LOWELL, MASS. – The UMBC men's basketball program captured its first America East regular-season outright championship since 2008 after knocking off the UMass Lowell River Hawks, 84-60, on Saturday afternoon at the Kennedy Family Athletic Complex. UMBC, which has won eight straight games, earned the top seed in the upcoming Army Reserve #AEPlayoffs, which begin next Saturday. The Retrievers will host a quarterfinal contest at 1:00 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined.
Junior guard
Jah'Likai King drilled 9-of-13 field goal attempts and tied his season-high with 24 points to lead four Retrievers in double-figures. Junior forward
Jose Roberto Tanchyn continued his fine play, collecting his second double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard
Ace Valentine (team-high four assists) scored 14 points and has now reached double-figures in a career-high eight straight contests. Graduate student forward
Josh Odunowo added 11 points and four rebounds.
The Retrievers (20-8, 13-2 AE) held a slim 37-33 lead at intermission despite shooting 55.6 percent and leading by as many as 12 points. UMBC, however, scored the first six points of the second half, with the first two buckets produced by King, taking a 43-33 edge with 17:43 left in the contest.
Leading 47-38 with 14:37 left, UMBC scored eight consecutive points to take a 55-38 advantage at the 12:28 mark. Freshman forward
Riley Jacobs ignited the run with a sensational transition dunk, King hit four free throws, and graduate guard
DJ Armstrong Jr. nailed a jumper to account for the scoring.
The lead continued to swell as the Dawgs took their first 20-point lead, 64-44, with just under nine minutes remaining. The hosts were unable to get any closer than 18 points the rest of the way, with the visitors leading by as many as 26 points down the stretch.
JJ Massaquoi paced the River Hawks (13-17, 8-7 AE) with 17 points.
UMBC shot a blazing 60.3 percent (35-for-58) from the floor, their best clip of the season.
The Retrievers, who won their fourth regular season conference crown in program history, will round out the regular season with a road contest at NJIT on Tuesday evening.
