UMBC nudges Bears

BALTIMORE, Md. – Tom Young converted a pair of free throws with 24 seconds remaining to enable the University of Maryland-Baltimore County to withstand a furious University of Maine rally and collect an 80-77 America East victory Thursday night.

UMBC dealt the Black Bears their fifth straight loss and improved to 11-17 overall, 7-8 in the conference. Maine, which has now lost six of its last seven, fell to 11-17 and 6-9, respectively.

UMBC closed out the first half with a 21-8 run that transformed a 26-16 deficit into a 37-34 halftime lead.

The Retrievers then opened the second half with a 7-2 flurry to expand the lead to eight.

Maine made several runs but UMBC always answered.

Philippe Tchekane Bofia’s three-pointer with 30 seconds remaining cut the lead to one before Young hit his crucial free throws.

Chris Pugh’s 20 points paced the Retrievers. Brian Hodges had 19 points; Mike Housman contributed 12 points and game-high eight rebounds. Jay Greene chipped in with 11 points and a game-high nine assists.

Kevin Reed had a game-high 24 points for Maine and tied the school career record by playing in his 117th game. Chris Bruff had 14 points, Junior Bernal had 12 points, seven rebounds and six steals and Tchekane Bofia had 11 points.

RETRIEVERS 80, BLACK BEARS 77

Maine (11-17) UMBC (11-17)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Bruff 7 15 0 1 14 Fry 3 4 6

Ahvnniemi 2 3 0 2 4 Housman 4 10 12

Sheets 2 7 2 3 8 Greene 4 9 11

Bernal 6 8 0 0 12 Pugh 6 8 20

Reed 8 19 4 5 24 Young 3 5 2 8

Socoby 1 4 2 2 4 Spadafora 1 4

Cook 0 0 0 0 0 Hodges 7 13 3 19

Bofia 4 5 2 2 11 Eshietdho 0 0

Totals 30 61 10 15 77 Totals 28 53 14 16 80

Maine 34 77

UMBC 37 80

3-pt. goals – Maine (7-17): Reed 4-11, Sheets 2-3, Tchekane Bofia 1-1, Socoby 0-2; UMBC (10-21): Pugh 4-6, Housman 2-2, Greene 2-6, Hodges 2-7

Attendance: 2,609