BOSTON – Home quart continues to matter in the #AEPlayoffs. For the second-straight year, the top four seeds advanced in the Air Force Reserve Men’s Basketball Playoffs as all four higher seeds posted quarterfinal wins on Saturday and moved onto Tuesday’s semifinals.
All four winners used strong second halves to earn wins. No. 1 UMBC outscored No. 8 New Hampshire by 11 after the break to win 84-69, while No. 2 Vermont scored 24 of the game’s last 33 points to beat No. 7 Bryant, 77-57. No. 3 NJIT got a buzzer beater from Ari Fulton to down No. 6 Maine, 60-58, and No. 4 UMass Lowell overcame a double-digit deficit to down No. 5 UAlbany, 81-76.
The semifinals will take place on Tuesday with No. 1 UMBC hosting No. 4 UMass Lowell at 6 p.m. while No. 3 NJIT visits No. 2 Vermont at 7 p.m. Both games will air on ESPN+.
The two semifinal winners will play for the America East title and an automatic NCAA bid on Saturday, March 14 at 11 a.m. at the highest remaining seed’s home court. That contest will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN+. For full playoff coverage, including box scores, highlights, photos and more, visit #AEPlayoffs Central
#1 UMBC 84, #8 New Hampshire 69
- UMBC shot 51 percent from the floor and made 13 three-pointers en route to advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2022.
- The Retrievers scored the first 10 points of the contest and eventually extended their lead to 24-6 on triples by Ace Valentine and Jose Roberto Tanchyn midway through the half.
- KiJan Robinson ended the run, but UNH still trailed 34-18 with just 3:33 left in the period. The Wildcats answered by scoring the final 12 points of the period to trail just 34-30 at the half.
- The teams went back-and-forth over the first six minutes of the second, until UMBC rattled off nine-straight points in less than two minutes, extending the lead to 50-37 on a Riley Jacobs dunk.
- UMBC led 58-42 midway through the half and DJ Armstrong Jr. grew the advantage to 70-49 with 7:08 remaining and cruised to a 15-point victory over the final six minutes.
- Ace Valentine tied his career high with 23 points, to go with five rebounds and four assists, while Caden Diggs added ten points and four boards off the bench.
- Belal El Shakery had a double-double of 20 points and 10 boards to lead UNH.
#2 Vermont 77, #7 Bryant 57
- Vermont closed the game on a 19-2 run to help advance to the semifinals for the 17th-straight season.
- After Bryant jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, Vermont went on a 24-7 spurt. America East Player of the Year TJ Hurley’s jumper with 8:04 left in the first put the Catamounts up 26-13.
- With 1:29 in the half, Ben Johnson hit a massive three to give the Catamounts their largest lead of the day at 17.
- Bryant trimmed the gap to 11 by the break as Harvey Keegan’s three made it 38-27 before intermission.
- Harvey, who had a team-best 21 points for Bryant, brought the Bulldogs within four on a three-point play with 8:30 left in the game.
- But, from there the Catamounts used an 18-1 run to stop the comeback. Hurley scored 13 of his game-high 29 points in the run.
#3 NJIT 60, #6 Maine 58
- Ari Fulton’s runner in the lane with 0.2 seconds left broke a 58-all tie and sent NJIT to their first-ever America East semifinals.
- The Highlanders used an early 11-4 run, capped by a triple by Quentin Duncan, to take an 11-6 lead with just under 13 minutes to go in the first half.
- The Black Bears and Highlanders had three ties late in the first half, but NJIT entered the locker room with a 32-29 edge at the break.
- Maine took its first lead since an early 2-0 advantage with 17:39 left in the second on Ace Flagg’s jumper.
- The lead would not exceed four for any team the rest of the way and after Flagg tied the contest with 11 seconds left it was Fulton, who scored NJIT’s last six points, who won it for the Highlanders.
- The game featured 15 ties and five lead changes.
- Sebastian Robinson paced the Highlanders with 21 points while David Bolden had 12 and Fulton added 10 and eight rebounds.
- Flagg had 14 and eight boards off the bench to lead Maine.
#4 UMass Lowell 81, #5 UAlbany 76
- UMass Lowell overcame a 14-point first-half deficit to move onto the semifinals for the third time in the last four years.
- UAlbany controlled play early, scoring the first 13 points of the game. Okechukwu Okeke, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, had six points and three blocks in that span.
- The River Hawks chipped away at the lead and cut the deficit to seven by halftime as Xavier Spencer’s three-pointer in the waning seconds of the first made the score 42-35 at the break.
- The Great Danes grew their lead to 11 and led 50-39 with 16:05 remaining, but UMass Lowell would go on a 19-1 run over the next seven-plus minutes to take a 58-51 advantage. Victor Okojie’s three with 13 minutes left gave UMass Lowell its first lead of the game at 51-50.
- Zach Matulu’s three pulled UAlbany within three at 66-63 but Darrel Yepdo countered to grow the UML advantage back to six with 3:36 left and the River Hawks would hold off the Great Danes the rest of the way.
- Angel Montas Jr. led UMass Lowell with 28 points and added seven rebounds while Spencer had 19 and Yepdo added 18.
- Amir Lindsey scored a game-high 30 points for UAlbany. Okeke added 16 points, 11 rebounds and tied an America East playoff single-game record with eight blocks.
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