Lyles' Last-Second Trey Lifts UMBC to #AEHoops Title
BURLINGTON, Vt. – For the second time in program history, UMBC is the America East men’s basketball champion thanks to Jairus Lyles. The senior guard’s three pointer from the top of the key with 0.7 seconds on the clock broke a 62-62 tie and lifted the second-seeded Retrievers to a 65-62 win over top-seeded Vermont in the league title game Saturday at Vermont’s Patrick Gym.
UMBC (24-10) battled back from as many as nine down in the second half to claim its first league title since 2008 and second in program history. The win, the Retrievers’ 24th of the year, matches the program record set in 2007-08.
Lyles, who scored a game-high 27 points, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He averaged 19.8 points over the Retrievers’ three tournament games. He was joined on the All-Championship team by teammates K.J. Maura and Daniel Akin and Vermont’s Trae Bell-Haynes and Payton Henson. Joe Sherburne, a senior with a perfect 4.00 GPA in financial economics, was the men’s basketball Elite 18 honoree.
The Retrievers will learn their NCAA draw during the selection show Sunday at 6 p.m. on TBS.
Vermont (27-7) will play in the NIT and finds out where it will play on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN.
The Nitty Gritty
- Vermont led by as many as nine in the first half, taking a 30-21 lead with 5:17 left on a three-pointer by Bell-Haynes.
- UMBC closed the first half on a 16-5 run to take a 37-35 lead into the locker room.
- Vermont scored 12 of the first 14 points of the second half and took a 47-39 lead on Bell-Haynes’ three-point play with 15:11 to go.
- UMBC closed to within three (49-46) on Jourdan Grant’s three-pointer with just over five minutes left.
- The two teams then traded runs with Vermont going on an 8-2 spurt before UMBC countered with a 10-1 run to tie the game at 58 aside with 5:09 left.
- The game remained tied (62-62) in the final minute as Joe Sherburne blocked Bell-Haynes’ go-head attempt to set up Lyles’ heroics.
- The first-team All-Conference standout dribbled at the top of the key and pulled up with the game-winning three.
The Numbers
- UMBC turned 13 Vermont turnovers into 23 points.
- The Retrievers’ four turnovers committed were the second-fewest in #AEPlayoffs history.
- Vermont was held without a field goal over the game’s final 8:21 (0-for-6).
- Vermont’s 38 field goal attempts were the fewest ever in a championship game.
- Lyles shot 10-of-21 from the field, including 5-of-7, from three-point land.
- Maura had eight points, two assists, two steals and zero turnovers.
- Bell-Haynes led Vermont with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists.
- Henson finished with 14 for Vermont.
The History
- UMBC is the eighth America East program to have won multiple men’s basketball titles (Albany, Boston U., Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra, Northeastern, Vermont).
- UMBC snapped its 23-game losing streak vs. Vermont. It was the Retrievers’ first win over the Catamounts since the 2008 America East semifinals.
- The Retrievers are the seventh America East team to win the title on the road in 35 attempts.
- #2 seeds improved to 4-13 vs. #1 seeds in the championship game.
- Vermont fell to 6-6 in title games.
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