Jamar Smith led all scorers with 25 points against UMBC on Thursday night.
Boxscore
Bear Shots
Bears Shots II
BALTIMORE, Md. – Morgan State was losing to UMBC by as much as 20 points before launching a furious comeback in the 2nd half that fell short as the Retrievers held on to win 84-76 at RAC Arena before a crowd of 2,451 fans.
Morgan State dropped to 3-3 on the season, while UMBC improved to 5-1 and extended their winning streak to four games.
Senior guard Jamar Smith led all scorers a season-high 25 points and shot 9-for-16 from the floor, while Marquise Kately had another solid night for the Bears with 22 points (9-12 FG), eight rebounds and three blocks in 39 minutes. Reggie Holmes had 14 points and Jermaine Bolden added 9 points and five assists.
UMBC had four players score in double-figures. Senior guard Ray Barbosa led the Retrievers with 21 points, Cavell Johnson posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds with a game-high four blocked shots. Former Coppin State forward Darryl Proctor added 18 points, while UMBC’s leading scorer Brian Hodges chipped in 13 points.
UMBC lit up the scoreboard in the first half by jumping out 8-0 and extending the lead to as many as 20 points at 38-18 with 4:31 remaining in the first half. Morgan State had difficulty against the Retriever zone defense, but went on a 14-5 run behind the play of Smith and Kately to slice the lead to 11 points in the final minute of the half. But the Retrievers scored two field goals in the final six seconds of the half on a put-back by Justin Fry and a lay-up by Barbosa after a steal by Jay Greene.
The Retrievers extended their 47-32 halftime lead to 16 points at 65-49 with 13:32 remaining, but the Bears went on a 10-0 to come within 65-59 at the 11:05 mark. The key sequence would occur with Morgan State trailing 73-68 with five minutes remaining as they had three chances to make it a one-possession game. But they committed a turnover and Kately and Smith misfired and Barbosa hit driving layups on UMBC’s next two trips. Proctor’s inside layup with 1:04 left gave UMBC an 80-71 advantage and sealed the victory.
Morgan State was outrebounded for the first time this season as the Retreivers held a 41-36 advantage on the boards and scored 27 points off of second chance opportunities.
The Bears shot 41.9% from the field, and shot 50% (15-30) in the second half, while UMBC hit a season high 48.5% (33/68) from the floor.
The Bears will attempt to bounce back when they take on cross-town rival Coppin State in the Coppin Center on Saturday (Dec. 1) at 4 p.m.
