BALTIMORE – The UMBC men's basketball team defeated the NJIT Highlanders, 87-74, on Thursday evening at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. The Retrievers improved to 11-7 overall and 4-1 in the America East Conference, and are tied with Vermont for first place in the league standings.
Junior guard
Ace Valentine paced six Retrievers in double-figures with 19 points to tie his season-high. Valentine went 7-for-10 from the field and added four caroms. Junior guard
Jah'Likai King, the third leading scorer in the league, added 17 points, including 10 in the opening half. Graduate student forward
Josh Odunowo (five boards) and sophomore forward
Caden Diggs (6-of-12 field goals) each had 12 points, while graduate student guard
DJ Armstrong Jr. (2-of-4 treys) and junior forward
Daylon Dickerson contributed 10 points apiece.
UMBC, which never trailed in the contest, blitzed the Highlanders in the opening half as they shot a sizzling 63.3 percent (19-of-30) to take a 47-28 advantage at intermission.
The Dawgs jumped out to a 15-5 lead at the 15:36 mark as they connected on six of their first eight shots, including trifectas from King, junior forward
Jose Roberto Tanchyn, and Valentine. The lead grew to 32-17 with 7:42 left before the break, with the hosts converting 14-of-20 shots to start the contest.
The lead ballooned to 18 points, 37-19, after a free throw by Valentine at the 4:51 mark, and UMBC settled for the 19-point halftime advantage after Dickerson hit two free throws in the closing seconds.
NJIT (9-12, 4-2 AE) managed to close within 16, 52-36, after guard Sebastian Robinson (team-high 19 points) made a jumper with 15:57 left in the second half. However, UMBC went on an 8-2 spurt to take their largest lead of the night at 60-38 after a free throw by Valentine at the 10:53 mark.
The Highlanders inched within 79-68 with 1:44 left after two free throws by forward Melvyn Ebonkoli (17 points), but that was as close as they managed to get.
UMBC finished shooting at a 51.8 percent clip, hitting 29 of 56 attempts on the night. The Dawgs, who held NJIT to a 43.8 percent rate, outscored the visitors by a 17-2 margin in fast break points.
Armstrong Jr. eclipsed 900 points for his career in the second half and has made at least two treys in 15 of 18 contests this season.
UMBC, now 7-2 on its home floor, will host UMass Lowell on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
