Smithfield, RI – The UMBC men's basketball team dropped its first America East Conference contest of the season after falling to the Bryant Bulldogs in overtime, 79-74, on Thursday evening at the Chace Athletic Center. The loss also stopped UMBC's three-game win streak.

Graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. led four Retrievers in double-digits in scoring with 20 points, including 17 in the second half. Armstrong, who buried his 200th career 3-pointer, connected on five treys on the evening and added five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Sophomore forward Caden Diggs sparked the Retrievers with 14 points off the bench, while junior forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn added 13 points in his first start at UMBC.  Junior guard Jah'Likai King contributed 12 points, and classmate Ace Valentine handed out a team-high six assists, including the 250th of his career.

The Retrievers (9-7, 2-1 AE) trailed 33-26 at halftime as the Bulldogs held UMBC to just 33.3 shooting (8-for-24) in the opening twenty minutes.

Bryant (6-12, 2-2 AE) increased their lead to 37-29 with 17:12 left in the second half, but the Retrievers went on a 13-3 run to take a 42-40 edge with 14 minutes left. Armstrong hit three treys during the stretch, including a bomb from the wing after a turnover to knot the score. Diggs then provided the visitors with the lead with a driving layup following another turnover.

The Retrievers continued to widen their lead, taking an eight-point advantage on two occasions, the last one coming at 58-50 with 8:36 remaining after a trifecta by fifth-year guard Cougar Downing.

The Bulldogs answered with nine consecutive points to reclaim a 59-58 edge at the 6:26 mark following a layup by Ashley Simms II (16 points).

The hosts led 63-60 with four minutes remaining, but Valentine converted a layup, and Diggs converted two free throws to put the Retrievers back on top, 64-63 with 3:09 remaining. Bryant answered with a second-chance tip-in layup to grab a 65-64 edge with 2:12 left, but Armstrong Jr. would eventually complete an and-one layup to stake UMBC to a 67-65 lead with fifty-two ticks left.

Bryant forced overtime on a driving layup by Timofei Rudovskii (22 points) with thirty-two seconds left. UMBC had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but Armstrong Jr. was called for a traveling violation with a second left.

UMBC struggled in overtime as they connected on just 2-of-6 shots, including 0-for-4 from behind the arc. Diggs hit a jumper in the lane to tie the game at 69-all with 4:01 left, but Bryant went on a 6-1 spurt and never looked back.

UMBC will travel to Binghamton on Monday at 2:00 p.m.