STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- For the 15th time in league history, yet the first time since 2008, the top two seeds will decide the 2012 America East men's basketball title when top-seeded Stony Brook hosts second-seeded Vermont in the conference championship game Saturday at Stony Brook Arena. The game, which tips at 11 a.m. will be televised nationally on ESPN2, the 25th consecutive year the league's title game has been seen by a national audience. Bob Picozzi (play-y-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst) will have the call.
Conference Game Notes
The Title Bout
Top-seeded Stony Brook and second-seeded Vermont, which each won 20 games during the regular season, each won two more in Hartford last weekend and will meet to decide the 2012 America East Men's Basketball Champion on Saturday, March 10 at Stony Brook Arena. The winner will also get the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Stony Brook will be making its second title game appearance in as many years, and second all-time, while Vermont will be making its eighth in school history and seventh since 2003. Both teams enter the game playing their best basketball. SBU has won five straight, 13 of its last 14 and 19 of 21 while UVM has won 13 of 14 and 17 of 19.
Tale of the Tape
This will be the 25th all-time meeting between Vermont and Stony Brook with the Catamounts holding a dominant 18-6 advantage. However, the series has been more even of late with the Seawolves winning four of the last seven get togethers, including a 69-47 upset of top-seeded UVM in last year's America East semifinals. Vermont won the only other tournament game between the two teams, a quarterfinal contest in 2002.
Tale of the Tape Part II
The two squads split this year's regular-season series with each team winning at home. Stony Brook earned a 65-59 win at Pritchard Gym in both teams' league opener on Jan. 2 by holding Vermont to just 34 percent shooting, its second-lowest rate of the season. Senior Al Rapier led three Seawolves in twin figures with 17 points, while Luke Apfeld had a game-high 18 for Vermont. The Catamounts got revenge on Feb. 9 in Burlington, outscoring the Seawolves, 45-27, after halftime to earn a 68-49 win. Freshman Four McGlynn scored a career-high 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting off the bench to lead the Cats. Dallis Joyner had a team-high 13 points for SBU.
Home Sweet Home
Twenty-eight times the America East men's basketball title has been decided on a member school's home floor and the hometown crowd has rarely been disappointed. Home teams are 25-3 in America East title games and have won each of the last four. Vermont has been involved in two of the games won by the visiting team, falling to Albany, 60-59, in 2007 at Patrick Gym and winning its first America East title on the road in 2003, at Boston U., 56-55. Delaware was the first visiting team to accomplish the feat in 1993 by beating Drexel. Stony Brook is riding a 14-game home court win streak that dates back to last year after going a perfect 13-0 on Long Island this year. However all 14 of those wins came in Pritchard Gym and this game will be played in the larger Stony Brook Arena. The Seawolves are 1-1 in games played there since the 2009-10 season, beating Maine last Feb. 12 on ESPNU and falling to Illinois in the 2010 NIT.
Being First Matters
While the team that wins the conference tournament gets crowned league champion and receives the league's automatic berth, earning one of the top seeds is crucial. With the top two seeds, Stony Brook and Vermont reaching the conference title game, it is certain that the league champion will be one of the top two teams in the standings for the 31st time in the league's 33 year history. Only twice has a team finished outside the top two and gone on to win the league title with Holy Cross accomplishing the feat in the league's inaugural season, 1980, and Delaware winning the tournament as the No. 3 seed in 1993.
Will Stony Brook Be the Sixth?
Dynasties have been an important part of the history of America East basketball, just not lately. Parity has hit the league as five different teams have won the last five America East titles, the only such stretch in the league's 33 year history. Stony Brook can become the conference's sixth different champion in as many years with a win Saturday. The last five league champions are Albany (2007), UMBC (2008), Binghamton (2009), Vermont (2010) and Boston U. (2011). Eight teams, including six different schools, have won consecutive league titles and of those, three (Drexel, Northeastern and Vermont) have won three in a row.
Good to be Champ but Not this Year
Reigning champions have returned to the America East championship game in 21 out of 29 seasons they were in the tournament, but not this year. Boston University, last year's champion fell to Hartford in the America East quarterfinals on March 3. The Terriers are just the fourth reigning champion to not get the chance to defend their crown in the last 17 years, yet it has not happened since UMBC accomplished the feat in 2009.
If at First you Don't Succeed...
Stony Brook is the 11th team to return to the championship game just one year after falling in it. The previous year's losing team is 4-6 in the second go around. Last year, the Seawolves dropped a 56-54 heartbreaker to Boston University, which had fallen the previous year to Vermont. The Catamounts are 0-1 in such instances, falling to Albany in back-to-back years (2006, '07).
Top Two Tango Again
For the 15th time in America East history, the top two seeds will decide the America East champion. Top seeds are 13-2 in such games and Vermont has been involved in both games won by the lower seed. The Cats came out on top in 2003, winning at Boston U., but fell at home to Albany in 2007. While the 15 meetings between the top two seeds are by far the most of any two pairings in league history, it is the first time since 2008 that the top teams have met in the final. That year, top-seeded UMBC beat second-seeded Hartford for the league crown.
Trying To Be the 12th and Drive For 5
These two teams enter this year's championship game with important, yet much different milestones at stake. For Stony Brook, the program's first-ever league title in on the line, which would make it the 12th school to capture the America East title. For Vermont, the conference crown would be its fifth, all since 2003, and would move the Cats into sole possession of third place on the league's all-time championship list.
No. 1 Stony Brook Seawolves (22-8)
For the second time in the last three years, Stony Brook, the league's regular-season champion, is the tournament's top seed. The Seawolves fell in semifinals to Boston U. in 2010, the only other time it has been seeded first. Last season, SBU made its first-ever America East Championship game appearance, where it lost a heartbreaker to the Terriers, 56-54. Stony Brook is poised to take the next step in 2012. Winner of 20 games (22) for second time in the program's Division I history, Stony Brook features one of the nation's top defensive units. It ranks 18th nationally allowing only 59.3 points per game. The Seawolves are also dominating on the backboards and rank fourth in the country with +8.1 rebound margin.
Stony Brook Has Swagger
Stony Brook, which is making its 11th tournament appearance and is 9-10 overall in championship play, followed up last year's championship game appearance with another in 2012. The Seawolves' five wins over the past three years are one more than they compiled during their first eight years combined. The regular-season champions are hoping to become the first No. 1 seed to hoist the trophy since Binghamton did so in 2009.
How the Seawolves Got Here
The Seawolves advanced to their second America East Championship game in as many years by beating ninth-seeded Binghamton, 78-69, in the quarterfinal round on March 3 and then edging fourth-seeded Albany, 57-55, in the semifinals on March 4. Stony Brook, which has won 13 of its last 14 games, used a 21-6 run to overcome a 47-43 second-half deficit against the Bearcats Saturday. Dave Coley and Tommy Brenton each scored 14 points to lead a balanced attack. Bryan Dougher, Dallis Joyner and Anthony Jackson each had 13 apiece. Stony Brook received a scare from Albany in the semifinals, but Dallis Joynyer's tip-in off Dave Coley's miss as time expired gave Stony Brook its second straight title game appearance. SBU dominated the backboards in the game, outrebounding Albany, 45-26. Dougher had a team-high 15 points while Joyner added 14.
Top of the World
Since America East began seeding teams in 1983, the No. 1 seed is 68-10 (.872) and won conference titles in 19 of the 28 years teams have been seeded. The top seed has advanced to the championship game every season but four (2002, '04, '10, '11) since 1990. Yet, Stony Brook is the first No. 1 seed to play for the crown since 2009 as the top seed (Stony Brook '10, Vermont '11) fell in the semifinals each of the last two years. The conference has never had three straight seasons in which the No. 1 seed didn't reach the final. No. 1’s won eight straight championships between 1994-2001, but have only won five in the last 11 years. Binghamton was the last to do so in 2009. Stony Brook fell in the 2010 semifinals, the only other time it was the top seed. Only twice has the No. 1 seed failed to reach the semifinal round (1988, 2004).
No. 2 Vermont Catamounts (22-11)
A pillar of consistency over the last decade, Vermont is the No. 2 seed this season, the ninth time in the last 11 seasons it has been first or second. The Catamounts have had great success as the No. 2 seed, going 11-1 and winning three of their four conference titles from that position, including in 2010, the last time they were positioned there. Vermont won 14 of its last 16 games to secure the program's sixth straight winning season, the longest such stretch in the league. The Cats, who are making their seventh trip to the league final since 2003, have also locked up the program's ninth 20 win season in the last 11 years, a feat they did not accomplish in their first 87 seasons.
Consistent Cats
No team has won more America East Championship games over the last decade than Vermont, which has won 20 tournament contests, made seven finals appearances and captured four tournament titles since 2002. In its 22 previous tourneys, Vermont went just 6-19 with only one finals appearance. The Catamounts are the No. 2 seed for the fifth time over that span and has been seeded first or second in nine of the last 11 tournaments. The second position has been very good to the Catamounts, who are 11-1 all-time as the No. 2 seed with three titles.
How the Catamounts Got Here
Like Stony Brook, Vermont's trip to the championship game was no cakewalk. But, Vermont persevered and posted a 50-40 win over Maine in the quarterfinals on March 3 and a thrilling 77-73 double overtime victory over Hartford in the semifinals on March 4. The Catamounts scored only 14 first-half points against the Black Bears Saturday, the second-fewest in a half in tournament history. But, UVM found its groove offensively in the second half and used a 14-2 spurt to turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead that it would not relinquish. Matt Glass had 16 points to lead UVM. On Sunday, UVM survived an epic battle with Hartford in a game that saw 11 ties and 26 lead changes. Vermont got clutch baskets from Luke Apfeld (to force overtime) and Sandro Carissimo (to force double overtime) before Carissimo hit a layup with 12 seconds left in the second session to seal the win. Carissimo led UVM with 18 points.
Second to None
No. 2 seeds been dominant of late, appearing in 14 of the last 17 title games and winning six of the last 10 championships. Overall, No. 2 seeds are 59-20 (.747), have won the tournament nine times and made 22 title game appearances. Last season, Boston U. won the championship as the No. 2 seed for the third time. Vermont, this year's No. 2 seed, has won three of its four crowns from that position, including its last in 2010. In 2007, Albany became just the second No. 2 seed to knock off the top seed on its home floor in the conference title game with a 60-59 win at Patrick Gym. Boston U. (1988, '90, '02), Northeastern (1985), Vermont (2003, '04) are the other No. 2 seeds to win the title.
Dangerous Dougher
Implanted in Stony Brook's starting lineup since his first day on campus, Bryan Dougher has not disappointed Seawolf fans. The senior has racked up 1,589 career points during his stint on Long Island, which ranks 34th on the league's all-time list. He just two points shy of becoming Stony Brook's all-time Division I scoring leader. Dougher, who ranks 11th among league leaders, averaging 13.4 points per game this year, leads the league in made three-pointers (83). The first-team all-conference selection is also one of the conference's all-time greats from beyond the arc, ranking third on America East's all-time list with 331 made treys.
Clear as Glass
Vermonter Matt Glass returned home prior to the 2009-10 season, transferring from UMass back to his home state in hopes of resurrecting his college career. His journey came full circle this year as the senior has averaged a team-best 12.1 ppg, which ranks 14th in the league. Glass was even better once league play started averaging 13.5 ppg and shooting 50.3 percent from the field. He has again stepped up his game in the tournament, averaging a team-best 15.5 points per game.
Pike's Peak
Steve Pikiell's first three years at Stony Brook produced just 20 total wins and a pair of ninth place finishes as well as an eighth place finish in the league standings. That seems like ancient history as in their most recent three seasons, the Seawolves have won 58 games, captured two America East regular-season titles and appeared in as many league championship games. Pikiell, who was named America East Coach of the Year for the second time in three years last week, has led his team to five tournament wins in the last two years, one more than its total from the previous eight years combined.
Becker Bursts on the Scene
Few head coaches have experienced the success John Becker has had during his first season as Vermont's head coach. Becker, who previously served as a Catamount assistant for five years, led Vermont to a 20-11 regular season record, the program's ninth 20-win campaign in the last 11 years. It's the most wins by a first-year Vermont head coach in program history, surpassing Tom Keady's mark of 15 wins that had stood since 1921. Becker is also just the fifth head coach in America East history to win 20 games in his first season, joining Mike Jarvis, Karl Fogel, David Henderson and Patrick Chambers, and the sixth to reach the league title game in his first season.