Box Score College Park, MD – UMBC freshman guard
Ace Valentine scored a career high 15 points, but the visiting Retrievers dropped a 92-68 decision against the Maryland Terrapins, in front of 13,146 fans at the XFINITY Center on Tuesday evening.
Valentine connected on 6-of-8 field goal attempts and scored all 15 of his points in the second stanza. He also pulled down a career best six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Sophomore guard
Dion Brown registered 13 points along with a team high seven caroms while junior guard
Devan Sapp also reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points.
UMBC (3-3), who had won three straight contests, were within striking range as they trailed just 25-18 with 9:33 left in the opening half after Brown converted two free throws, however that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the night.
Maryland (2-3) outscored the Retrievers by a 32-6 margin from that point to grab a 57-24 advantage at halftime and led by as many as 36 points on three different occasions early in the second stanza.
The Retrievers, however, never quit in the second half and outscored the hosts by a 44-35 margin over the final 20 minutes of play. After shooting just 25.7 percent (9-for-35) in the opening half, the Dawgs made 18-of-33 attempts for a 54.5 percent clip in the second stanza. Junior forward
Marlon Short contributed seven points and added four boards in the second half.
The Terrapins, who finished the game with a 45.6 percent shooting mark, never trailed in the contest and outscored UMBC by a 48-30 margin inside the paint. They also enjoyed a 24-6 advantage in points off turnovers. The Retrievers also committed a season high 23 miscues and were outscored by 15 points from the charity stripe.
Graduate student forward
Khydarius Smith (7 points), UMBC's leading scorer entering the contest, played just 12 minutes, and fouled out for the first time this season.
Graduate student guard Jahmir Young paced Maryland with 20 points while junior forward Julian Reese recorded a double-double of 15 points and 13 boards.
UMBC will travel to William & Mary on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
