Photo by Brian Jenkins
BURLINGTON, Vt. – UVM sophomore Stef Smith set the America East Semifinal record with eight three-pointers as top-seeded Vermont advanced to its fourth-straight conference championship game after knocking off seventh-seeded Binghamton 84-51 on Tuesday night. The Catamounts stand at 26-6, their third-highest single-season win total ever, while the Bearcats finish the season at 10-23.
COACH’S QUOTE
“It was a great game by all of our guys and offensively it was obviously as good as it’s been for a while,” Cioffi Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. “I thought defensively we were just as a good as well. The guys took ownership tonight – they knew exactly what they wanted to do and went out and did it.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Catamounts wasted very little time building a double-digit lead and hit their first three field goal attempts. By the 16-minute mark, UVM had jumped out to a 13-3 lead.
The Bearcats chipped away and got the deficit down to 22-17, but Smith single-handedly helped UVM mount a 12-2 run with four straight long balls.
By the break, Smith had tied the America East Semifinal record with seven three-pointers and the Cats held a comfortable 52-22 lead.
The second half was much of the same story as Vermont padded its lead to as large as a 40-point margin. Shortly into the final frame, Smith buried his final triple of the night from the left wing to set the new America East Tournament single-game record.
WHO’S NEXT
Vermont will host third-seeded UMBC in the 2019 America East Championship Game on Saturday morning (March 16). The opening tip is set for 11 a.m. in a rematch of last year’s title game. All of the action will be nationally-televised on ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app by logging in with your television provider. ESPN2 is located on DirecTV channel 209 while Dish Network viewers can tune-in to channel 143. Burlington Telecom will air the game on channel 29 SD and channel 229 HD. For additional cable listings, contact your local cable provider.
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