BOSTON (AP) ? Chris Holm scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Mike Tromboli scored 20 Sunday to lift top-seeded Vermont to a 72-63 victory over No. 5 Maryland-Baltimore County and into the Catamounts’ fifth straight America East title game.
The win, Vermont’s 13th straight and 20th in its last 21 games, advances the Catamounts to next Saturday’s home game against the winner of Sunday’s second game between No. 2 Albany and No. 3 Boston University. The Catamounts (25-6), who won three straight titles from 2003-05 and lost to Albany in the championship game last year, will host the because of their No. 1 seed.
Vermont is assured of no worse than a trip to the NIT, which takes all regular-season conference champions regardless of what happens in their league tournaments.
The Catamounts trailed, 29-27, late in the first half but scored the game’s next 10 points bridging the halves, never trailing again. UMBC (12-19) went 6:27 between points at the end of the first half and into the second, fell behind by as many as 12 and then made a run. The Retrievers got to within three within three points with 4:38 left before a 6-0 Vermont run put the game away.
Kyle Cieplicki added 12 points for the Catamounts, who have won 17 of 18 games against league opponents this season. Trimboli had six assists, Cieplicki four. Holm blocked three shots
UMBC scoring leader, Brian Hodges, who suffered through a 2-for-10, seven-point game in the quarterfinal win over Maine, was just 2-for-12 from the floor and scored nine points, all in the second half. Mike Housman led the Retrievers with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Justin Fry had 12 points and Jay Greene 11.