By: Corey Johns
Senior Staff Writer

Sometimes it’s as simple as hitting shots from the line for a win. UMBC went 18-for-20 (90 percent) from the free throw line in their 61-56 victory over Toledo. Free throw shooting has been the key all year for the Retrievers. In wins the team made 80 percent of their shots from the line and in losses they have hit just 55 percent of their shots.

“There are going to be games that you are going to be in at crunch time and you are going to be in battles,” coach Randy Monroe said. “What is going to be the divider? Usually it’s free throw shooting that makes a big difference.”

UMBC’s defense also made it a difficult night for the Rockets. The defense caused 13 turnovers including five shot clock violations. But what sealed it for UMBC was an eight minute scoring drought by Toledo in which UMBC scored 10 points to cancel out a seven point deficit and take the lead for good.

“The defensive intensity was there even when we got out of our zone and went to man-to-man,” Monroe said. “In man we had to pay attention to [Tyrone] Kent because he is a terrific player and definitely a concern. But when we switched defenses and made a commitment to contain Toledo we did a really good job.”

Kent led Toledo in scoring with 19 points but was held to just two points off of free throws after the switch was made with nine minutes to go in the game.

Even though the offense struggled, four Retrievers scored in double figures, led by Darryl Proctor and Jay Greene with 14 points each. Twelve of Greene’s points game in the second half.

“I just kept shooting and they started dropping in the second half,” Greene said. “The coaches just told me to shoot and I can’t stop shooting because I have to help my team score and luckily my shot felt good in the second half.”

To go along with his 14 point game Greene also led the team with six assists and was second with five rebounds. Proctor led with eight boards.

Richard Flemming, who made his RAC debut after being suspended for the opener, scored double-digits (10) in his fifth straight game to open the season. In the midst of the 10-0 run UMBC was being pressured and missing shots but Flemming dunked the ball off a fast break that seemed to give UMBC new energy to finish the game.

“Rich can be very good,” Monroe said. “You haven’t even seen the best of Richard Flemming yet. It was his first game so he was a little nervous but he has a great play with Jay that got our guys back up into the game.”

A scary moment for UMBC was at the 2:32 mark when Matt Spadafora went up for a shot and was elbowed in the right eye on his way down and hit his head. He had two cuts, one over and one under his eye, that kept him out of the game. The extent of his injury was unknown at the time of questioning.

With the win UMBC has won nine straight home games and 18 of their last 19 dating back to Feb. 18, 2007.