The Retrievers men’s basketball team opened the season in a shockingly close game at Wake Forest University. The Retrievers played an overall good game, but due to a failure to capitalize on free throws and an inability to recover rebounds, the Retrievers lost 73–78.

The two teams kept the game close, with neither team leading by more than six at any point. However, the game was ultimately decided by the difference in success each team had from the free throw line.

Wake Forest succeeded in making 23 of their 30 free throws, with seven of them coming from eight attempts they had in the final two minutes to extend the lead they already had. Meanwhile, UMBC failed to hit the majority of their free throws. UMBC went 12–25 from the free throw line, scoring 11 fewer points than Wake Forest off of free throw attempts.

UMBC also struggled with trying to recover rebounds in their season opener, only managing to recover 36 while Wake Forest had 59. Additionally, Wake Forest scored 25 points on second chance attempts, 18 more than UMBC had.

The Retrievers did manage to give fans hope for the rest of the season after turning in a spectacular first half. In the first half, they had six steals, 21 rebounds and were 7–15 on three point attempts. 21 of their 40 first half points came from three pointers.

It was quite clear that the Retrievers began losing steam in the second half. The Retrievers only attempted nine three-pointers, and only made two of them.

Even though the Retrievers failed to open the season with a win, they showed promise against a strong Wake Forest team. The Retrievers demonstrated efficiency shooting threes, handling the ball and acquiring turnovers.

The Retrievers will next travel to New York to face St. John’s University on Monday, in the next round of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

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