BALTIMORE –The UMBC men's basketball team sliced 21 points off a 24-point second half deficit, but came up just short, falling, 75-70 to UMass Lowell in the regular season finale at The Peake.
The Retrievers trailed, 58-34, with 16:38 remaining. But reserves
Mason Docks,
Dion Brown,
Tra'Von Fagan and
Devan Sapp picked up the defensive intensity and the starters continued the trend, allowing the River Hawks only 17 points the rest of the way.
UMBC constructed a run of 18-2 to slice a 65-46 deficit to 67-64 on a graduate student guard Craig Beaudoin II steal and layup with 4:22 remaining. On two additional occasions, the Retrievers came with three points, the final time as Beaudoin hit one of two free throws after his fourth steal of the game with 33 seconds left.
The River Hawks also made one of two free throws to extend their lead to 74-70. Brown got a great look from the deep left corner with ten seconds to play to cut the lead to one point, but his shot was just long and UML grabbed the rebound to seal the victory.
The loss snapped UMBC's (17-13, 7-8 America East) home winning streak at seven. UMass Lowell, which leads the conference in total wins, improved to 23-7, 10-5.
Beaudoin II led four Retrievers in double figures with 14 points. Junior guard
Matteo Picarelli added 13 points, hitting 3-of-5 from long range, while grad student guard
Colton Lawrence also scored 13. Grad student forward
Jarvis Doles added 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED- FIRST HALF
· The River Hawks asserted their offensive rebounding prowess to break from an early 7-7 tie and outscore UMBC, 14-2, to grab a 21-9 lead at the 11:26 mark.
· A couple of nice inside scores by
Jarvis Doles cut the deficit to 23-18, but a River Hawk put back off a missed free throw sparked the visitors on an ensuing 5-0 run.
· The River Hawks extended the lead to 32-21, but Beaudoin had a pair of explosive drives and finishes to spark a 7-0 run and bring the hosts to within 32-28 at the 5-minutes mark.
· UML blistered the nets during a half-ending 15-4 run and took a 47-32 halftime lead.
· The visitors hit 18-of-32 shots (56.3%) from the floor in the first 20 minutes and scored all 12 of the half's second-chance points.
HOW IT HAPPENED- SECOND HALF
· The River Hawks scored the first 8 points of the second half to take a 55-32 lead.
· UMBC would not go quietly, as a four-point play by Picarelli ignited a 16-3 response and cut he deficit to 58-44.
· A Beaudoin theft and Doles bucket got the crowd roaring and UMBC moved to within 65-56 at the 7:23 mark. On the next possession, a
Yaw Obeng-Mensah coast to coast dunk brought the Retrievers to within 65-58.
NOTES
- UMBC held UML to 33.3 percent shooting (7/21) in the second half. The River Hawks converted seven more free throws in 11 more attempts than the hosts.
- UML's Everette Hammond led all scorers with 19 points, hitting 5-of-7 treys.
- Lawrence went over 1,200 points for his career.
- Obeng-Mensah grabbed his 350th career rebound in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Retrievers complete the regular season at Binghamton on February 28.
