BALTIMORE - The UMBC men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss, falling 83-79 to the Buffalo Bulls in a non-conference game on Tuesday evening at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
 
Sophomore forward Caden Diggs and junior guard Jah'Likai King each scored 19 points to lead the Retrievers, who now stand at 6-4 for the season. King made 8 of 15 shots, while Diggs shot 7 for 9, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc. Additionally, junior guard Ace Valentine contributed a season-high 15 points along with six assists, and graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. added 10 points.
 
The Bulls raced out to an 11-2 lead to open the contest, but the Retrievers kept chipping away and finally evened the game at 34-all after a trifecta by Valentine with 3:52 remaining in the stanza.  UMBC eventually took their first lead of the night at 38-37 after a jumper in the paint from King at the 2:13 mark.  The Dawgs settled for a 43-39 advantage at intermission as King connected on another jumper with a second left before halftime.
 
UMBC continued their solid play in the second half and led by as many as nine points on two different occasions, the latest coming with 8:40 left after a triple by Diggs to make it 65-56.
 
The visitors went on an 8-0 spurt to inch within 65-64 at the 6:11 mark, but UMBC answered with a 7-0 run to claim a 72-64 edge after a steal and layup by King with 4:06 remaining.
 
UMBC held a 79-72 lead with just 2:05 remaining, but Buffalo came back to score the last 11 points of the game, stealing the victory. The Bulls converted four consecutive free throws to narrow the gap to 79-76, and forward Mikhail Pocknett scored inside to cut UMBC's lead to 79-78 with 34 seconds left. The Retrievers then turned the ball over in the backcourt, leading to a crucial three-pointer by guard Ryan Sabol (11 points) from the left wing with just 14 seconds remaining, giving Buffalo an 81-79 lead and forcing UMBC to call a timeout.
 
In a dramatic turn of events, UMBC graduate student Josh Odunowo appeared to have tied the game at 81-all with a putback layup with five seconds left. However, he was called for a controversial offensive foul, and the basket was disallowed. Pocknett sealed the game with two free throws, putting the outcome out of reach for the Retrievers.
 
Center Tim Oboh led the Bulls (9-1) with 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting while guard Daniel Freitag added 17 points and six boards.
 
UMBC will host Army on Friday at 6:00 p.m. UMBC Athletics invites all active military and veterans to enjoy a complimentary ticket to the UMBC Men's Basketball game.