Catamounts punch ticket
Lamb’s 28 points lead Vermont past UMBC and into NCAA tourney
Burlington, Vt. Vermont learned from its loss last year on its home floor to Maryland-baltimore County in the America East Tournament title game — a result that paved the way for an even bigger win by UMBC.
Anthony Lamb scored 28 points, and Vermont beat UMBC 66-49 on Saturday to win the America East championship and earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
It was the seventh conference title overall and second in three years for the Catamounts (27-6), who got their revenge on the anniversary of 16th-seeded UMBC’S shocking upset of topseeded Virginia in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
“I’m impressed how well we grew over the season and today was a full team effort,” Vermont coach John Becker said. “These games are surreal because of the crowd and noise. We were tougher this year because of that game. We had a lot of young guys, so credit our new leadership.”
Lamb, the America East player of the year, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He went 8 for 16 from the field and had nine rebounds, and he led a strong defensive effort from the Catamounts, who held the Retrievers to 34-percent shooting.
Big Sky: Sayeed Pridgett scored 18 points and Montana overcame a 12-point deficit to beat Eastern Washington 68-62 for its second straight Big Sky Tournament title and NCAA bid.
Conference USA: Xavier Green scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the second half to lead Old Dominion to a 62-56 victory over Western Kentucky in the championship game.
MEAC: Zacarry Douglas scored all 10 of his points during a 25-6 second-half run and North Carolina Central won its third consecutive Mid-eastern Athletic Conference Tournament with a 50-47 victory against top-seeded Norfolk State.
Mountain West: Sam Merrill scored 24 points, Neemias Queta had 17 points and eight rebounds, and Utah State won its first Mountain West Conference championship with a 64-57 victory over San Diego State.
Southland: Jaren Lewis had 20 points and six rebounds, Jaylen Franklin added 16 points and six assists and Abilene Christian beat New Orleans 7760 for its first NCAA Tournament berth.
SWAC: Gary Blackston and Dennis Jones scored 17 points apiece to lead six Prairie View A&M players in double figures and the Panthers beat Texas Southern 92-86 in the championship game. Prairie View earned its second NCAA Tournament berth and first since 1998.
Women
MAC: Summer Hemphill scored 16 points and grabbed a Mid-american Conference Tournament record 21 rebounds to help No. 4 seed Buffalo beat Ohio 77-61 for an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
Sun Belt: Kyra Collier scored 21 points, including the game-winning layup with 1:09 to play, and Little Rock defeated South Alabama 57-56 in the championship game, earning an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight season.
Big West: Morgan Bertsch scored 24 points, Cierra Hall added 14 and UC Davis rallied from a 17-point, thirdquarter deficit to defeat Hawaii 58-50 and win the Big West Conference Tournament.
CAA: Nukiya Mayo scored 20 points, Kionna Jeter added 10 and each drained a clutch jump shot in the final minute as Towson rallied late to defeat Drexel 53-49 in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game, earning the program’s first berth in the NCAA Tournament.
MEAC: Angel Golden scored 18 points and Bethune-cookman took control in the fourth quarter to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth with a 57-45 win over Norfolk State in the Mid-eastern Athletic Conference Tournament championship game.
SWAC: Alyric Scott scored 12 of her 14 points after halftime and hauled down 15 rebounds as top-seeded Southern fended off third seed Jackson State 45-41 to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament championship and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
WAC: Gia Pack scored seven of her 22 points in the second overtime to lead New Mexico State to a 76-73 double-overtime victory over Texas Rio Grande Valley in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament. It was the first time the WAC women’s championship game went into overtime.