Top Seeds UMBC & Vermont Advance to Men's #AEPlayoffs Title Game

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BOSTON – The top two men’s basketball teams in the America East Conference this season will decide the league title as No. 1 UMBC and No. 2 Vermont each punched their tickets to the 2026 Air Force Reserve America East Playoffs title game with semifinal wins on Tuesday night.

Top-seeded UMBC exploded offensively en route to a 91-69 win over No. 4 UMass Lowell, while No. 2 Vermont played stifling defense on its way to a 63-54 win over No. 3 NJIT.

The victory sends UMBC to its first title game since 2022 and the sixth in program history, while the Catamounts are back playing for the crown for a conference-record 18th time and the ninth in the last 11 years. It’ll be the fourth time since 2018 these two teams will play for the crown.

UMBC and Vermont will face off in the championship tilt with an NCAA bid on the line this Saturday, March 14, at 11 a.m. at UMBC’s Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+. There will also be a national radio broadcast on Westwood One.

#1 UMBC 91, #4 UMass Lowell 69

UMBC shot 54 percent from the floor en route to advancing to its first championship game since 2022. The win is its 11^th in a row.
The first five minutes featured three ties and three lead changes, which resulted in the game being tied 10-10 5:05 in. From there, UMBC went on an 8-0 run and opened up an 18-10 lead on Caden Diggs’ layup with 12:44 left in the first.
Darryl Yepdo’s three at the 11-minute mark trimmed the lead to four, but the Retrievers used another big run, a 15-2 spurt, to open up a 17-point advantage, their largest of the half. UMBC led 43-29 at the break.
UMass Lowell scored nine of the next 13 points to cut the gap to 11. Shawn Simmons’ layup with 13:19 left made the score 62-51.
But the River Hawks would draw no closer as UMBC ballooned the lead to 22, the final margin.
Jah’Likai first-team All-America East performer, led all scorers with 24 points for UMBC. Fellow first-team performer Angel Montas Jr. paced UMass Lowell with 20.

#2 Vermont 63, #3 NJIT 54

Vermont held NJIT to just 36 percent shooting to advance to the conference championship game for the 19^th time.
Vermont controlled the game early, scoring the first nine points of the game. The Cats extended their lead to 14-2 on Sean Blake’s driving layup with 13:24 left.
NJIT chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within six when Jordan Rogers’ jumper went in with 1:29 left to make it 24-18. Vermont led 26-18 at the break.
The Highlanders scored 11 of the first 15 points of the second half and took their first lead on Sebastian Robinson’s three nearly four minutes into the second half.
The game stayed tight until Vermont used a 10-0 spurt to take a 49-37 lead with 6:35 left, a lead it would not relinquish.
America East Player of the Year TJ Hurley had 14 points for Vermont as did Sean Blake.
Sebastian Robinson scored a game-best 20 points for the Highlanders.

For full playoff coverage, including box scores, highlights, photos, and more, visit #AEPlayoffs Central

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Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference its social media channels, @AmericaEast.

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