#AEPlayoffs: Hartford, UAlbany, UMass Lowell Advance to Quarterfinals

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In an unpredictable season, it may be viewed as an upset that no upsets took place in the first round of the 2021 Hercules Tires America East Men’s Basketball Playoffs as all three higher seeds posted first round wins during pod play Saturday.

No. 6 UMass Lowell posted a comeback win over No. 7 Stony Brook to earn its first-ever #AEPlayoffs win. The River Hawks will meet No. 3 New Hampshire in Durham on Sunday at 1 p.m. with a trip to the semifinals on the line. The game will air on ESPN+.

In the Hartford pod, the host Hawks, the No. 4 seed, knocked out No. 9 Binghamton and will meet No. 5 UAlbany in the quarterfinals after the Great Danes bested No. 8 NJIT. The Hawks and Great Danes will tip at 3 p.m. on ESPN+.

No. 1 UMBC and No 2. Vermont await Sunday’s winners for semifinal play on March 6. Read more about the quarterfinals below. For full playoff coverage, including box scores, highlights and more, visit Hercules Tires #AEPlayoffs Central.

#AEPlayoffs First Round Recaps
#6 UMass Lowell 64, #7 Stony Brook 62

#6 UMass Lowell (9-11) used a 31-9 run to erase a 16-point deficit and held off a late charge from #7 Stony Brook (9-14) to earn a 64-62 win.
Obadiah Noel’s layup with 5.9 seconds left proved to be the difference.
The #AEPlayoffs win was the River Hawks first in five tries.
Noel, a first-team All-America East standout, finished with a game-high 23 points.
Juan Felix Rodriguez, a third-team all-leaguer, had 22 points and canned 6-of-7 threes, all in the first half for the Seawolves.

at #4 Hartford 77, No. 9 Binghamton 60

Austin Williams’ monster double-double of 29 points and 15 rebounds powered No. 4 Hartford to the win over No. 9 Binghamton.
The Hawks advanced in the #AEPlayoffs for the fourth-straight year with the victory.
The 29 points matched Williams’ career high while his 15 boards were a new standard. He was a third-team All-Conference performer.
Leading by just six with five minutes to go before halftime, Hartford grew the advantage to 10 at the break before blowing it open in the second half.
Dan Petcash paced Binghamton (4-14) with 15 points.

at #5 UAlbany 76, #8 NJIT 66

#5 UAlbany (7-8) shot a blistering 55 percent from the field en route to downing #8 NJIT (1-12).
With the win, UAlbany advanced in the #AEPlayoffs for the first time since 2017.
The win was the 20^th #AEPlayoffs victory of Will Brown’s tenure, moving him into sole possession of second place on the conference’s career list.
Jarvis Doles (21 points) and C.J. Kelly (20) led the way for the Great Danes.
Third-team All-Conference honoree Zach Cooks led the Highlanders with a game-high 26 points.

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