Feb. 17, 2008
Box Score
CATONSVILLE, Md.- For the second-straight game the contest came down to the wire, but this time the Boston University men's basketball team (10-15, 7-6 America East) came up short, as UMBC prevailed, 76-73, Sunday afternoon in the RAC Arena.
The game was a close one from start to finish. UMBC gained a nine-point lead early in the first but was unable to create much separation after BU caught up. The Retrievers and the Terriers traded leads for much of the contest, recording seven ties and 19 lead changes. However, UMBC went 5-for-6 from the line in the final 30 seconds and forced two crucial turnovers to claim the win.
UMBC's Ray Barbosa led all scorers with 26 points. BU had four players in double figures, led by sophomore Corey Lowe's (Newton, Mass.) 21 points. Both Barbosa and Lowe were named America East Players of the Game. Freshman John Holland (Bronx, N.Y.) added 15 points, followed by red-shirt sophomore Tyler Morris' (Indianapolis, Ind.) 14 points and sophomore Scott Brittain's (Oakville, Ont.) 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
BU shot 49.1 percent from the floor and 52.2 percent from three, tying a season high with 12 made triples. UMBC made 54.3 percent of its field goals and scored 22 points off 13 BU turnovers while committing just eight miscues themselves.
The Terriers began the second half on a 9-2 run to take a 44-40 advantage on a Lowe trey at 18:16, but UMBC came right back on a wide-open three by Jay Greene with 16:13 remaining to put the Retrievers back on top, 48-44. The teams stayed tight over the next 10 minutes, with UMBC staying just ahead. BU briefly took the lead twice before knotting the score at 6:13, 63-63, and taking the lead, 65-63, each time on a pair of Brittain free throws.
UMBC moved ahead, 71-67, on a Cavell Johnson dunk at 2:11, and Lowe made the front end of a one-and-one before driving to the basket and laying it in to inch the Terriers to within one, 71-70, with 1:04 to go in the game. Barbosa hit the second of two free throws to make it 72-70 in favor of the Retrievers and then went to the line again to make two more to put UMBC ahead by four, 74-70, with nine seconds left. Lowe drained a tightly defended 3-pointer with 1.3 ticks on the clock, but Cavell Johnson made two free throws and Darryl Proctor gathered in BU's length-of-the-court pass to seal the win.
After trading baskets and free throws to open the game, UMBC hit three straight 3-pointers to extend its lead to 19-10 at 10:57. BU answered, with Holland nailing a three and Brittain getting post touches to trim the Retrievers' lead to 21-19 at 8:22. Holland downed another triple at 8:05 to put the Terriers back on top. UMBC didn't stay down for long. Greene drained a 3-pointer at 6:58 to send the Retrievers out to a 26-22 advantage.
The Terriers again erased UMBC's edge to two, 34-32, on a pair of Brittain foul shots, but the Retrievers' Johnson dunked twice to send UMBC into the locker room up 38-35 despite a buzzer-beating three from Holland.
BU returns to Case Gym to host Maine on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. The game will be televised on NESN.
