Champs! Armstrong Leads UMBC to First Men's Basketball Title Since 2018

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BALTIMORE – For the first time since its historic 2018 season, UMBC is the America East men’s basketball champion. The top-seeded Retrievers fought back from a first-half deficit to take control over the final 10 minutes of action and capture the 2026 Air Force Reserve Men’s Basketball Championship with a 74-59 victory over second-seeded Vermont in front of a raucous home crowd on Saturday morning.

The Retrievers closed the game on a 26-8 run to earn its third conference title in program history. DJ Armstrong Jr scored a game-high 33 points on 9-for-11 shooting, including a championship game-record seven threes, to earn Most Outstanding Player honors. For the tournament, he averaged 17.6 points per game and shot 64 percent from the floor.

Joining Armstrong Jr. on the All-Championship team were teammates Ace Valentine and Jose Roberto Tanchyn, and Vermont’s TJ Hurley and TJ Long.

Hurley, a senior with a 3.68 GPA majoring in mathematics, was the men’s basketball Elite 18 honoree for having the highest GPA among champion game participants.

Winners of a program-record 12 games in a row, UMBC will learn its postseason draw during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 6 p.m. on CBS. The Retrievers will be making their first NCAA appearance since 2018, when they became the first No. 16 to beat a No. 1 seed.

How it Happened

Vermont jumped out to an early 8-4 lead, holding UMBC without a field goal for the first 5:22 of the game.
TJ Long’s three-pointer at the 9:34 mark of the first gave Vermont a 17-12 lead, their largest of the game.
UMBC scored the game’s next six points to take its first lead since 44 seconds into the contest.
The game was back and forth for much of the first half and featured eight ties and five lead changes. Armstrong’s runner with five seconds left staked UMBC to a 30-28 advantage at the break.
The Retrievers came out hot in the second half and grew their advantage to their largest of the game, 37-30, on Ace Valentine’s free throw 3:03 into the second.
UMBC continued to build its lead until Vermont made a charge. Lucas Mari and TJ Long hit back-to-back threes to pull the Catamounts within one at 44-43 with 10:03 left in the second, and TJ Hurley’s layup seconds later capped an 8-0 run to give UVM a 45-44 lead with 9:19 left.
Vermont pushed its lead to 51-48 with just 6:55 remaining, but an Armstrong triple jump started a 9-0 run to retake control, 57-51. Hurley drilled a three to cut the deficit to three, but Armstrong converted a four-point play for a seven-point lead with 2:24 left. UMBC finished the game on a 10-2 run for the 15-point victory

Inside the Numbers

UMBC shot 41.2 percent from the floor and connected on 10 threes while going 22-for-26 from the charity stripe. Vermont shot 42.4 percent but made only five threes and were 4-for-10 from the free-throw line.
Armstrong’s 33 points were the most in a title game since Jameel Warney tied the league record with 43 in 2016 for Stony Brook.
Valentine added 13 points, four assists, and three rebounds, while Tanchyn chipped in 10 rebounds, seven points, and two blocks.
TJ Long supplied 17 points off the bench for Vermont, while TJ Hurley and Gus Yalden each scored 11.

The History

This is UMBC’s third America East title in program history. The Retrievers also won championships in 2008 and 2018.
Home teams are now 36-7 all-time in America East championship games and have not lost since 2018.
UMBC is the 30th top seed to win the America East Tournament.

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