College Basketball Preview: UMBC (9-8, 1-1) vs. Mass-Lowell (8-9, 0-2)
The Retrievers of UMBC (9-8, 1-1) travel to the Tsongas Center on Saturday to face off against the River Hawks of Mass-Lowell (8-9, 0-2). Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 pm.
This will be the Retrievers second consecutive conference road game after falling to the Hartford Hawks (8-8, 1-0) 66-64 in overtime on Wednesday evening.
In that game UMBC trailed by as many as 12 points early before mounting a comeback, eventually taking a five-point lead with 1:53 remaining. Junior forward Arkel Lamar spearheaded the comeback with 14 second-half points.
But the Hawks, led by seniors J.R. Lynch and George Blagojevic mounted a rally of their own, forcing the game into overtime. Ultimately they took control, helped by the Retrievers poor free-throw shooting (12-18).
The Retrievers are led by graduate student forward Joe Sherburne (14.3 PPG), followed by sophomore forward Brandon Horvath (11.6 PPG). Junior guard K.J. Jackson leads the teams with 69 assists and 37 steals.
The River Hawks are led by junior guard Christian Lutete who averages nearly 17 points per game. Sophomore guard Obadiah Noel checks in at just over 16 points per game. Senior guard Ryan Jones leads the team with 66 assists.
The Retrievers have won the last five meetings between the two squads including a 89-77 victory in the America East quarterfinals last season at the UMBC Event Center.
