Living dangerously, short-handed UMBC tempted fate one more time yesterday at RAC Arena and wriggled off the upset hook yet again.
It took some last-minute heroics from super sixth-man Cavell Johnson and two clutch free throws by point guard Jay Greene for the Retrievers to escape with a frenetic 63-59 victory over hard-charging Binghamton.
On a day when some of UMBC's greatest athletes were inducted into the school's Hall of Fame, the Retrievers wrote another chapter in a trend of grabbing big leads, then fighting off furious comebacks.
"We've been in games like that before," Johnson said after UMBC blew a 20-point lead and then won the game in the final 80 seconds. "We have confidence we're going to make plays in that situation."
The Retrievers' fifth straight win kept them alone in first place in the America East at 9-2 (17-7 overall). It also marked the end of a grueling three-game stretch in which they played without leading scorer Brian Hodges (ankle).
Minus Hodges, the Retrievers' six-man rotation wore down in the second half. They out-rebounded Binghamton (10-13, 6-5) by nine in the first half, but were pounded, 23-9, on the glass in the second. Fatigue, maybe?
"We're not using that word," UMBC coach Randy Monroe said. "It's a mental letdown. That's one thing we talk about. You have to fight through things, and this team is doing a tremendous job with that."
Reggie Fuller scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half, when the Bearcats stormed back from a 42-22 deficit to tie the game at 59 with 2:01 to play.
Johnson - who made six of seven shots and scored 13 points - broke the tie with a put-back, then blocked a shot by Forbes and got the rebound. With 13 seconds left, Greene (11 points and one technical foul for a stare-down with Binghamton's Mike Gordon) converted both ends of a one-and-one to give UMBC a four-point lead. Binghamton missed three shots at the end.
UMBC has seven days off until it plays Boston University. Monroe said he would give the team "a couple" of days off before returning to practice. It figures to be time well spent.
ken.murray@baltsun.com
BINGHAMTON-Trifunovic 1-5 0-0 2, Fuller 9-11 1-1 19, Herbert 2-8 0-0 6, Gordon 2-7 0-2 4, Lukusa 2-9 1-2 6, Jackson 5-12 1-1 13, Forbes 3-7 2-2 9, Olomo 0-0 0-0 0, Montgomery 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 5-8 59. UMBC-Fry 4-7 2-2 10, Proctor 5-12 2-3 12, Greene 3-8 4-4 11, Spadafora 1-5 5-7 7, Barbosa 3-10 3-5 10, McKnight 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 6-7 1-1 13. Totals 22-49 17-22 63. Half-UMBC 33-18. 3-point goals-Binghamton 6-20 (Herbert 2-5, Jackson 2-6, Forbes 1-3, Lukusa 1-4, Gordon 0-2), UMBC 2-13 (Greene 1-4, Barbosa 1-6, Proctor 0-1, Spadafora 0-2). Rebounds-Binghamton 34 (Fuller 12), UMBC 29 (Proctor 7). Assists-Binghamton 12 (Forbes 4), UMBC 14 (Proctor 5). Total fouls-Binghamton 17, UMBC 11. Technicals-Gordon, Greene. A-2,606.