Men's Hoops Set to Host NJIT on Saturday Evening

UMBC fell to the New Hampshire Wildcats, 64-58, last Saturday afternoon at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. Junior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored a team-high 20 points and added six rebounds and five assists in a losing cause. Sophomore guard Dion Brown, who eclipsed 500 career points in the opening half, recorded his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds (career-high). Graduate student forward Max Lorca-Lloyd contributed eight points and eight rebounds.
Brown ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (17.1 pg.), sixth in rebounding (6.7 pg.), and is tenth in steals (1.5 pg.). He has scored 20 or more points on eight different occasions and has three double-doubles.
Brown needs 156 points to break the Retriever's all-time single-season scoring mark ( 482 points) by a sophomore. (Jairus Lyles, 2015-16). Lyles also holds the program's single-season mark with 665 points during the 2017-18 NCAA Tournament campaign.
Banks Jr. ranks third in the AE with 2.5 3-pt field goals per game and is fourth in 3-pt accuracy (.368). He's averaging 17.8 ppg. in conference contests, which ranks sixth in the league.
Lorca-Lloyd ranks 10th in conference games with 7.2 rebounds per game and is fourth in blocks per game (1.8).

A GLANCE AT THE HIGHLANDERS

NJIT dropped a 70-55 decision against Bryant on Thursday evening in Newark, NJ. Freshman guard Tariq Francis paced the Highlanders with 17 points and classmate Levi Lawal pulled down a season-high15 rebounds.
Francis earned his fifth America East Rookie of Week honor of the season, the league announced on Monday. Francis has now won the award three-straight weeks and five of the past six weeks. Classmate Sebastian Robinson took home the honor three times in the first five weeks of the season, making it eight times in 11 weeks that a Highlander has been tabbed as the America East Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week.
Francis leads the team and also ranks first among America East rookies this season at 11.8 ppg.
NJIT was predicted to finish last in the AE preseason coaches poll.

INSIDE THE SERIES

UMBC and NJIT have met eight times, with each team winning four games.
The Retrievers have won three of the last four contests.
Last season, the Highlanders defeated the Retrievers, 69-65, in Newark, NJ. The Dawgs returned the favor with a 72-63 triumph in Baltimore.
NJIT defeated UMBC in Baltimore during the 2014-15 season and are 1-2 all-time in the "Charm City."

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