Umbc

Scotty McRae came off the bench to score 21 points and Albany (N.Y.) defeated UMBC 75-62 on Saturday night. McRae made 7 of 9 field goal attempts and was good on all seven of his free throw tries. Tim Ambrose had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Mike Black added 15 points for the Great Danes (7-21, 2-11 America East Conference), who snapped an eight-game losing streak. It was the first win for the Great Danes since beating UMBC 76-79 on Jan. 16. The Great Danes shot 52.9 percent (27-for-51 and outrebounded UMBC 44-32.

UMBC opened the season without Scott Hopmann, and the status of the junior midfielder is unclear. The Annapolis native and St. Mary's graduate, who scored 11 goals and posted 13 points last season, has missed most of the preseason because of a hamstring injury. Hamstrings are notoriously finicky, which is why coach Don Zimmerman said the team is being cautious with Hopmann's return. “We're hoping,” Zimmerman said when asked if Hopmann might be available for Sunday's contest against Rutgers.

When UMBC tangles with America East rival Binghamton in Vestal, N.Y., this Saturday night at 7, conference leader Stony Brook and Albany will face off at the same time just 140 miles to the northeast. If the Retrievers (5-6 overall and 3-1 in the league) win and the Seawolves (4-9. 3-1) lose, UMBC will capture the regular-season title and the top seed and homefield advantage in the America East Tournament. For the record, Retrievers coach Don Zimmerman said he will not be seeking updates on Stony Brook from his assistant coaches during his team's contest against the Bearcats.

As far as coach Don Zimmerman is concerned, UMBC's contest this Saturday against visiting Hartford is more than just the team's opener in the America East. It also represents a new beginning. “This is the second season,” Zimmerman said Tuesday. “We're halfway through our schedule and now we go into conference play. Conference play is always something that we put a great deal of emphasis on. We want to do well in the conference. We're starting off by playing the defending conference champion in Hartford, and they're always a tough team.

UMBC may be 1-2 this season, but two of those losses have been by a grand margin of three goals. Dropping decisions of 10-8 to Robert Morris Feb. 18 and 10-9 in overtime to No. 20 Fairfield on Saturday might be moral victories for a program that is looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009, but that's not the approach coach Don Zimmerman is taking. “We're close, but we've got to find ways to do the little things better, and that's what we've been working on,” he said Monday afternoon.

The University of Maryland Baltimore County became national college chess champions today after beating three teams in what is known as the final four of chess. Alan Sherman, director of the college's chess club and associate professor of computer science, said the final teams were some of the strongest UMBC has faced recently. UMBC has won the tournament six of the past 10 years. The weekend-long tournament was held at the University of Texas at Brownsville, and included that college as well as the University of Texas at Dallas, UMBC and Texas Tech University.

Chauncey Gilliam, the leading scorer for UMBC's basketball team this season, is transferring to Akron, Retrievers coach Randy Monroe said Wednesday. The 6-foot-5 Gilliam averaged 13.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 29.3 minutes a game this year. He is from Columbia, but played at Brewster (N.H.) Academy. "He decided to leave because he wanted to play at a higher level," Monroe said. Gilliam will sit out the 2010-11 season before becoming eligible to play at Akron.

UMBC and Loyola open their 2010 Division I lacrosse seasons Saturday, and the key for both will be the first quarter. Loyola is at Navy and UMBC hosts Delaware, and both Navy and Delaware dominated in their season openers nearly a week ago. Delaware beat up on Saint Joseph's, 15-5, and Navy defeated Virginia Military Institute, 16-5. UMBC and Loyola have to play well in the first quarter because they aren't used to competing at game speed yet. Teams can practice as much as possible, but until they play in a game, they're still at practice speed.

Here is the fourth installment of a series that checks in with the seven Division I programs in the state to give a glimpse into the past and the future. Teams are scheduled to appear according to the chronological order in which their seasons ended. Thursday's visit was with Johns Hopkins. Friday's visit is with UMBC. REVIEW The good: The Retrievers (7-8 overall and 3-2 in the America East) qualified for the conference tournament for the 10th time in the 10 years the program has been a member of the league, but unlike the previous three seasons, the team advanced beyond the tournament semifinal round with a 15-13 comeback win against Hartford on May 2. UMBC fell to then-No.

Dylan Talley scored 25 points and Mahamoud Jabbi had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead host Binghamton to an 81-61 victory over UMBC. Talley was 11-for-16 and Jabbi was 8-for-11 from the field to help the Bearcats (12-17, 7-7 America East Conference) roll to a 46-29 halftime lead on their way to ending a four-game losing streak. Chauncey Gilliam led the Retrievers (3-25, 2-13) with 21 points. Saturday: Tyrone Conley made his only basket of the game with 0.7 of a second remaining to lead visiting New Hampshire (11-15)