#1 UMBC and #8 New Hampshire Meet in the First Round of the America East Playoffs

By: Ethan Hennessy

Catonsville Maryland

#1 seed UMBC and #8 seed New Hampshire met in the America East Playoff Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon in Catonsville Maryland. UMBC won both of the regular season matchups. New Hampshire is looking for their first ever win on the road in a conference tournament. The Wildcats are 0-18 in previous such games. UMBC entered the tournament with the number one seed for just the third time in program history. The Retrievers previously held the number one seed in 2008 and 2021.

UMBC forced Hew Hampshire to settle for deep threes early. On the other end UMBC hit their first four field goals. Wildcats coach Nathan Davis called a quick timeout before the first media break after an Ace Valentine layup put UMBC up 10-0. UMBC leaned on a strong home crowd early with the student section causing New Hampshire to miss their first four free throws and rushing the Wildcats into a missed show on another offensive possession with the fake shot clock countdown. After the game coach Jim Ferry said how the crowd was “electric” and it turned six point runs into ten or twelve point runs.

New Hampshire showed some fight and got within single digits in the final minutes of the first half. A 24-10 Wildcats run got the score to a four point game at halftime, 34-30.

Early in the second half UMBC defenders got in the passing lanes and intercepted New Hampshire passes. Jim Ferry said it was huge, and that was something they worked on in practice. UMBC continued to shoot at an efficient pace in the second half. The Retrievers got a lift from the reserves as Caden Digs and Riley Jacobs providing some scoring variety. UMBC maintained a large lead for the rest of the game and Retriever fans came to their feet in the final seconds as their team coasted to a 84-69 victory.

UMBC will await to find out its opponent. They will host either #4 UMass Lowell, #6 Maine, or #7 Bryant in the semifinal round of the America East Playoffs.