
BOSTON – Three higher seeds prevailed in Saturday’s Jersey Mike’s America East men’s basketball quarterfinals while one road team spurred an upset. Vermont, UMass Lowell, and New Hampshire were all winners at home to move onto the semifinals and Binghamton was victorious on the road.
#1 Vermont 84, #8 NJIT 57
- The Catamounts shot 51 percent from the field in an 84-57 rout of NJIT in the quarterfinals.
- UVM has now advanced to the semifinals in 21 of the last 22 seasons.
- Vermont (21-10) used a 23-6 first-half run to turn a 17-15 deficit into a 38-23 advantage on TJ Hurley’s three-pointer with just over three minutes left in the first.
- The Catamounts, who extended their win streak to 13 straight, shot 46 percent (11-of-24) from three-point land.
- Dylan Penn, a second-team All-Conference performer. led the way with a game-high 23 points for Vermont while Sixth Man of the Year Aaron Deloney provided 16 off the bench.
- Kevin Osawe paced NJIT (7-23) with 18 points and 13 boards.
#2 UMass Lowell 85, #7 Maine 54
- UMass Lowell (25-7) shot a blistering 57 percent from the field en route to a 31-point win in the quarterfinals.
- With the victory, the Rivers Hawks are in the semis for the first time since 2020.
- A 19-5 run midway through the first half opened up a 27-12 lead for the River Hawks, who never looked back.
- Freshman Brayden O’Connor led a balanced attack scoring 14 points off the bench.
- Gedi Juozapaitis, a third-team All-Conference performer, led all scorers with 16 points for Maine (13-17).
#3 New Hampshire 67, #6 Bryant 60
- Clarence Daniels scored 23 points and added 14 rebounds to pace UNH to a quarterfinal win over Bryant.
- The victory sends UNH to the #AEPlayoffs semifinals for the first time since 2017.
- UNH (15-14) used a 16-4 run in the game’s final three minutes to take the lead for good in a contest that featured eight ties and four lead changes.
- The Wildcats scored 14 points off 14 Bulldog turnovers while committing just four of their own, the second-fewest in a playoff game ever.
- Bryant’s Sherif Gross-Bullock, the America East Newcomer of the Year and a first-team All-Conference performer left the game nine minutes into the first half due to injury and did not return.
- Earl Timberlake, a second-team All-Conference selection, led Bryant (17-13) with 18 points.
#5 Binghamton 67, #4 UMBC 65
- Binghamton (13-17) shot 55 percent after halftime and held off UMBC down the stretch to advance to the semifinals for the second-straight year and third time in five seasons.
- Armon Harried’s free throw with 1:33 left broke a 62-62 tie and proved to be the difference.
- Second-team All-Conference choice Jacob Falko paced Binghamton with 16 points and nine rebounds.
- Tra’Von Fagan led UMBC (18-14) with 17 points and seven boards.
- The game, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., was delayed six hours by an area-wide power outage.
The semifinals will take place on Tuesday. No. 2 UMass Lowell hosts No. 3 UNH at 6 p.m. while No. 1 Vermont will host No. 5 Binghamton at 7 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN+
The two semifinal winners will play for the America East title and an automatic NCAA bid on Saturday, March 11 at 11 a.m. at the highest remaining seed’s home court.
Visit #AEPlayoffs Central for complete coverage.
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