Dreadful shooting from distance does in Dawgs
UMBC travelled to Stony Brook on Wednesday evening, but apparently forgot to bring along their outside shooting. The Retrievers finished a paltry 1-20 from beyond the 3-point arc in a 78-63 loss.
By contrast, the Seawolves (23-6, 11-3) hit 11 of their 25 shots from long range and finished the game shooting 50% from the field.
Stony Brook never trailed in the game and wasted no time by taking a 14-point lead before the midway point of the first half.
UMBC (18-12, 10-5) would cut the lead to single digits with 6:12 remaining in the first half, but Stony Brook held off any potential for a run, and took a 40-29 lead into the locker room.
The Retrievers would come out of the halftime break determined to cut into the lead, and did just that. Junior guard K.J. Jackson converted on a layup with 15:58 on the clock bringing the score to 40-37, but that was as close as they would get.
Poor distance shooting by the Retrievers would prevent any attempt at a full comeback, as they missed their first 16 shots from long distance.
Meanwhile, Stony Brook would continue to remain hot from the floor and effectively put the game away on a steal and dunk by senior guard Jaron Cornish, making the score 67-54 with 5:12 remaining.
The Seawolves got a big outing from redshirt junior G/F Akwasi Yeboah who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Yeboah was 6-14 from the field, including 3-8 from 3-point land.
Sophomore guard Elijah Olaniyi poured in 15 points for the Seawolves and teammate redshirt sophomore G/F Andrew Garcia finished with 14 points.
The Retrievers were led by Jackson (18 points) and graduate student Joe Sherburne (16 points). Junior guard Ricky Council II came off the bench to contribute 10 points, and made the only 3-pointer of the game for the team.
The loss eliminates the Retrievers from the regular season America East conference title. They will, however, host a quarterfinal game in the conference tournament.
UMBC finishes the regular season 4-4 on the road in conference games, they now head home for their regular season finale against New Hampshire on Saturday.
