Baltimore, Md – Junior guard Jah'Likai King scored a season-high 24 points to lift the UMBC men's basketball team to a 75-62 victory over the Vermont Catamounts at the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena on Thursday evening. The win, coupled with NJIT's loss to UAlbany, vaulted the Retrievers (17-8, 10-2) into sole possession of first place in the America East Conference standings with just four games remaining in the regular season.

King, who scored 16 points in the opening stanza to spot the hosts a 38-26 halftime advantage, tied his season-high by splashing 5-of-9 3-pointers, four of which came in the opening half. He also went 7-for-8 from the foul line and grabbed five rebounds. Junior guard Ace Valentine (12 points, game-high five assists) and sophomore reserve forward Caden Diggs (12 points) were also in double-digits.  Junior forward Jose Roberto Tanchyn grabbed a season-best 13 rebounds and added seven points, while graduate forward Josh Odunowo chipped in with eight points and seven caroms.

The Retrievers took their first lead of the game after King drilled a triple to make it 4-2 with 18:15 remaining in the first half.  UMBC never surrendered the lead again as they widened their advantage to 19-7 at the 13:41 mark after another trifecta from King. In all, King scored 11 points during the stretch.

Leading 24-12 after a Tanchyn second chance layup at the 10:07 mark, Vermont was able to use a 9-2 run to close to within 26-21 on a 3-pointer by Gus Yalden with 7:20 remaining. However, UMBC responded with a 9-2 spurt of their own to re-establish a 12-point lead, 35-23, with 1:17 left before the break. Diggs ignited the flurry with a triple and finished it off with a layup.

UMBC's lead ballooned to a game-high of 20 points, 46-26, at the 17:38 mark of the second half as they scored the first eight points of the stanza.

Vermont (17-11, 9-4) sliced the lead in half, 50-40, using a 14-4 spurt over the next 5:10 to get back into the game. Following a media timeout, however, graduate student guard DJ Armstrong Jr. connected on a difficult floater in the lane, and Diggs converted two from the charity stripe to spot the hosts a 54-40 edge, helping to keep the visitors at bay with 8:50 remaining.

The Catamounts refused to go away as they embarked on an 11-3 burst to close within 57-51 after two free throws from forward Noah Barnett at the 5:24 mark.  However, Valentine drained a clutch trey on the next trip down the floor, and King answered two Vermont free throws with his final 3-pointer of the night to give UMBC a 63-53 edge at the 4:06 mark.  Valentine put the game out of reach with another triple followed by three free throws, making it 69-55 with just 2:29 left. The Catamounts were never able to recover as UMBC went on to secure their first home win against Vermont since the 2020-21 campaign.

UMBC, which has won five straight games for the first time this season, held Vermont to 34.9 shooting as the visitors went just 22-for-63 overall.

Yalden finished with a double-double of 19 points and 12 boards, while TJ Long scored a team-high 21 points

The Retrievers will host UAlbany on Senior Day on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.