Retrievers on the rise in AEC

But the Retrievers won road games last week at Binghamton, 73-71, and Stony Brook, 72-53. The problem, though, has been at home, where the Retrievers have gone 1-4 following Tuesday?s tough 65-61 loss to defending conference champion Albany.

UMBC (6-10, 2-1) gets another chance to pick up a home win tonight when it hosts perennial league power Vermont (10-5, 2-0).

“I?m definitely proud with how the team is playing,” UMBC coach Randy Monroe said. “We were down in the second half against both Binghamton and Stony Brook but did a good job of executing down the stretch.”

Junior Brian Hodges is one of the main catalysts behind UMBC?s recent improvement. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard is the ninth-best scorer in the conference at 15.9 points per game despite mainly coming off the bench and playing just 24.1 minutes a game.

Hodges continued his hot shooting by scoring 24 points in the loss to Albany. He also scored 22 points at Binghamton and 20 at Stony Brook and earned his second conference player of the week award for his efforts. He is among the top sixth men in the country, averaging 17.6 points in 12 games coming off the bench.

Monroe said he is also pleased with the play of freshman forward Justin Fry, who is averaging 5.9 points and shooting nearly 53 percent from the floor. Fry?s play, coupled with the performance of fellow post players like Mike Housman, opens the court up for UMBC?s backcourt, Monroe added.

This is especially true now that sophomore point guard Jay Greene (10.5 points, 5.5 assists per game) is back to full strength after dealing with some early-season injuries. His presence also opens things up for fellow guard Chris Pugh, who averages 9.3 points and 4.8 rebounds.

“We have tremendous balance,” Monroe said. “It?s tough for the other team to match up with us because we do a good job of feeding off one another, and it doesn?t have to be the same person having a big game every night for our team to be successful.”