BALTIMORE (AP) — DJ Armstrong buried seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, leading top-seeded UMBC to a 74-59 victory over No. 2-seed Vermont in the championship game of the America East Playoffs on Saturday.
The Retrievers (24-8) will play in the NCAA Tournament for the third time and earned their first bid since 2018, when they famously became the first 16-seed to beat a No. 1 seed, upsetting Virginia 74-54.
Three 3-pointers by Armstrong, with the second one resulting in a four-point play, gave UMBC a 64-56 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Armstrong and Josh Odunowo then combined to go 10 for 10 from the free-throw line to finish off the win.
Armstrong made 9 of 11 shots overall and connected on 8 of 9 free throws. Ace Valentine scored 13 points and was 7 for 7 at the line. UMBC made 22 of 26 free throws.
TJ Long scored 17 points, and TJ Hurley and Gus Yalden each scored 11 for Vermont (22-12). The Catamounts made only 4 of 10 free throws.
A 3-pointer by Long gave Vermont a 17-12 lead with 9 1/2 minutes left in the first half, and the Catamounts led 23-22 with five minutes remaining. A three-point play by Armstrong put UMBC out front and opened a run in which he scored all eight of UMBC's points over the final three minutes of the half. The Retrievers led 30-28 at the break.
Vermont's last lead was 51-48 with seven minutes left in the second half.
The Retrievers finished 15-2 at home this season and went undefeated at home against America East opponents.
NCAA Tournament pairings will be announced on Sunday.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
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