned well moving forward and we are excited for the post season run."

Sophomore Daniel Nicusan (Santana de Mures, Romania) and junior Gabe Laracuente (Gaithersburg, Md.) highlighted the prolonged four-hour meet for the Retrievers. Nicusan won the 200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley events and placed second in the 100 breaststroke. From lane seven, Laracuente captured the 50 freestyle and then came back later to win the 100 butterfly.

Senior Matthew Bennici (Walkersville, Md.) kick-started the UMBC rally, coming from off the pace in the final 50 yards to win the 200 butterfly.   

Graduate student Kai Wisner (Syracuse, N.Y.) and junior Niklas Weigelt (Clayton, Calif.) earned silvers in the 1000 and 100 freestyles respectively.

UMBC will compete in the Navy Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 29 in their final preparation for the America East Championships.