UMBC clinched its first America East regular-season title and qualified for a berth in the National Invitation Tournament with last night's 71-68 overtime victory over New Hampshire in front of an announced 3,712 at RAC Arena.
The Retrievers, however, are still setting their sights on the bigger prize.
UMBC has won eight consecutive games - its longest streak since winning 11 straight in the 1998-99 season. After the victory, UMBC fans stormed the court in celebration, but coach Randy Monroe said the ultimate goal is to win the conference tournament for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
"I am happy with what we accomplished tonight, and it is a tremendous step for our program, but our goal is to go to the Big Dance," Monroe said. "I told the guys before the game that New Hampshire was going to come in loose. They played us tough up there. It was a dog-cat fight tonight."
Ray Barbosa led UMBC (20-7, 12-2 American East) with 21 points, Darryl Proctor scored 14, and Jay Greene and Cavell Johnson each added 11. After trailing nearly the entire second half, UMBC took the lead 57-54 on a three-pointer by Barbosa with 1:42 remaining. New Hampshire's Tyrone Conley, however, sent the game to overtime on a three-pointer with 17 seconds left.
In the extra period, UMBC jumped out to a 65-57 lead on a jumper by Barbosa and two three-pointers by Greene. A three-pointer by New Hampshire's Tyrece Gibbs (22 points) cut the margin to five with 45.1 seconds left. Barbosa then went 6-for-6 from the line to seal the win.
"We had to score late, so I had to make something happen," Barbosa said. "Jay hit a couple of threes down the stretch to help us get that separation."
UMBC opened the game on a 19-9 run, and New Hampshire initially had trouble trying to contain the Retrievers' run-and-gun offense. The Wildcats, however, began to spread out their offense and outscored UMBC 17-8 in the final 10 minutes for a 28-27 lead at halftime.
Gibbs led the charge for New Hampshire (8-19, 5-10), scoring 11 of his points in the first half. UMBC made 11 of 25 shots (44 percent) from the field in the first half and 23 of 50 in the game.
Each time New Hampshire appeared to pull away, UMBC came up with a clutch shot and timely turnover. A jumper by Barbosa tied the game at 45 with 8:20 remaining, and the Retrievers began to dictate the tempo of the game and eventually forced overtime.
The Wildcats shot 11-for-28 (39.3 percent) from the field in the second half after going 10-for-25 before halftime.
NEW HAMPSHIRE-Diliegro 1-3 0-0 2, Christensen 4-17 1-1 11, Gibbs 8-19 0-0 22, Conley 4-7 0-2 12, Abreu 7-14 0-0 18, Valladares 0-1 0-2 0, Tchatchoua 0-1 3-4 3, Gilchrese 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 4-9 68. UMBC-Fry 1-1 0-0 2, Proctor 6-9 2-3 14, Greene 4-8 0-0 11, Spadafora 4-6 0-1 10, Barbosa 6-20 6-6 21, Johnson 5-8 1-1 11, Hodges 0-3 2-4 2. Totals 26-55 11-15 71. Half-New Hampshire, 28-27. Regulation-57-57. 3-point goals-New Hampshire 16-41 (Gibbs 6-14, Conley 4-6, Abreu 4-9, Christensen 2-11, Tchatchoua 0-1), UMBC 8-23 (Greene 3-6, Barbosa 3-11, Spadafora 2-3, Hodges 0-3). Fouled out-Conley. Rebounds-New Hampshire 32 (Diliegro 9), UMBC 38 (Johnson 8). Assists-New Hampshire 12 (Christensen 5), UMBC 12 (Greene 9). Total fouls-New Hampshire 16, UMBC 14. A-3,712.