Burlington, Vt. – Visiting UMBC clawed back from a 14-point second half deficit and came within 46-44 at the midpoint of the half, but fell to league-leading Vermont, 74-68, at Patrick Gym.
 
Senior forward Yaw Obeng-Mensah recorded his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and adding a career-best 16 rebounds.

Graduate student guard Craig Beaudoin II got off to a hot start and set a new season high with 17 points, hitting 3-of-5 shots from long range. He added five rebounds and three assists.

The Retrievers fell to 14-9 on the campaign and 4-4 in America East play. Vermont improved to 12-10, 6-2.

HOW IT HAPPENED- FIRST HALF

• Beaudoin scored the Retrievers' first seven points as UMBC took an early 11-9 lead at the 15:56 mark.
• Both teams shot over 50 percent in the early going, as the Retrievers hung on to a 17-15 lead with 10:36 remaining.
• Coming out of the media time-out, the Catamounts hit back-to-back treys and the Retrievers misfired on five consecutive field goal attempts, giving the hosts a 21-17 advantage with 7:47 remaining.
• The Retrievers shooting woes persisted, as they missed nine consecutive shots from 3-point range and fell into a 29-21 hole at the 3:36 mark.
• UMBC managed only six points over the final 12:06 of the half and trailed 34-23 at the break.

HOW IT HAPPENED- SECOND HALF

• Vermont built the lead to 40-26 before UMBC responded with a 8-1 run to trim the deficit to 41-34 on Jarvis Doles jumper at the 16:01 mark.
• Graduate student guard Colton Lawrence scored eight points in the first 5:31 of the period,  An Obeng-Mensah layup on dish from Beaudoin extended the run to 15-4 and brought the visitors to within 44-41 just two minutes later.
• Their lead sliced to two points at 46-44, Vermont pushed back with a 20-10 run and led, 66-54, with 3:33 remaining.  

NOTES

• Senior Jacob Boonyasith (13 points) and Lawrence (12 points) also scored in double figures for the Retrievers.
• Obeng-Mensah has averaged 11.5 rebounds per game over his last four outings.
• UMBC and Vermont both struggled from behind the arc, each hitting six treys, but shooting 28.6 percent and 25.0 percent respectively.
• The Retrievers enjoyed a 38-32 advantage on the glass.
• The key stat was points off turnovers as Vermont outscored UMBC, 16-5, and only committed five miscues in the contest.   

The spring semester begins for UMBC students and the Retrievers return home, welcoming Binghamton for the first time this season on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Tip-off time at The Peake is set for 7:00 p.m.