Baltimore – UMBC sophomore guard
Dion Brown and junior guard
Bryce Johnson combined for 49 points as the host Retrievers held off the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, 92-87, Saturday afternoon at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Brown drilled 10-of-16 field goal attempts and added eight rebounds while Johnson (season-high five assists, three steals) poured in a season-high 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Freshman guard
Franck Emmou (12 points) and graduate student forward
Khydarius Smith (10 points, game-high nine rebounds) were also in double-figures.
UMBC (5-5), who improved to 4-1 at home this season, trailed 14-7 at the 15:24 mark but scored eight straight to grab their first lead at 15-14 after freshman guard
Ace Valentine completed a four-point play with 13:16 left.
The Retrievers still led by just one point, 31-30, after a layup by Lehigh junior guard Tyler Whitney-Sidney at the 7:13 mark, however the hosts ripped off eight straight points to grab their largest lead of the half, 39-30, with 4:09 left in the stanza. Brown ignited the run with a layup and then Valentine finished a fast break off a turnover, which forced the visitors into taking a timeout. Brown then made a jumper in the paint and Johnson turned a steal by freshman guard
Alpha Chibambe into another layup.
Lehigh (1-7) managed to trim the deficit to five at the half, 45-40, after a field goal by forward Burke Chebuhar just before the break.
The hosts would take their largest lead of the game at 69-59 with 8:54 remaining in the second half after junior guard
Marcus Banks Jr. came up with a steal and a trey.
The Mountain Hawks, however, responded with a 12-1 burst to even the contest at 71-71 at the 6:48 mark. Whitney-Sidney, who scored eight points during the stretch, splashed a trifecta to cap the run.
Johnson gave the Retrievers some breathing room with a 3-pointer to make it 80-76 with 5:18 remaining, but Whitney-Smith (24 points) hit another trey and then made one of two from the line to knot the score for the final time at 80-80 with 3:59 on the clock.
Brown gave UMBC the lead for good, 82-80, on a second chance jumper in the paint. Smith then followed with a jumper in the paint to make it 84-80 with 2:44 left.
The visitors were within 86-84 after a jumper by forward Bube Momah (18 points) with 1:59 left but that was as close as they would get. Brown stuck a jumper with 1:05 left and Keith Higgins Jr. (18 points) misfired on a jumper with forty-eight ticks left. Johnson grabbed the rebound and then made two free throws to widen the lead to 90-84 with just thirty-seven seconds left.
Lehigh made one last push as Sinclair sliced the lead in half, 90-87, with a triple with twenty-four ticks left. However, Brown was fouled and made two free throws to extend the lead to 92-87 and the visitors were unable to score again.
UMBC shot a season-high 54.2 percent overall as they made 32-of-59 shots, including 9-of-21 treys (42.9 percent). The Retrievers also converted 19-of-22 free throws for a season-high 86.4 percent clip.
Lehigh shot 47.8 percent (33-of-69) overall and were 9-for-26 (34.6 percent) from deep. They also made 12-of-16 free throws for a 75 percent rate.
The Retrievers will travel to local rival Morgan State on Wednesday evening.
