Vestal, N.Y. – UMBC guard
Dion Brown scored a game-high 22 points and broke the program's single-season sophomore scoring record as the Retrievers defeated the Binghamton Bearcats, 89-78, on Thursday evening at the Events Center.
Brown (game-high 12 rebounds), who recorded his sixth double-double of the season, made 9-of-15 shots from the floor. He now has 495 points on the season, which broke the mark set by Jairus Llyles in 2015-2016. "It's a blessing to achieve this record but to get it in a win is what I love the most about it," Brown stated. "We got some great performances by guys like Regimantas {Ciunys} and Marcus {Banks Jr.}. I'm really happy for Regimantas on getting his first double-double. Those guys came up big along with Franck {Emmou}, Ace {Valentine} and Max {Lorca-Lloyd}."
Sophomore forward Ciunys was terrific off the bench as he garnered his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 caroms, both career-best totals. Junior guard Banks scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half and drilled five triples, Freshman guard Emmou contributed 12 points and grabbed a career-high six boards while graduate student forward Lorca-Lloyd rejected a career-high seven shots in just 15 minutes.
UMBC (8-18, 3-8 AE) led 46-35 at halftime after hitting 9-of-18 3-pointers in the stanza. With the score deadlocked at 17-17, the Retrievers went on a 13-4 run to claim a 30-21 advantage with 8:11 left capped by a trifecta from Ciuny
The Retrievers took their largest lead of the half, 42-28, after a triple by Banks with 3:44 left in the stanza.
The visitors ran out their largest lead of the game, 73-57, after freshman guard
Ace Valentine made 2-of-3 free throws after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt.
Binghamton (11-13, 3-8 AE) managed to close within 73-64 after a 7-0 run with 8:33 left but never got closer than seven points for the remainder of the contest.
UMBC shot 51.6 percent overall (32-of-62) and were 12-for-24 from behind the arc.
Armon Harried paced the Bearcats with 19 points.
UMBC will host UAlbany on Saturday afternoon.
