Hampton, Va. – UMBC sophomore
Dion Brown scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half as the visiting Retrievers rallied for an 80-76 victory over the Hampton Pirates on Monday evening at the Convocation Center.
Brown hit 6-of-10 shots in the second half after going just 1-for-5 in the first stanza. The guard also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds and added two steals. Junior guard
Marcus Banks Jr. also enjoyed a huge second half as he scored all 14 of his points in the period. Junior forward
Marlon Short (7 rebounds) added 13 points, his Retrievers' high, on 6-of-8 shooting and junior guard
Bryce Johnson was also in double-figures with 10 points.
UMBC (4-4) trailed by as many as seven points in the first half and went to the locker room down 32-26 after shooting just 30.6 percent overall in the opening stanza.
The visitors evened the game at the 14:51 mark, 38-38, as they went on a 12-6 run to open the second half. Brown scored eight points during the key stretch for the Retrievers.
The game was still even at 48-48 midway through the stanza after Banks completed a fast break with a triple.
The Retrievers took their first lead of the contest at 55-54 after Brown completed a conventional three-point play with 7:39 left. Junior guard
Devan Sapp followed with a fast break bucket and then Brown capitalized off a turnover to make it 59-54 with 6:43 remaining.
Hampton responded with seven consecutive points to reclaim a 61-59 edge at the 5:32 mark.
The game went back-and-forth and was tied for the final time at 70-70 with 1:51 left after a driving layup by Hampton's Tedrick Wilcox.
Banks gave UMBC the lead for good at 72-70 after two free throws with 1:35 remaining.
Leading 74-71 with forty-two ticks left, UMBC drew an offensive foul on Wilcox and then made six consecutive free throws to ice the game down the stretch.
The Retrievers, who made just 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) treys, converted 27-of-64 field goal attempts for a 42.2 percent rate. They also went 20-for-27 (74 percent) from the charity stripe. The Dawgs turned things around in the second half as they made 16-of-28 shots for a 57.1 percent clip.
Hampton (2-5) was led by Khrese Mullen's double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. Wilcox added 17 points while Tristan Maxwell produced 13 points and six rebounds.
The Pirates shot 46 percent overall (29-of-63), made just 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) from deep, and were 16-for-22 (72.7 percent) from the foul line.
The Retrievers will travel to local rival Coppin State on Thursday evening.
