BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's basketball team ran its season-best winning streak to five games in a dazzling 88-77 victory over New Hampshire at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
The Retrievers improved to 11-10 overall and 6-4 in America East play, while UNH slipped to 9-9, 4-5.
UMBC hit 64.7 percent from the floor (33-of-51) and 56.0 percent from 3-point range (14-of-25). Five Retrievers finished in double figures, led by senior guard L.J Owens (Annapolis, Md.), who tallied a season high 19 points.
"We really shared the ball well tonight with 16 assists and we really shot the ball well," said head coach
Jim Ferry. "Give them (UNH) credit for making an adjustment, but our guys really hung tough… We kept fighting, we kept grinding… its's a credit to the guys to keep fighting."
Junior guard
Nathan Johnson (Adel, Iowa) added 16 points and converted all four of his shots from behind the arc. Senior guard
Darnell Rogers (Baltimore, Md.) contributed 10 of UMBC's 16 assists, matching his career high in helpers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Retrievers got off to a sizzling start from the floor and maintained the range throughout the first 20 minutes. UMBC hit 21-of-29 shots from the floor (72.4 percent) and buried 9-of-15 from behind the arc.
- When senior guard Keondre Kennedy (Atlanta, Ga.) knocked down a trey, UMBC had grabbed a 14-2 lead just 2:45 into the contest.
- A Jacob Boonyasith (Grand Rapids, Mich.) three-pointer extended the margin to 26-8 at the 12:24 mark of the period.
- The Wildcats whittled the margin to 42-33 with 2:02 to play in the half, but UMBC scored the final nine points of the period and led, 51-33 at the break.
- UMBC briefly extended the lead to 20 points after junior Yaw Obeng-Mensah (Toronto, Ont.) opened the half with a dunk, but UNH hit back-to-back treys moments later to trim the deficit to 58-46 at the 16:07 mark.
- The Wildcats stayed hot and closed to within 69-61 at the 11:05 mark of the second half.
- Johnson hit his first six field goal attempts, including all four treys, before missing midway through the second half. He finished six-of-eight from the floor in 38 minutes.
- UNH continued to stay within range, cutting the gap to 82-73 with 2:58, but a trey at the end of the shot clock by Owens with 1:49 remaining extended the lead to 85-73.
UMBC's 14 treys made were the most since hitting 16 in that aforementioned game versus American.
The 51 first half points was the Retrievers' most in a half since a 53-point second half versus American on Nov. 23.
Obeng-Mensah and Kennedy each scored 12 points for UMBC, while
Szymon Wojcik (Wroclaw, Poland) added 11 points.
The Retrievers continue the homestand by welcoming Hartford on Wednesday evening.
