Baltimore – The UMBC men's basketball team stormed past the McDaniel Green Terror 91-61 for its first win of the season on Monday night at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena.
Redshirt senior guard
Devin Ceaser scored a game-high 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting in 22 minutes, while sophomore guard
Carlos Varela and junior guard
Evan Morton (seven rebounds) each added 10 points. Junior forward
Jovan Ristic pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
UMBC (1-2) shook off a slow start after falling behind the Green Terror 10-8 with 14:10 left in the opening half. Then, Varela drilled a three-pointer, sparking a 12-0 explosion that sent the Dawgs surging ahead 20-10 with 10:54 to go. Morton fueled the momentum with five points during the run, including a deep three to cap the stretch.
The Retrievers kept pouring it on, erupting to a 36-17 lead with 6:32 left after freshman guard
Aidan Able drained back-to-back three-pointers.
UMBC led 51-25 at the break as they held McDaniel to just 28.1 percent shooting on 9-of-32 field goal attempts. Ceaser (12 points) and Varela (10 points) combined for 22 points on 7-for-12 shooting in the stanza.
The Retrievers took a 65-33 lead with 14:13 remaining, outscoring the visitors 14-8 to open the second half.
McDaniel made a brief push, narrowing the gap to 22 points after a late layup with 5:39 left, but the Retrievers never let up and kept the outcome firmly in hand.
UMBC held a 54-36 advantage on the boards.
Kyle Harvin led McDaniel (1-2) with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
UMBC will host Morgan State on Thursday evening for the opening round of the 410 Invitational.
