BALTIMORE - UMBC senior wing Keondre Kennedy (Atlanta, Ga.) set a career high with 31 points, leading the Retrievers to a hard-fought 73-69 win over NJIT.

The win gave the Retrievers (8-10, 3-4 America East) back-to-back triumphs for the first time since posting a three-game winning streak from November 23-December 1 and gave them a sweep over the Highlanders (8-10, 3-5 AE).   

Kennedy hit 12-of-16 shots from the floor, 3-of-6 from behind the arc and all four free throw attempts.  The 31 points is the most for a Retriever this season and the most since R.J. Eytle-Rock scored 31 at Vermont in March of 2020.

"I thought that was a really good America East basketball game," said UMBC head coach Jim Ferry. "Give our guys credit, I thought we really stepped up defensively in the second half. We really needed to win a game like that. To be down, to come back, to have to execute in the last two minutes… we were really connected as a group down the stretch. It was really good to see."  

UMBC took their first lead in the second half with 4:48 remaining as senior guard L.J. Owens (Annapolis, Md.)  buried a left corner trey. The Retrievers got back-to-back defensive stops and Owens and Jacob Boonyasith (Grand Rapids, Mich.) hit field goals to extend the lead to 64-59 with 3:45 remaining.

The Highlanders cut the gap to 64-63 and 66-65, but Kennedy and senior guard Darnell Rogers (Baltimore, Md.) responded on each occasion to restore three-point advantages. Rogers long two just beat the shot clock with 53 second remaining.

UMBC converted five-of-six free throws in the final 22 seconds to snap a four-game home slide.

Owens scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, while junior wing Nathan Johnson (Adel, Iowa) posted double figures for the third consecutive game with 10 points.

Kennedy added team bests in rebounds (7) and assists (5) and did not commit a turnover in 37 minutes of action.

Miles Coleman led NJIT with 19 points, but scored only 3 after intermission.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Highlanders hit their first four field goal attempts, including a pair of treys, but UMBC took an early 12-10 lead on a Kennedy trey 4:10 into the contest.
• Kennedy scored eight consecutive points as part of a 10-0 run which gave the Retrievers a 17-10 lead. Szymon Wojcik knocked down a trey to extend UMBC's lead to 23-15 at the 11:34 mark of the period.  
• After Wojcik failed to finish the four-point play opportunity, NJIT went on a 10-2 run to knot the score at 25-all at the 7:34 mark.
• The Highlanders finished the half on a 23-11 run and led, 38-34, at intermission.
• The Retrievers missed their final seven shots of the half from the floor. Kennedy scored 15 first half points, while NJIT's Miles Coleman tallied 16.  
• In the second half, UMBC took a brief 46-45 lead, but a critical 8-0 run by the Highlanders gave them a 53-46 lead at with 12:10 remaining.
• Johnson, who hit a trey in his sixth consecutive game, briefly tied the contest at 55-all with 8:08 to play, but NJIT matched his trey on the next possession. The Highlanders held that lead until Owens' go-ahead basket.   
• Wojcik and Yaw Obeng-Mensah, UMBC's lone available low-post players, each picked up two early fouls, leaving the Retrievers with a small lineup for large portions of the game.

 
NOTES

• NJIT converted eight of their first 11 attempts from three-point range, but misfired on seven of their final eight attempts.     
• After nine setbacks, the Retrievers won for the first time this season when trailing at halftime.
• UMBC led for 45.8 percent of the game, while NJIT was in front for 43.8 percent of the time.  

UMBC heads to New York for a pair of games, staring with a Saturday 2:00 p.m. matinee at Binghamton.