Box Score Box Score

Washington (D.C.) – The UMBC men's basketball team led the Georgetown Hoyas for a good portion of the first half but eventually fell, 79-70, on Saturday afternoon at the Capital One Arena.
 
Junior guard Matteo Picarelli scored 11 of his team-high 19 points in the second half to keep the Retrievers (3-4) within striking range. All of Picarelli's field goal attempts came from long-distance as the sharpshooter went 5-for-10 on the day and also hit 4-of-6 from the charity stripe. Graduate student Colton Lawrence added 17 points and corralled a season-high eight rebounds. Graduate student Jarvis Doles made his first start as a Retriever and finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
Georgetown (4-3) was led by junior guard Jay Heath, who poured in 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including 5-for-6 from behind the arc. Sophomore guard Primo Spears contributed 20 points and six boards.
 
How It Happened (First Half)
- The Retrievers got off to a terrific start as they ran out to a 9-2 lead at the 16:20 mark of the first half. Graduate student Craig Beaudion II came up with a pair of fast-break layups off steals and Lawrence drilled a trey and a pull-up jumper.
- Heath splashed a triple for the hosts to bring the Hoyas within 12-9 at the 14:05 mark, however UMBC went on a 7-2 run to take their largest lead of the game at 19-11 with 12:51 left in the stanza. Picarelli converted a pair from the foul line and then splashed a 3 to cap the stretch that opened with a driving layup by senior forward Yaw Obeng-Mensah.
- The visitors still led by eight, 27-19, with 10:47 left after a jumper by Lawrence but the Hoyas answered with a 7-1 spurt to close within 28-26 at the 8:59 mark. Spears capped the stretch with a step back jumper.
- UMBC extended their lead to 32-27 after field goals by Doles and Mensah but the hosts were able to even the game at 32 with just under six minutes left.
- Freshman guard Mason Docks gave UMBC their final lead of the game at 36-35 after converting a driving layup with 4:02 on the clock.
- Doles hit a pair from the line with six seconds left to get UMBC even at the half, 42-42.
 
How It Happened (Second Half)
- The Retrievers misfired on their first 13 shots of the stanza as Georgetown scored the first 16 points to grab a 58-42 advantage with 14:25 left.
- UMBC rattled off seven consecutive points to whittle the lead back to single-digits at 58-49 at the 11:01 mark. Picarelli hit two free throws, sophomore guard Devan Sapp swished a trey and Lawrence connected on a jumper.
- The Hoyas answered with a 13-5 burst to stretch their lead to 71-54 with just 5:49 left but UMBC did not go away easily.
- Trailing 73-57, the Retrievers ran off 11 consecutive points to trim the deficit to 73-68 with fifty seconds on the clock. Picarelli drilled three bombs during the stretch.
- UMBC still trailed 75-70 after a follow-up layup by Sapp with thirty-four ticks remaining, but the Hoyas broke the press for a dunk and made two free throws to ice the contest.

Notes
- Picarelli is averaging 19.0 ppg. over his last four contests, all off the bench. He's hit five treys in four straight games and is 20-36 (56 percent) from behind the arc during the stretch.
- Lawrence has scored in double-figures in all seven contests this season.
- Doles is averaging 11.5 points and 6.3 rebounds over his last four contests and earned his first start of the season today.

Up Next
The Retrievers will host Coppin State on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m at "The Peak".