UMBC's 58-53 win over Longwood at RAC Arena on Sunday snapped an 0-9 start, but perhaps more importantly, it pumped some much-needed morale into the players and coaches.
"It was a weight off our shoulders," coach Aki Thomas said Thursday morning. "You could feel the tension building, being 0-9. And our guys have worked extremely hard and not really seeing any success when it comes to winning games, you could feel some tension.
"To finally get that first win on Sunday, you could just feel the relief in the group. It was a much-needed win, and we definitely played hard enough to win. That was a game that I thought we definitely played hard for 40 minutes and we executed well -- well enough to win the game. So it was good for our guys to get that win."
Thomas said he has not noticed the victory changing the players' mindsets.
"We have a hungry team," he said. "We're hungry, and we don't settle. They won one. They're not satisfied with one win on Sunday. The sense I get from the group that is they want to prove that this group here is a good team and can compete in any game they play in."
UMBC's nine victories in the 2013-14 season was a program-high since the 2008-09 squad had 15, but last year's team had just one winning streak of two games. Saturday's road game at Kennesaw State (4-7) represents a chance for the Retrievers to begin their own run.
"Hopefully, just the feeling of getting the win will carry over and knowing how we got it done," Thomas said. "Executing, working hard, following the game plan, doing the things we know we needed to do -- hopefully, that will help us coming up Saturday against Kennesaw State.
"Obviously, it's a road game, and road games are tough, but we want to go down there and try to put a string of games together here."