College Basketball Preview: UMBC (19-12, 11-5) vs. UAlbany (12-19, 7-9)
March Madness is upon us! The UMBC men’s basketball will face the UAlbany Great Danes in the Quarterfinals of the America East conference tournament tomorrow afternoon at the UMBC Event Center.
The Retrievers (19-12, 11-5) are coming off a 56-53 victory against New Hampshire at home on Saturday, a game in which they trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half.
The Retrievers struggled from long range all game, hitting just three of their 20 shots from distance. Ironically, though, it was a 3-pointer by freshman guard Jose Placer in the closing seconds of the game that proved to be the game-winner.
Graduate student forward Joe Sherburne led the Retrievers with 15 points and junior guard K.J. Jackson checked in with 10 points. The 18-point comeback was the UMBC’s largest comeback win of the year.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak and secured a third place finish in the America East conference standings.
Sherburne leads UMBC in points per game, averaging 14.3 with Jackson chipping in 12.5. The Retrievers’ defense once again carried the day, holding the Wildcats to just five points over the last 11:43 of the game.
UAlbany (12-19, 7-9) is coming off a win at Binghamton on Tuesday evening to close out their regular season. After defeating the Retrievers in February, the Great Danes lost two of their last three.
Redshirt freshman guard Cameron Healy leads the Great Danes in scoring, coming in at 16.2 points per game. Junior guard Ahmad Clark checks in with a ppg average of 15.8. UAlbany is 4-4 on the road this season in conference games.
The teams split the season series, with each team winning on their home court. The Retrievers won an exciting affair on January 19th, 65-64, in overtime. On February 23rd the Great Danes won, 84-75.
Tip–off tomorrow is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
