Atlanta, Ga. – Bryce Johnson scored a game-high 21 points, but the UMBC men's basketball team came up just short against ACC member Georgia Tech, 91-82, on Wednesday evening at McCarrish Pavilion.

"I thought we started the game well but had a difficult stretch in the first half where we broke down defensively, and that was the difference in the game," said UMBC Head Coach Jim Ferry. "If you're going to upset an ACC team, you have to play for 40 minutes. We got better in the second half, played hard, and were more connected. We've got to keep focusing on ourselves and getting better every time out."

Johnson scored 14 points in the second half and nearly helped bring the Retrievers back from a 22-point second-half hole. The senior guard (five rebounds, four assists, two steals) went 8-of-15 from the floor, including 2-of-5 from long-distance, and made 3-of-4 free throw attempts. Junior forward Louie Jordan was 5-for-10 from behind the arc and finished with 17 points, while sophomore guard Ace Valentine contributed 16 points (7-of-10 field goals), four assists, and a team-high three steals.

UMBC (7-6) trailed 63-41 with 14:50 remaining in the contest but showed tremendous fight the remainder of the way.

The Retrievers made an initial 12-4 run to close within 14 points at 67-53 with 9:21 remaining. Johnson scored six points during the stretch, including a pull-up jumper to cap the spurt.

Luke O'Brien converted 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give the Yellow Jackets a 68-53 advantage with 8:10 remaining, but the Retrievers scored the next seven points to get within single-digits at 68-60 at the 6:54 mark. Johnson splashed a trey, senior guard Devan Sapp converted a layup, and Valentine made a layup off a turnover to account for the scoring.

Trailing 70-60 with 6:37 left, Johnson scored consecutive buckets to bring UMBC within 70-64 at the 5:53 mark. 

Lance Terry answered with a trifecta to give the hosts a nine-point edge, and the Jackets would eventually widen their lead to 77-66 with 3:49 left.

Once again, the Retrievers continued to battle as junior forward Regimantas Ciunys finished a layup, and Johnson buried a trey to whittle the lead to 77-71 with 2:56 left.

UMBC had an opportunity to get even closer, but Johnson had his driving layup blocked by Baye Ndongo with 2:25 left.  Ndongo then had a dunk on the other end and O'Brien hit a 3-pointer to give the hosts an 82-71 advantage with just 1:25 left.  The Retrievers could never get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

The Retrievers got off to a great start in the opening half, jumping out to an 11-2 lead at the 16:34 mark. UMBC hit three of its first four attempts from distance, including a pair from Jordan.

Georgia Tech (5-6) responded with 19 consecutive points and surged ahead, 21-11, with 12:24 left in the stanza. The Yellow Jackets led by as many as 21 points in the half and settled for a 53-34 advantage at the break.

Nathan George paced Georgia Tech with 18 points and eight assists, while Ndongo added 17 points and a game-high nine boards.

UMBC travels to Marist on Saturday afternoon.