Four Top Seeds All Victorious in Men's Jersey Mike's #AEPlayoffs Quarterfinals

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BOSTON – For the first time since the inaugural year of the Jersey Mike’s #AEPlayoffs in 2015, all four higher seeds posted quarterfinal wins on Saturday and moved on to Tuesday’s semifinals.

The top two seeds survived tough tests from the No. 7 and 8 seeds, respectively, as No. 1 Bryant outlasted No. 8 UMBC, 85-74, while No. 2 Vermont overcame a nine-point deficit to beat No. 7 New Hampshire, 64-57. In the later games, No. 3 Maine pulled away from No. 6 UMass Lowell, 72-64, and No. 4 UAlbany survived a late charge from No. 5 Binghamton to win, 69-66.

The semifinals will take place on Tuesday with No. 2 Vermont hosting No. 3 Maine at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ while No. 1 Bryant hosts No. 4 UAlbany at 9 p.m. on ESN2 and ESPN+.

The two semifinal winners will play for the America East title and an automatic NCAA bid on Saturday, March 15 at 11 a.m. at the highest remaining seed’s home court. For full playoff coverage, including box scores, highlights, photos, and more, visit #AEPlayoffs Central

#1 Bryant 85, #8 UMBC 74

Bryant dominated the glass, outrebounding UMBC by 17 and scoring 22 second-chance points en route to advancing to the semifinals for the second straight year.
UMBC jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Josh Odunowo scored four of those points.
Bryant scored seven of the game’s next nine points to pull within one.
Bryant took a 24-20 lead and then used an 11-2 run to grow their lead to 13 and took a 35-22 advantage on Jakai Robinson’s layup with 4:24 left in the first half.
After the Bulldogs led by 10 at halftime, UMBC closed the gap to six at 49-43 on a trifecta from Marcus Banks Jr. with 15:19 left in the contest,but the Bulldogs used a 14-6 spurt to extend their lead to 61-49 with 11:15 left.
UMBC was able to close the margin to five at 76-71 with 2:01 left but Bryant, winners of 15 of their 17 games, scored the next six points to close it out.
Rafael Pinzon led Bryant with 22 points while America East Player of the Year Earl Timberlake had 18 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. UMBC’s Marcus Banks Jr. scored a game-high 24 points.

#2 Vermont 64, #7 New Hampshire 57

Vermont outscored UNH by 15 in the second half to overcome a nine-point deficit and advanced to the semifinals for the 16^th-straight season.
The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the opening two minutes and then extended it to 18-9 as 12:26 on a three by Khali Badru’s third triple of the game.
Vermont managed to cut the deficit to 23-19 on consecutive Sean Blake with 7:00 remaining, but the Catamounts were outscored 11-7 the rest of the period and trailed 34-26 at the half.
UNH led 40-33 on layup by Sami Pissis with 14:45 left, but an 11-4 run by the Catamounts tied the contest at 44 apiece. Vermont took its first lead of the contest on an Ileri Ayo-Faleye jumper at 8:01.
A pair of Badru free throws put UNH back up three with 3:01 left but the Catamounts scored the last 10 points of the game, including consecutive threes by TJ Hurley and Nick Fiorillo, to seal the outcome and move onto the semis.
Ileri Ayo-Faleye had 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks while Hurley added a game-high tying 18 points for the Catamounts. Badru matched Hurley’s 18 points to lead UNH.

#3 Maine 72, #6 UMass Lowell 64

MaIne shot 53 percent from the floor to upend UMass Lowell and win its first #AEPlayoffs game since 2005.
UMass Lowell jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first four minutes and led 17-13 midway through the period.
Jaden Clayton hit back-to-back shots to put Maine in front 20-19 and the Black Bears offense kept firing as they grabbed a 34-29 lead at the break.
The River Hawks closed the gap to three multiple times in the first four minutes of the second, but a 6-0 Black Bear run stretched the lead to 53-43 at 11;38.
Maine pushed the lead to 66-53 with 4:39 left, but nine straight by the River Hawks closed the gap to just 66-62 with 1:31 remaining. The Black Bears scored on their next three possessions to put the game away.
Kellen Tynes had 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals while Clayton added 14 points, four rebounds and three steals.

#4 UAlbany 69, #5 Binghamton 66

The Great Danes used a strong first half and held off a late Binghamton charge to move on to the semifinals for the first time since 2017.
Justin Neely’s three-point play 4:16 into the game gave UAlbany a 13-8 lead but Binghamton scored the next five points to even the score.
The next five minutes featured three ties and five lead changes until an A’mare Marshall three gave the home team a 26-21 advantage with 8:28 left in the first.
Amir Lindsey, an America East All-Rookie selection, hit a layup with 1:41 left to give UAlbany a 12-point lead, its largest of the half, and the Great Danes ultimately took a 39-30 advantage into the break.
Binghamton cut the deficit to five two minutes in on Nehemiah Benson’s layup, but the Great Danes took their largest lead on Kacper Klacek’s jumper with 6:50 left, 66-52.
The Bearcats scored 12 of the next 14 points to cut the deficit to two but Ben Callhan-Gold’s last-second three-point attempt rimmed out and UAlbany held on.
Marshall had 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half. Benson led Binghamton with 19 points.

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