Newark, NJ – UMBC senior forward Yaw Obeng-Mensah scored a game-high 19 points but the Retrievers dropped a heartbreaker against the NJIT Highlanders, falling 69-65 at the NJIT Wellness and Events Center on Wednesday evening.
 
After trailing 38-26 at the half, UMBC (14-8, 4-3 America East) outscored the hosts by a 14-1 margin and led 40-39 with 16:40 left in the contest. The game went back-and-forth and the Retrievers had an opportunity to go ahead in the closing seconds but could not do so.
 
NJIT (6-14, 3-4 AE) guard Mekhi Gray scored on a driving layup with 3.7 seconds left to break a 65-65 deadlock and the hosts held on for the victory.
 
Mensah converted 9-of-14 field goal attempts and scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half. Graduate student forward Jarvis Doles added nine points and a team-high nine rebounds while also coming up with a season-high three rejections.

Gray paced the Highlanders with 18 points and added seven boards. 
 
How It Happened (First Half)
-The Retrievers jumped out to a 13-5 lead at the 12:26 mark after a driving layup by senior wing Jacob Boonyasith.
- The Highlanders answered with a 19-4 burst to move ahead by a 24-17 margin with 6:38 left in the stanza.
- UMBC was within 27-23 after a jumper by Doles with five minutes left but the hosts finished the half on a 11-3 run to take their largest lead of the game, 38-26, at the break.
- The Highlanders knocked down 7-of-13 3-pointers for a 53.1 percent clip in the half.
 
How It Happened (Second Half)
- UMBC quickly erased their 12-point deficit by opening the final half with a 14-1 burst over the first 3:20. Obeng-Mensah scored eight points, including a fast-break dunk that gave the visitors a 40-39 edge.
- The Retrievers took their largest lead of the second half at 47-43 after graduate student guard Colton Lawrence second chance layup with 10:42 left.
- The visitors took their final lead of the game at 58-56 after Obeng-Mensah's jump hook in the paint with 4:47 left.
- NJIT answered with a 9-4 spurt to claim a 65-62 lead with 2:13 remaining as guard Adam Hess (13 points) delivered a trey to break the deadlock.
- UMBC got the equalizer when Boonyasith swished a right-wing triple with 1:12 left.
- The Retrievers managed to force a turnover on the next possession and had an opportunity to go-ahead after an official review. Boonyasith, however, misfired on a jumper in the lane with 14 seconds left.
- NJIT called a timeout and set up the game-winning play as Gray converted the driving layup with 3.7 ticks left.
- UMBC then threw the full-court inbounds pass out of bounds and NJIT iced the game with a pair of free throws with two seconds left.

Notes
- UMBC shot 44.4 percent overall (28-for-63) and were 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) from behind the arc.
- NJIT hit 27-of-60 (45 percent) and went 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from distance.
- UMBC held a 46-30 advantage in points inside the paint.
- The Highlanders held a 42-33 advantage on the boards.
- The Retrievers went just 4-for-12 from the free throw line while the hosts were 6-for-8.
- Graduate student guard Craig Beaudion II recorded two steals and surpassed 100 for his career.
- Boonyasith splashed his 150th career trey.
- UMBC entered the game 9-0 when holding their opponent under 70 points.
 
Up Next
UMBC will travel to Vermont on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.