Towson, Md. – Senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored a game-high 22 points and led four Retrievers in double-figures as the visiting UMBC men's basketball team ran away from the Towson Tigers, 84-71, on Saturday afternoon at TU Arena. UMBC, who had not defeated Towson since 2012, broke an eight-game losing skid against their Beltway rivals and captured the Charm City Classic.

"I thought our guys played a fantastic game today," said UMBC Head Coach Jim Ferry. "We challenged ourselves after the Georgetown loss to be more connected on both ends of the floor. Today was probably our best defensive effort, and I thought we were the more physical team. We got the game played to our pace, and I give our guys credit for bouncing back and coming in here to beat an excellent team."

Banks Jr. converted 8-of-18 field goal attempts and was 5-for-11 from long-range. Sophomore point guard Ace Valentine tied his career-high with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and added four assists and a pair of steals. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo (17 points) and senior guard Bryce Johnson (12 points, five assists, six rebounds) were also in double-digits. Junior forward Louie Jordan grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and just missed a double-double with nine points (three treys).

The Dawgs shot 51.7 percent (31-for-60) and made 10-of-25 (40 percent) of their attempts from behind the arc.  Defensively, UMBC held the hosts to 30-of-78 field goals (38.5 percent) and the Tigers hit just 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) of their long-range tries.

UMBC (6-5) led from start to finish as they jumped out to a 12-2 lead over the first 3:44 of the contest. The Retrievers hit all four attempts from behind the arc to open the game, including a pair by Banks Jr.

The Tigers (4-6) were within 14-9 just past the five-minute mark, but the Retrievers rattled off 11 consecutive points to claim a 25-9 advantage with 10:40 left in the stanza. Valentine scored seven of his 11 first-half points during the stretch, and Johnson added the other four.

The visitors held their largest lead of the half, 38-19, after Jordan's trifecta with 1:53 left before the break. The hosts went on a mini 5-0 spurt to trim the deficit to 38-24 at intermission.

The Tigers were within 48-36 at the 14:40 mark of the second half, but UMBC went on an 11-2 burst to widen their lead to 59-38 with 12:38 left. Banks Jr. ignited the stretch with a four-point play, then senior guard Devan Sapp splashed another triple. Odunowo capped the run with a fast break slam.

UMBC still led 69-49 with just 6:10 left after a layup by Valentine, but Towson managed to inch within ten, 73-63, at the 3:10 mark.

A free throw by Nendah Tarke brought the Tigers within single-digits, 75-66, with 1:45 left, but Odunowo went 7-for-8 from the line down the stretch to give the visitors a comfortable 82-67 lead with just fifty ticks left.

UMBC will host DIII Cairn on Tuesday evening.