BALTIMORE – UMBC men's basketball flexed its defensive muscle, holding Binghamton to an opponent season low 55 points in a 69-55 victory before 2,880 fans at The Peake on Wednesday evening.
Senior guard Jacob Boonyasith scored all 15 of his team-high points in the first half as the Retrievers took a 43-28 lead at the break.

Junior guard Matteo Picarelli added a dozen points and hit three treys for UMBC (15-9, 5-4 America East), which snapped a two-game slide.

Binghamton's Armon Harried led all players with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  

"It was one of our best defensive efforts all year," said Head Coach Jim Ferry. "It's something we've been making a major emphasis on. We haven't been defending at the highest level, but I thought today we really bought into the game plan and frustrated them."

A combination of man-to-man defense early and zone late held the Bearcats to 1-of-14 shooting from behind the arc.

HOW IT HAPPENED – FIRST HALF
·       The half featured five ties in first 10 minutes
·       Boonyasith drained a trey to snap a 17-17 deadlock and opened up a 16-1 run, giving the Retrievers a 33-18 lead at the 5:49 mark.  
·       PIcarelli buried a pair of treys in the surge, including a 4-point play
·      UMBC built the lead to 39-20, before a 6-0 run by the Bearcats cut the gap to 13 points.
·       Boonyasith finished the half with 15 points as the hosts took a 43-28 lead at the break.   

HOW IT HAPPENED – SECOND HALF
·       Jarvis Doles (9 pts., 6 rebs.) hit a pair of early drives to build UMBC's to 20 points on two occasions in the early stages of the half.
·       Trailing 52-32, the Bearcats scored 11 straight points to cut the deficit to 52-43 with 12:59 remaining
·       Colton Lawrence (7 pts.) picked up his fourth foul as the Bearcats crept to within nine points.
·       A Picarelli jumper briefly halted the run, but Binghamton stayed within eight points at 59-51 with 7:13 remaining.  
·       But the Retrievers put the game out of reach, scoring 10 of the game's next 12 points over a span of nearly six minutes.

NOTES
·       UMBC has won 11 of the last 14 match-ups versus Binghamton.
·       UMBC has won five consecutive home contests and improved to 11-2 at The Peake in 2022-23.
·       The Retrievers converted their first 12 free throws of the game and finished at 82.4 percent (14-of-17).
·       Graduate student forward Tra'Von Fagan led the hosts with eight rebounds.

The Retrievers head to Maine for a Saturday 2:00 p.m. America East matinee.