BALTIMORE, MD -- The University of Delaware put forth a furious comeback to rally from a 10-point deficit with just over two minutes left to play, but Andrew Washington’s driving layup just before the final horn missed its mark and the Blue Hens dropped an 85-84 verdict to host UMBC in men’s basketball action Thursday night at the RAC Arena.

The Blue Hens (2-4), who dropped their fourth straight game, got a dunk from Zaire Taylor and a basket off a steal by Henry Olawoye in the final 22 seconds to pull to within one, and later took possession with seven seconds left after a jump ball. Washington, who finished with 19 points and six rebounds, took the ball from midcourt and drove through a crowd down the left side of the lane but missed on the layup try just before the buzzer.

“We made a tough, tough, comeback attempt tonight,” said Delaware head coach David Henderson. “Our team has a lot of heart but we ran into another hot-shooting team. They(UMBC) had some adversity and that gavethem some motivation. I thought our defense was good but they made some tough shots. We’ve just have to learn to play the way we played down the stretch for 40 minutes.”

UMBC (2-3), which snapped a three-game losing streak and played without leading scorer and rebounder John Zito (15.0 points, 7.5 rebounds per game), shot a sizzling 62 percent from the field for the game, hitting on 30 of 48 shots, and were most impressive in the second half as the Retreivers converted on 70 percent from the field (14 of 19) to overcome a four-point halftime deficit.

Delaware senior All-American candidate Harding Nana (right) scored 28 points and pulled six rebounds but fouled out with 3:43 left to play while Andrew Washington added 19 points and six rebounds and Rulon Washington and Calvin Cannon each chipped in with 10 points.

UMBC placed five scorers in doubles figures, getting 19 points and seven rebounds from Jerell Dinkins while Chris Pugh added 17 points and Mike Housman connected on all eight of his shots from the field to finish with 16 points. Housman had scored just 20 points in the first four games this season.

Delaware took a 43-39 lead at halftime but UMBC came out strong in the second half, outscoring the Blue Hens 17-4 to take a 56-47 lead with 14:04 left to play. Thanks to their hot-shooting from the field, the Retrievers built that lead to as high as 10 points at 77-67 with 2:13 remaining before the Hens mounted the comeback.

Taylor drove the lane and dunked the ball with 22 seconds left to cut the lead to 83-80. He was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. After Dinkins hit two free throws to up the UMBC lead to 85-80 with 21 seconds left, Rulon Washington hit a pair of free throws of his own to cut the lead to 85-82 with 17.4 seconds remaining.

Cannon stole the ball on the inbounds play and Olawoye picked it up and went in for a layup to cut the UMBC margin to 85-84 with 15.1 seconds left. The Hens were able to get the ball back on a jump ball possession with seven seconds left to set up the final play before falling short.

The Blue Hens will return to Colonial Athletic Association action Saturday when they travel to Hofstra University (3-1) for their seventh straight road game to open the season.

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