LEXINGTON, Va. (AP) — Stan Okoye and Keith Gabriel each scored 24 points to help Virginia Military Institute pull away from Maryland-Baltimore County 84-79 on Saturday.
UMBC (0-4) tied the game 73-73 with 3:33 left to play after Quentin Jones converted a 3-point play. But Gabriel and Okoye scored eight of VMI’s next 10 points as the Keydets finished the game on an 11-6 run.
Michael Sparks added 11 points and Nick Gore chipped in with 10 for VMI.
UMBC was led by Chase Plummer, Chris De La Rosa and Thomas Chandler. Plummer, who scored UMBC’s first six points of the second half, finished with 16 points but fouled out with 6:13 left in the game. De La Rosa added 17 and Chandler finished with 23 in the loss.
UMBC outshot VMI (3-1) from the field (53.8-44.6) and outrebounded the Keydets 36-35, but the Retrievers committed 18 turnovers to just nine for VMI.
