University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
8-8, 1-2
University of Maryland Baltimore County
2-13, 0-2
Men's Hoops Holds Off UMBC, 63-60, For The First America East Win Of The Year
1/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BALTIMORE - The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team shot 57 percent from the field in the second half to hold onto a 63-60 win at RAC Arena over conference foe University Maryland, Baltimore County on Sunday afternoon.
UNH improves to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in conference. UMBC falls to 2-13, 0-2 AE this season.
Jacoby Armstrong (Sachse, Texas) led all Wildcat scorers with 16 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 1:30 left in the game. Daniel Dion (Cedar Park, Texas) recorded 13 points on the afternoon, 11 in the second half, while classmate Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) scored 11 points and set a career high in assists (6).
UNH shot 8-for-21 from the field in the opening frame and 1 of 9 from beyond the arc. Those numbers improved to 16 of 28 from the field in the final half, and 5 of 11 on on treys. Overall, UNH shot 24 of 49 from the field and 6 of 20 from beyond the arc.
UMBC made 7 of 23 baskets in the first half but improved to 14-for-26 in the second and 21 of 49 overall. The Retrievers limited their turnovers to just nine against UNH's 15 but couldn't bury the extra possessions as UNH held a 10-8 advantage on points off turnovers.
The Retrievers won the rebounding battle 31-29, but both teams were even at 7-7 on second chance points.
To open up the second half, down 23-22, Armstrong slammed one home as part of a 6-0 run to pull ahead 28-23, which forced a UMBC timeout just three minutes into the final frame .
UNH took the lead right at the start of the second frame and never trailed for the rest of the afternoon.
Two Dion 3s and a Matt Miller (Arnold, Md.) triple extended the 'Cats lead to 40-33, the largest in the game, with 12:04 left in the half. Miller finished with 11 points and five rebounds in the return to his home state of Maryland.
The Retrievers would claw to one point, 42-41, following an 8-2 run as Wayne Sparrow recorded half of the eight points during the run.
Sparrow drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to even the score at 50-50 with just 6:36 to play, which was the closest UMBC came to lead in the final minutes.
A Leissner bucket from downtown extended the lead to 59-54, and shortly after another bucket from the freshman forward held the lead to four, 61-57, with 25 seconds to play.
Smith drilled two free throws with 17 seconds left to hold a 63-59 lead in the final seconds.
Following a UMBC free throw, a 3-pointer at the buzzer on their next possession wouldn't go.
Poor shooting in the opening frame held both teams to under 24 points.
UNH rattled off an 8-0 run to take a 8-3 lead, just under 5:00 into the game. Armstrong recorded six of his eight first half points during the stretch.
UMBC retaliated creating a 12-4 run to regain a 15-12 lead with 8:00 minutes remaining. Cody Joyce led the Retrievers with half of the points throughout the run.
The Wildcats wouldn't regain a first half lead until the 43 second mark when Dion looked off a defender and got a floater to drop inside the paint with a score of 22-21.
Up Next, New Hampshire returns home to host Hartford University Wednesday, Jan. 14 (7 p.m.). To purchase tickets for this game, as well as upcoming contests, visit UNHWildcats.com/tickets or call (603) 862-4000. For the most up-to-date information on the UNH men's basketball program, check out UNHWildcats.com.
