BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's basketball team mounted a furious rally but came up just short, 63-60, in a non-conference game against the Army Black Knights on Friday evening at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Graduate student guard
DJ Armstrong Jr. scored a game-high 14 points to lead three Retrievers in double-figures. Armstrong also tied a season-best with four 3-pointers. Junior guard
Jah'Likai King (11 points) and sophomore forward
Caden Diggs (10 points, 8 rebounds) were also in double-digits.
UMBC (6-5) struggled from the field, hitting just 39.7% (23-of-58) of its shots. In addition, the hosts went 8-for-28 (28.6 percent) from behind the arc and were a season-worst 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) from the charity stripe.
Army (5-7) was not much better as the Retrievers held the visitors to a 35.1 percent rate overall, including 7-for-22 (31.8 percent) from deep. The foul line, however, was the difference in the contest as the Black Knights connected on 16-of-20 (80 percent).
UMBC held a 14-11 advantage after fifth-year guard
Cougar Downing's trey from the left wing at the 12:58 mark of the opening stanza. Army then responded with a 17-2 burst to claim a 28-16 advantage with 7:35 left in the half.
The Retrievers still trailed by 12, 36-24, with 2:49 left in the half, but the hosts rattled off the final six points to close within 36-30 at intermission.
Diggs evened the game for the final time at 47-47 after connecting on a corner three with 10:21 left in the contest. The Retrievers had two chances to surge ahead but came up empty on two consecutive trips down the floor.
Jackson Furman put the Black Knights ahead for good with a trifecta from the right wing with 9:12 left, igniting an 11-0 spurt that put his team ahead 58-47 after he knocked down another three with 6:47 left.
UMBC did not go down without a fight as they held the visitors without a field goal for the remainder of the contest. Armstrong Jr. got the Retrievers going with a trifecta, freshman forward
Riley Jacobs recorded a dunk, and then junior guard
Ace Valentine (season-high 8 boards) finished a 7-0 mini-run with a layup to make it 58-54 with 4:40 left.
Jaxson Bell (12 points, ten rebounds)) then made a pair from the line to make it 60-54 at the 4:10 mark, but King answered with a jumper in the paint, and Armstrong Jr. splashed another trey to bring the hosts within 60-59 with 1:47 left. UMBC had an opportunity to take the lead, but they turned the ball over out of bounds after a defensive stop.
Bell made one of two from the line to give Army a 61-59 advantage with forty-nine ticks left, allowing the Retrievers another chance, but Armstrong Jr. misfired from behind the arc. Graduate student forward
Josh Odunowo (8 rebounds) grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled, but was only able to make one of two from the line to bring the Dawgs within 61-60 with twenty seconds left. Following a timeout, Ryan Curry was fouled and made a pair from the line to extend Army's lead to 63-60 with ten seconds left.
The Retrievers had an opportunity to force overtime, but Valentine's well-defended three-pointer from the left wing was off the mark as time expired.
UMBC will have nine days off before traveling to South Florida on Sunday, December 21.
