Baltimore – The host UMBC men's basketball team fell to the NJIT Highlanders, 75-74, in an America East Conference contest on Saturday evening at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
UMBC (6-15, 1-5 AE) junior guard
Marcus Banks Jr. scored a team-high 21 points (4-of-8 treys) and added eight rebounds in a losing cause. Sophomore guard
Dion Brown recorded 18 points in just 22 minutes as he was plagued with foul trouble. Graduate student forward
Max Lorca-Lloyd registered his first career "double-double" with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard
Franck Emmou added 17 points and was 6-of-9 from the floor.
The Retrievers built a 46-24 halftime lead as they limited the Highlanders to just 11 field goals in the opening half. NJIT (5-14, 1-6 AE) did not score their first point of the game until the 13:12 mark as the hosts scored the first 11 points. Banks scored 15 points in the first stanza and Lorca-Lloyd had all 10 of his points in the half.
The hosts still held a 22-point advantage, 51-29, with 16:57 remaining in the contest after Brown hit a trifecta from the right-wing.
Trailing 53-34 with 13:45 left, NJIT went on their first run of the game, 11-2, to close within 55-44 with 11:37 left. Guard Adam Hess (12 points), who hit three treys in the second half, capped the run with a trifecta from the top of the key.
Banks hit one of two free throws to give UMBC a 58-44 advantage with 11:03 left, however, NJIT rattled off 17 consecutive points over the next 4:47 to grab a 61-58 edge at the 6:15 mark. Graduate student forward Kjell de Graaf (18 points) gave the Highlanders their first lead of the night with a jumper and senior Mekhi Gray completed the stretch with a layup after a UMBC turnover.
Emmou evened the game, 61-61, with a triple at the 6:04 mark and the game would go back-and forth for the remainder of the contest.
Banks provided UMBC with a 70-67 advantage with a 3-pointer at the 3:11 mark but NJIT scored the next four points to grab a 71-70 edge on a pair of free throws by de Graaf with 2:13 left.
Trailing 73-72 with fifty-two seconds left, Brown converted two clutch free throws to give the hosts their final lead of the night at 74-73.
On the next trip down, de Graaf followed up a missed layup by freshman guard Tariq Francis with what turned out to be the game-winning put back with 13 ticks left.
Brown then misfired on a trey and the Retrievers intentionally fouled Gray, who missed the front end of a one-and-one with six seconds left.
Brown had a second opportunity to knock down the game-winner but his open three-pointer from the right-wing came up short as the clock expired.
Francis scored a game-high 22 points and added nine boards for NJIT.
UMBC will travel to Bryant on Thursday evening.
