Retrievers

As the seventh seed in next week's Big South Conference tournament, UMBC could play North Carolina-Greensboro for a third time. If that happens, the Retrievers will need to come up with something different.The unanimous preseason choice among league coaches to win the conference, Greensboro continued its push toward the No. 1 seeding yesterday with a 68-49 victory at UMBC Fieldhouse.The Spartans have beaten UMBC twice in two months by a combined 31 points. Unlike before, the Retrievers were overmatched inside against Greensboro's 6-foot-8 seniors, Eric Cuthrell (22 points, 13 rebounds)

"Play With This & These" -- heart and guts -- is Maryland's motto in lacrosse this spring.The Terps could have used some more of that gray matter between the ears -- brains -- at UMBC last night, but they nonetheless overcame a foolish second quarter and a surprising halftime deficit to put away the Retrievers, 18-12."That second quarter was the worst I've been involved in at Maryland," said Brian Dougherty, the Terps' All-American goalie. Nothing physical, just asinine mistakes."Dougherty and Maryland (10-2)

Bucknell University, beset by some of the problems that have hurt the University of Maryland Baltimore County, put away the Retrievers in the last 10 minutes at the UMBC Fieldhouse last night, winding up with a 79-64 victory.It was the eighth straight loss for the Retrievers (1-9).This one was not pretty for either team, although both played reasonably tough defense. Neither shot the ball well, but Bucknell, sparked by Bill Courtney and Pat King, had a 52-41 rebound margin.UMBC, down by as many as 10 points, got within 53-51 on a layup by Spencer Ferguson with 10 minutes left, but the Bison, with five different players contributing, went on a 10-2 run, and the gap did not dip below eight the rest of the way.Bucknell (7-3)

Remember last summer's Indianapolis 500, which was stopped every two laps or so to clean up yet another wreck? UMBC and Charleston Southern staged basketball's version last night, as the Retrievers' 82-67 victory had plenty of collisions but little continuity.UMBC (5-9, 2-3), which had been allowing over 87 points a game, set the tone early, denying Charleston Southern (5-8, 2-4) any access to the basket in the first four minutes of the Big South Conference game, and little thereafter. Free throws were allowed, however, and the two teams combined for 91 -- including 70 in a second half that lasted 80 minutes -- and an assortment of conference records.

Senior guard Skip Saunders became the 10th UMBC men's basketball player to score 1,000 points on his breakaway layup with 9:59 remaining in the first quarter of last night's matchup with Xavier University.Unfortunately for the Retrievers, Saunders' milestone came on a night that belonged to the Musketeers.Xavier, which has won five straight since losing its road opener to Duke, got to start free lancing early, as it opened up a 20-point lead midway through the second half and coasted to a 92-66 victory before 1,761 at UMBC Field House.

A mere victory would have sufficed to ensure No. 11 UMBC a spot in the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament. To coach Don Zimmerman, however, an 11-7 home win over No. 20 Stony Brook in the America East Conference tournament final Saturday night brought with it something nearly as coveted. A needed dose of confidence. "I don't think I've ever seen a team as focused as we were tonight," said Zimmerman, whose team survived a double-overtime scare Wednesday against Binghamton. "Right from the opening faceoff, we were diving on ground balls.

The return to a familiar place and a familiar face weren't enough to lift UMBC, as the Retrievers lost for the eighth time in nine games last night, 75-70 to Campbell.It was the first loss in four tries at UMBC Fieldhouse for the Retrievers, who had played eight of their last nine on the road. The game also marked the return of Dana Harris, the point guard with 407 career assists who had missed two games with a knee injury. The return of his leadership didn't matter, as UMBC blew a five-point lead in the last six minutes.

NEW YORK -- The UMBC men's basketball team that lost, 82-72, to Central Connecticut last night in the Northeast Conference tournament semifinals was not the same one that had won the NEC's respect this season.Those Retrievers were missing. The UMBC team that showed up looked a lot like the Retrievers of November -- the ones who were devoured by Pittsburgh and Maryland. Instead of Steve Francis and Obinna Ekezie, though, the tormentors were guys like Rick Mickens, Victor Payne and Lake Clifton product Corsley Edwards, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds.

UMBC's Brendan Mundorf had hoped to leave his mark in his final regular-season game last night against No. 19 Stony Brook. Instead, the senior all but etched his name in the stadium turf. Mundorf tied a career high with seven goals, including four straight in a span of 2:33 in the third quarter, to lead his team's second-half outburst in a 20-9 win, earning the No. 13 Retrievers both the America East regular-season title and hosting duties for next weekend's conference tournament. It was most goals for UMBC since scoring 20 against Towson in 1999.

The burning question last night at UMBC Fieldhouse was: Which team would show up to play visiting Coastal Carolina?Would it be the team that shot well over 50 percent from the field in two recent wins over Winthrop, or the one that barely could find the rim in losses to Campbell and Towson State?The answer proved to be a little of both in UMBC's 91-73 loss to the Chanticleers.After shooting just 36 percent in the first half, and finding themselves down by 13 at the break, the Retrievers heated up, nailing seven of their first 10 shots to open the second half.