BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's basketball team came up with a 71-57 victory over the Delaware State Hornets on Saturday afternoon at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena, thanks to a balanced scoring attack and strong defensive play.
The Retrievers (5-2) had five players score in double figures for the second time this season. Fifth-year senior guard
DJ Armstrong Jr. led the team with 12 points, hitting four three-pointers, and also recorded a game-high eight rebounds. Junior forward
Daylon Dickerson also scored 12 points and grabbed five boards in 19 minutes off the bench. Junior guard
Jah'Likai King and sophomore forward
Caden Diggs each added 11 points, while graduate student forward
Josh Odunowo contributed 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
UMBC maintained the lead for nearly 39 minutes of the game, limiting the Hornets to 38.1 percent shooting as they made just 24 of their 63 attempts.
The Retrievers jumped out to a 16-7 lead at the 12:26 mark, following a three-pointer from fifth-year guard
Cougar Downing. Odunowo also scored six points during this early stretch and went over the 800-point mark for his career.
Delaware State (2-7) managed a 16-5 run to take their only lead of the game at 22-21, thanks to a three-pointer by graduate guard Corey Perkins (11 points) with 5:29 left in the first half. However, UMBC closed the half strong, scoring the final 13 points to take a 34-22 lead at intermission. Armstrong hit two three-pointers, and Downing made a half-court shot at the buzzer to key the run.
In the second half, the Retrievers led by as many as 14 points on five separate occasions. Although the Hornets narrowed the deficit to 58-49 with 7:13 remaining, they could not get any closer, as UMBC responded with a 13-6 run to secure the win.
The hosts converted 28 of 59 field goal attempts, shooting 47.5 percent overall, and were 9 for 23 (39.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
Guard Ponce James led Delaware State with 19 points
UMBC will travel to Georgetown on Wednesday evening for an 8:00 p.m. matchup.
