Baltimore – UMBC sophomore guard Dion Brown recorded his first career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but the host Retrievers opened the America East slate with an 81-67 loss to the Bryant Bulldogs at The Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Brown went 10-for-25 from the floor, including 2-of-6 treys, and set a new career-best with 11 rebounds. Junior guards Bryce Johnson (eight rebounds) and Marcus Banks Jr. (4 treys) added 16 points apiece, while graduate student center Max Lorca-Lloyd was also in double-digits with a season-high 11 caroms.
UMBC (5-11, 0-1 AE) led by as many as nine points in the opening half, but the Bulldogs managed to cut the deficit to just 36-33 at the break. The hosts led 15-6 at the 13:14 mark with Brown scoring 10 quick points. The Retrievers still led 24-16 after a free throw by freshman guard Franck Emmou with 8:12 left in the stanza, however, Bryant ripped off seven straight points to trim the deficit to one after a free throw by Tyler Brelsford with 6:31 left. The Retrievers managed to hold the Bulldogs off as they answered with a 12-6 spurt to claim a 36-29 edge after layup by Brown at the 2:21 mark. The hosts settled for the three-point edge at the break as Bryant scored the final four points.
The visitors scored the first five points of the second half to grab their first lead since the early moments of the contest, 38-36, after a trifecta from Gross-Bullock. The Retrievers fell behind 46-38 with 15:32 left but went on a 14-5 run to reestablish a 52-51 lead. Banks scored eight points during the stretch and Brown contributed four points, including the go-ahead jumper in the paint with 11:31 remaining.
The visitors, however, went on a 22-7 run over the next seven minutes to take control of the game at 73-59 with 4:22 left and UMBC could never recover.
Bryant (9-7, 1-0 AE) guard Sherif Gross-Bullock, who scored 39 points against the Dawgs at the Peake last season, set a new career-high with 41 points on 16-of-24 shooting on Saturday. Gross-Bullock knocked down 7-of-12 triples while adding six boards and four steals in 39 minutes of action. Daniel Rivera added 14 points and 10 rebounds while Earl Timberlake added 12 points and seven boards.
UMBC struggled from the floor as they hit 26-of-69 field goal attempts for a 37.7 percent clip and were 8-of-21 (38.1 percent) from deep. Bryant made 44.8 percent (30-of-67) of their attempts and went 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc.
Bryant forced 15 miscues and outscored the Retrievers by a 19-6 margin in points off turnovers.
UMBC will travel to Vermont on Thursday evening.
