BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's basketball team dropped a 69-61 decision against the Saint Peter's Peacocks on Saturday afternoon at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Senior guard Bryce Johnson paced three Retrievers in double digits with 15 points and was joined by graduate student forward Josh Odunowo (10 points) and senior guard Marlon Short (12 points, team-high eight rebounds).
"We knew the game was going to be a rock fight from the opening tip, and Saint Peter's was able to establish their physicality and pace," stated UMBC Head Coach Jim Ferry. "I thought we really guarded very well in the opening half, but we broke down defensively in the second half, which was disappointing. We've got to play better in the second half to beat an excellent team like that."
The Peacocks (1-3) connected on 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) three-point field goals in the second half to break open a tight contest for much of the contest.
UMBC (3-2) held a 16-11 advantage with 8:34 left in the opening half after sophomore guard Ace Valentine scored the final five points of a 5-0 mini-run. The Retrievers still held a 20-17 advantage after Short converted a jumper in the lane at the 6:47 mark, but the visitors went on a 9-2 spurt to claim a 26-22 edge with just over two minutes left. The visitors settled for a 28-26 lead at the break.
Junior forward Louie Jordan provided UMBC with their final lead, 34-33, after swishing a triple with 17:22 remaining in the game. The Peacocks responded with nine consecutive points to take their largest lead up to that point, 42-34, with 14:39 left. Sophomore guard Armoni Ziegler stuck bookend treys during the critical stretch.
Trailing by nine with just under ten minutes left, Short recorded consecutive buckets to trim the deficit to 53-48 at the eight-minute mark. However, Saint Peter's responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from junior guard Eric Morgan Jr. and senior guard Marcus Randolph to claim a 59-48 advantage with just 5:53 left.
The hosts did not go away quickly, inching within 65-60 after a fast break layup by senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. with thirty-six seconds left, but the visitors converted all four of their free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach.
UMBC made just 4-of-20 of their attempts from behind the arc in the contest and finished at 38.9 percent overall (21-of-54) from the field.
Saint Peter's converted 24-of-55 (43.6 percent) field goal attempts and finished 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from deep.
The Peacocks also held a 41-29 advantage on the boards.
The Retrievers will host Hampton on Tuesday evening.
