BALTIMORE – Graduate student forward
Khydarius Smith led five UMBC players in double-figures with 15 points as the Retrievers defeated the Penn State-York Nittany Lions, 84-65, on Tuesday evening at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Smith converted 7-of-10 field goals and threw down three dunks in 15 minutes off the bench. Reserve freshman guard
Franck Emmou put forth a stellar all-around performance as he recorded career highs with 13 points, five rebounds, and four assists in 15 minutes. Junior guard
Marcus Banks Jr. (13 points), freshman guard
Ace Valentine (12 points) and junior guard
Bryce Johnson (10) also produced double-figures.
UMBC (1-2) trailed 23-21 with 3:26 left in the opening stanza but outscored the Nittany Lions by an 11-1 margin to grab a 32-24 lead at the break.
The Retrievers led 48-41 at the 12:26 mark of the second half but ripped off seven straight points to grab their largest lead to that point at 55-41. Emmou ignited the run with a triple from the top of the key and then junior forward
Marlon Short and Smith recorded back-to-back jams.
UMBC stretched their lead to 64-47 after a driving dunk by freshman guard
Alpha Chibambe with 7:53 left, however, the visitors scored nine straight points to trim the deficit to 64-56 with 6:08 remaining.
The Dawgs held off Penn State-York from there as they rattled off the next seven points to grab a 71-56 advantage at the 4:44 mark. Sophomore forward
Regimantas Ciunys opened the stretch with a put back layup, freshman guard
Ashton Reese knocked down a trifecta, and Valentine finished things off with a breakaway dunk.
The Retrievers outscored the visitors by a 42-28 margin inside the paint and scored 22 points off 18 turnovers.
UMBC finished 31-of-62 from the floor and were 9-of-18 from behind the arc. The Retrievers made just 13-of-26 free throws.
Senior forward Deriq Brown scored a game high 25 points for the Nittany Lions (4-1) as he converted 9-of-18 field goal attempts, including 5-of-7 treys. Sophomore guard Quentin Wells added 13 points and four assists.
Penn State-York (4-1) made 21-of-54 (38.9 percent) field goal attempts, were 5-for-13 (38.5 percent) from 3-point land, and made 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) shots from the charity stripe.
The Retrievers will host Sacred Heart on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m.
