Box Score

Baltimore, MD - UMBC sophomore guard Dion Brown scored 16 points to pace four players in double-figures but the Retrievers fell to the Morgan State Bears, 92-80, on Wednesday evening at Hill Field House.
 
Brown converted 6-of-10 field goals and grabbed five boards in just 23 minutes as he was in foul trouble early in the game.  Junior guard Marcus Banks Jr. splashed 3-of-7 triples en route to 13 points, while junior guard Bryce Johnson (12 points) and graduate student forward Khydarius Smith (11 points, three blocks) were also in double-figures in scoring.  Freshman guard Ace Valentine registered a career high nine rebounds and five assists in his second straight start.
 
Guard Wynston Hobbs scored a game-high 38 points on 13-of-21 shooting for Morgan State. The senior made 6-of-10 treys and converted all six of his free throw attempts. Junior forward Will Thomas added 23 points off the bench while junior forward Allen Udemadu contributed a double-double of 10 points and 13 caroms.
 
UMBC jumped out to a solid start as they hit four of their first six shots and held a 10-4 advantage at the 16:13 mark.
 
The Bears responded with a 10-2 run to take their first lead, 14-12, with 13:05 left in the stanza. Tabbs scored nine of his 22 first-half points during the spurt.
 
The Retrievers led 23-18 after sophomore guard Devan Sapp splashed a trey at the 9:06 mark but the game would be tied four more times, the last instance coming at 30-30 with 5:15 remaining in the half.
 
Morgan State took the lead for good at 36-30 on back-to-back triples from junior guard Kamron Hobbs and Tabbs.  The Bears settled for a 41-36 lead at intermission.

The hosts built their first double-digit lead of the contest at 64-53 with 11:13 remaining as the Bears went on an 8-2 spurt after the Retrievers were within 56-51 after a layup by freshman guard Alpha Chibambe.
 
The Retrievers managed to close within 65-57 at the 9:56 mark after a free throw by freshman guard Franck Emmou but that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the contest. The Bears went on an 11-2 run to widen their lead to 17 points, 76-59, at the 7:15 mark. Tabbs ignited the stretch with a layup and capped it with a trey. Thomas had the other five points for the Bears during the run.
 
UMBC scored the next bucket on a layup by Johnson, however, Thomas converted four straight free throws after UMBC head coach Jim Ferry was ejected from the game after being whistled for two technical fouls with 6:52 left. A three-pointer by Tabbs at the 6:17 mark would then give the hosts their largest lead of the night, 83-63.

The Retrievers dropped to 5-6 while the hosts improved to 3-8.

UMBC shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65) overall, hit 7-of-21 (33.3 percent) treys, and made 15-of-22 (68.2 percent) of their free throws.  Morgan State went 31-of-69 (44.9 percent) overall, made 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) long-range shots, and swished 22-of-26 (84.6 percent) from the line. Ther Bears held a 43-39 advantage on the boards.

The Dawgs will host Towson on Saturday afternoon at the Peake.