Men's Basketball 2/7/2025 4:55:00 PM

Men's Basketball Completes Road Trip at Maine on Saturday Afternoon

Senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored a career-high 30 points. However, the UMBC men's basketball team fell in the final seconds to the New Hampshire Wildcats, 79-78, in an America East Conference contest at Lundholm Gymnasium.
Banks Jr. swished 6-of-10 attempts from behind the arc and finished 10-for-18 overall from the floor to pace the Retrievers. Junior forward Regimantas Ciunys contributed 14 points in 28 minutes off the bench. UMBC's leading scorer, Bryce Johnson, was held to just seven points but did grab a team-high seven boards.
Maine took down NJIT on Thursday night to move to 7-2 in America East action with the 78-74 victory. AJ Lopez finished with a game-high 23 points as he knocked down a career-high 11 free throws on 12 attempts. Kellen Tynes finished with 16 points, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. At the 17:39 mark in the first half, Tynes broke the program record for most steals in a career as he registered his 244th steal in 85 games played, breaking the previous record held by Marty Higgins of 243 in 115 games played.
Johnson is 3rd in the America East in scoring (17.1 ppg.), while teammate Marcus Banks Jr. is 4th (15.7 ppg.). Johnson is now 5th in the league with a .511 field goal rate. Graduate student forward Josh Odunowo is 4th in the AE in field goal percentage (.558).
The Retrievers have recorded six of the top 17 scoring performances in the America East this season. They are tied for second in the league in scoring (81.6 ppg.) and are 28th in the country.

SERIES HISTORY

This will be the second matchup of the 2024-25 season as the Black Bears took the first game of the season in a 25-point victory at UMBC, 87-62. AJ Lopez scored a game-high 24 points while Banks Jr. paced the Dawgs with 13 points.
In the all-time series, UMBC holds the lead at 26-16 as Saturday will be the 43rd meeting all-time.
UMBC is 11-9 all-time in Maine, but have dropped two straight.

LAST TIME OUT: RETRIEVERS FALL IN FINAL SECONDS AT UNH

Durham, NH – Senior guard Marcus Banks Jr. scored a career-high 30 points. However, the UMBC men's basketball team fell in the final seconds to the New Hampshire Wildcats, 79-78, in an America East Conference contest at Lundholm Gymnasium.
Banks Jr. swished 6-of-10 attempts from behind the arc and finished 10-for-18 overall from the floor to pace the Retrievers. Junior forward Regimantas Ciunys contributed 14 points in 28 minutes off the bench. UMBC's leading scorer, Bryce Johnson, was held to just seven points but did grab a team-high seven boards.
UMBC (11-13, 3-6 AE) led 78-73 with thirty-five seconds remaining after Banks Jr. converted one of two free throws; however, UNH (5-19, 3-6 AE) guard Sami Pissis (27 points) delivered a conventional three-point play with twenty ticks left after the hosts grabbed three offensive rebounds.
After a timeout, UMBC committed a critical turnover on the inbounds pass to allow the Wildcats an opportunity to grab the lead. Pissis misfired on a trifecta from the left corner, but Anthony McComb III (18 points) was able to track down the rebound in the opposite corner. McComb III immediately drilled the game-winning three-pointer with seven seconds left.
UMBC had an opportunity to recapture the lead, but New Hampshire was able to force a jump ball with 1.9 seconds left. The Retrievers maintained possession on the alternating arrow, but Ciunys' fadeaway jumper outside the paint was short at the buzzer off the inbounds play.
The Retrievers led by as many as 16 points in the opening half and settled for a 45-39 advantage at the break. Banks Jr. poured in 19 points in the opening twenty minutes and nailed five treys.
UMBC opened the second stanza on a 15-5 run to stretch their lead back to 16, 60-44, with 14:56 remaining. Banks Jr. scored 10 points during the burst, forcing the hosts to call a timeout.
The Retrievers, who led for 34:31 of the contest, still held a double-digit lead at 75-64 following two free throws from sophomore guard Ace Valentine at the 4:04 mark.
The visitors shot 53.8 percent (28-of-52) from the floor but allowed 16 offensive rebounds and were outscored by an 18-4 margin in second chance points.

IT'S BRYCE'S WORLD

Johnson is averaging 19.8 ppg. over his last 12 contests and is 75-of-140 (54 percent) from the floor over the span. In addition, he's knocked down 55-of-67 free throws (82 percent).
He's now 3rd in the league in scoring (17.1 ppg.) and ranks 92nd in the nation.
Bryce joined the 1,000-point club at UAlbany late in the second half.
Johnson has reached 20+ points on nine different occasions, including seven of his last 12 games.
The nine 20-pt games are second in the league.
He's also drawing a team-high 4.3 fouls per game.
Johnson's nine drawn fouls at American was a career-high and he followed that up with eight at Binghamton.
Johnson ranks 90th in the country with 120 free throw attempts.

MONEY IN THE BANKS

The senior guard joined the 1,000-point club in the second half of the win at UAlbany.
Banks Jr. was named the America East Player of the Week (12/31/24) after his performance in UMBC's OT win at American.
Banks Jr. has already made 5+ treys in seven contests this season and is fourth in the country in total makes. His 3.2 threes per game ranks first in the America East and is 30th in the NCAA. His 42 percent clip from behind the arc is 3rd in the league and slots 51st in the country.
Overall, the sharpshooter is 4th on the circuit, scoring at 15.7 ppg. He's also one of the top guards in the conference in rebounding (4.0 pg.) and is 28th overall.

ACE IN THE HOLE

SO guard Ace Valentine has reached double-figures in scoring six times since moving back into the starting lineup against Howard (span of 15 games)
He's shooting 54 percent overall (56-for-104) during the stretch.
The point guard scored the go-ahead bucket in UMBC's 2OT win at American on a driving layup.
Valentine is 5th in the league with 3.5 assists per game and is third in assist/turnover ratio (2.1).

BOMBS AWAY

UMBC leads the AE with 8.9 3s made per game this season, which ranks 88th in the country.
The Retrievers 17 makes against Valley Forge were an America East single-game high.
The Retrievers lead the league in 3-pt field goal percentage (.389) and are 11th in the nation.
UMBC has reached double-figures in treys 11 different times.
Marcus Banks Jr. (3.2 pg.) and Louie Jordan (1.9 pg.) rank first and 11th respectively in treys per game. Johnson is now 15th (1.6 pg.)
Banks Jr. is 3rd (.420) in the league in percentage.

SHARING IS CARING

UMBC dished an America East high 31 assists in the win versus Valley Forge. It was their highest output since they handed out 29 vs. Coppin St. on 11/30/2022.
It was also the most in the conference since Maine and Bryant recorded 32 during the 2022-23 season.
The Retrievers are 2nd the AE in the category at 15.2 pg. and are 82nd in the NCAA.
Ace Valentine is 5th in the league with 3.5 helpers per game and is 3rd in assist/turnover ratio (2.1).

KINGS OF BALTIMORE

The Retrievers won the Charm City Classic by virtue of their victories against Morgan State and Towson. UMBC, who had not defeated Towson since 2012, broke an eight-game losing skid against their Beltway rivals The Retrievers also knocked off Coppin State earlier this season.

A PROGRAM ON THR RISE

UMBC is enjoying their best stretch in program history as the Retrievers have gone a combined 155-121 (.562) over the past nine seasons. They are 78-58 in AE Play.
UMBC enjoyed three straight 20+ win seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19. Their 25 victories in 2017-18 was a program-high.
UMBC became the first #16 seed to knock off a #1 seed when the Retrievers shocked Virginia, 74-54, in the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena (formerly the UMBC Event Center) officially opened on Feb. 3, 2018, as the UMBC men's basketball team hosted the Vermont Catamounts before a capacity crowd of 4,753. Both the men's and women's basketball teams played their February and March games in the new facility, which included three post-season victories.
The on-campus facility can accommodate nearly 6,000 patrons for commencements, concerts, featured speakers, and other events. It includes spectator facilities, such as concessions, catering, hospitality, restrooms, security and guest services.

COACH FERRY

Jim Ferry is in his 23rd season as a collegiate head coach and his third at UMBC.
Ferry led the Retrievers to consecutive 18-14 records as well as an appearance in the America East Finals in 2021-22.
Prior to his arrival in Baltimore, Ferry served in 2020-21 as the interim head coach at Penn State. He led the Nittany Lions to an 11-14 overall mark and a
7-12 Big Ten record that included wins over NCAA Tournament
teams No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 15 Virginia Tech , Rutgers, and Maryland (twice).
Ferry spent 10 seasons as head coach at LIU Brooklyn, guiding the program to unprecedented levels of success. He led the Blackbirds to the Northeast Conference regular-season titles and tournament championships in 2011 and 2012, including their first NCAA Championship appearance in 14 years.

AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
Rank   Team (First-Place Votes) Points
1          Vermont (8)                64
2          UMass Lowell (1)       55
3          Bryant                         52
4          Maine                          39
5          UMBC                         31
6          Binghamton                30
7          UAlbany                      26
8          NJIT                            15
9          New Hampshire 12

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