BALTIMORE – Junior guard
Ace Valentine poured in 23 points to lead the No. 1-seeded UMBC men's basketball team to an 84-69 victory over the No. 8-seeded New Hampshire Wildcats in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Air Force Reserve America East Playoffs on Saturday afternoon at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. The Retrievers, who have won ten straight contests, will host a semifinal contest at the 'Peake on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m. against fourth-seeded UMass Lowell.
(BUY TICKETS ) UMBC is now 22-8 and has recorded its most wins since the 2017-2018 campaign (25).
Valentine paced four Retrievers in double figures in points as he matched his career high and established a new personal-best with five treys in eight attempts. The Second Team All-Conference pick, who hit 7-of-11 field goals, also added five rebounds and four assists. Junior guard
Jah'Likai King (13 points), graduate student guard
DJ Armstrong Jr. (3-of-7 3-pointers), and sophomore guard
Caden Diggs (11) were also in double figures.
UMBC, which is one game shy of tying the program record for most consecutive victories, shot 50.9 percent overall, went 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) from behind the arc, and converted 17-of-18 (94.4 percent) of their attempts from the foul line.
The Retrievers jumped out to a 24-6 advantage at the 10:28 mark of the opening half, buoyed by a raucous home crowd. Valentine scored eight points during the opening burst, including a pair from behind the arc.
The hosts led 34-18 after freshman forward
Riley Jacobs (eight points, five boards) made a pair of free throws with 3:33 left in the opening stanza. However, the Wildcats scored the final 12 points to cut the deficit to just 34-30 at intermission. Guard Jack Graham knocked down consecutive 3-pointers to key the run.
UMBC opened the second half on a 7-1 spurt to extend the lead back to double-digits, 41-31 at the 17:56 mark. Valentine (4 points) and Armstrong Jr. (triple) accounted for the scoring.
The Wildcats did not go away without one last charge, trimming the deficit to 41-37 with 14:31 remaining.
UMBC responded with ten consecutive points to widen their lead to 52-37 with 11:38 remaining, capped by an alley-oop dunk by Jacobs off an inbounds pass from Valentine.
The Retrievers were never challenged the rest of the way and led by as many as 21 points on four different occasions. UMBC, now 13-2 at home, committed just seven turnovers and held the visitors to zero points on fast break points in the contest.
Forward Belal El Shakery scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Wildcats, who finished with a 9-21 record.
UMBC swept UMass Lowell (15-17, 9-7 AE) during the conference season.
