CATONSVILLE, Md. (Interstat) — The UMBC Retrievers held off the Albany Great Danes 66-62 in a men’s NCAA Division I basketball game Saturday at Retriever Activities Center. Albany’s Tarique Foster scored 17 points and Okechukwu Okeke added 14, but UMBC’s balance proved decisive. Ace Valentine led the Retrievers with 14 points and five assists. Jah’Likai King added 13 points. UMBC capitalized on Albany’s mistakes, scoring 20 points off 11 turnovers. The Retrievers also outscored Albany 10-3 from the free-throw line in the second half to secure the win. Albany shot 52% from the floor but was hampered by its giveaways. UMBC improved to 18-8. Albany fell to 10-18.

CATONSVILLE, Md. (Interstat) — In a tense America East Conference rematch decided in the final seconds, the Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers edged the Albany Great Danes 66-62 on Saturday at the Retriever Activities Center. The victory completed a regular-season sweep for the Retrievers, who also won by three points in Albany on Jan. 31, and solidified their position near the top of the conference standings. UMBC improved to 18-8 overall, while Albany fell to 10-18. The most critical sequence unfolded in the game’s waning moments. With UMBC clinging to a 64-62 lead and 14 seconds remaining, Retrievers guard Ace Valentine missed a three-pointer that would have sealed the outcome. Teammate Jose Roberto Tanchyn, a 6-foot-10 forward from Cordoba, Spain, secured the offensive rebound and immediately scored on a putback layup while being fouled with 13 seconds left. Tanchyn completed the three-point play at the free-throw line, pushing the UMBC lead to 66-62. Albany’s final opportunity to close the gap vanished when Tanchyn blocked Amir Lindsey’s layup attempt with five seconds left and secured the defensive rebound to end the game. The Retrievers’ ability to capitalize on Albany’s mistakes proved to be a decisive factor. UMBC scored 20 points off turnovers compared to just nine for Albany. The Great Danes were plagued by 15 turnovers, several by key players in crucial moments. Albany was led by a dominant performance from forward Okechukwu Okeke. The 6-foot-10 junior from East Chicago, Indiana, played 38 minutes and finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, a block and three steals. His interior presence kept the Great Danes competitive throughout. He was supported by Tarique Foster, who scored a game-high 17 points, including five three-pointers, and Amir Lindsey, who added 15 points and four rebounds. UMBC countered with a balanced offensive effort. Ace Valentine, a hometown product from Columbia, Maryland, orchestrated the attack with 14 points, five assists and three steals. Jah’Likai King contributed 13 points, while Tanchyn’s late heroics capped his 10-point, five-rebound, two-assist, two-block performance. Forward Caden Diggs provided significant energy off the bench with 10 points and seven rebounds. The game was a defensive struggle from the outset, with both teams shooting below 40 percent from the floor. The first half featured eight lead changes and five ties, concluding with UMBC holding a narrow 30-28 advantage after a back-and-forth period. The Retrievers appeared to seize control early in the second half, using a 13-2 run to build a 46-33 lead with 13:39 remaining. The surge was fueled by three-pointers from King and Diggs, along with transition baskets generated by Valentine’s defense. Albany, demonstrating the resilience it showed in recent close wins over Binghamton and Bryant, refused to capitulate. The Great Danes chipped away at the deficit, primarily through the work of Okeke in the paint and timely outside shooting. A three-pointer by Jaden Kempson with 3:51 left cut the UMBC lead to 58-57, setting the stage for the dramatic finish. Over the final four minutes, the teams exchanged leads three times. A driving layup by Valentine gave UMBC a 62-61 edge with 2:43 left. After a Ma’Kye Taylor hook shot put Albany back ahead 63-62, Valentine answered with a clutch three-pointer from the wing off a Tanchyn assist for a 64-63 Retrievers lead with 2:27 remaining. Both teams then endured a scoring drought of over two minutes, marked by missed shots and turnovers, before Tanchyn’s game-sealing rebound and score. The result defied the pregame over/under line of 143.5, as the teams combined for only 128 points in a physical, grinding contest. UMBC’s victory also exceeded the statistical probability models, which heavily favored the Retrievers at home. Albany looks to rebound when it hosts Maine on Thursday. Maryland-Baltimore County continues its conference schedule at home against Bryant on the same night.

Preview of Saturday’s America East Men’s Basketball Game CATONSVILLE, Md. (Interstat) — A surging Maryland-Baltimore County looks to continue its push atop the America East standings when it hosts struggling Albany on Saturday at Retriever Activities Center. The Retrievers (17-8, 9-3 America East) enter on a three-game winning streak, including a decisive 75-62 victory over conference heavyweight Vermont on Thursday. Junior guard Jah’Likai King led the way with 24 points in that win, highlighting a recent offensive surge. King averaged 20.5 points in wins over New Hampshire and Vermont last week, a significant jump from his four-point outing in the first meeting against Albany. That prior matchup, a 68-65 UMBC road win on Jan. 31, will be fresh in both teams’ minds. The Great Danes (9-17, 4-8) have lost five of their last seven games since, though they are coming off a 77-74 road win at Binghamton on Feb. 14. Albany will lean heavily on guard Amir Lindsey, who has been a workhorse, playing 39 or 40 minutes in six consecutive games. He scored 23 points in the win over Binghamton and had 23 points and seven assists in a loss to UMass Lowell on Feb. 7. However, he was held to nine points on 3-of-14 shooting in the January loss to UMBC. Beyond King, UMBC has shown balanced scoring, with Ace Valentine adding 12 points and five assists against Vermont. The Retrievers have been dominant at home in conference play, winning their last four by an average of 18 points. Albany’s challenge will be finding consistent scoring beyond Lindsey and replicating the rebounding effort from the Binghamton win, where Okechukwu Okeke and Jaden Kempson combined for 22 boards. The Great Danes rank near the bottom of the conference in scoring offense. A UMBC win would solidify its position in the top tier of the league, while Albany seeks a season-altering road upset to build momentum for the final stretch before the conference tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. EST.