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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Grambling State men's basketball team beat Texas Southern 75-66 in the SWAC tournament championship game to secure a bid for the NCAA tournament.
Jourdan Smith was the leading scorer for the G-Men with 20 points. Three other Tigers finished in double figures.
This is the Tigers first SWAC tournament championship. Head coach Donte Jackson was recently named the SWAC Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
Long Beach State entered the 2024 Big West men’s tournament a bit adrift. The once-proud Beach finished the regular season 17-14; they’d lost their last five games and an early victory over Michigan had proven misleading.
They responded by parting ways with coach Dan Monson—a veteran of the coaching ranks who helped mold Gonzaga into a proto-national power in the late 1990s. He would be allowed to coach his team in the conference tournament but would not return in 2025.
How did he respond? By leading Long Beach State to the NCAA tournament.
On Saturday, the Beach edged UC Davis 74-70 in the Big West tournament title game to complete an improbable conference tournament run in a year chock-full of them.
To make the moment even more special, Monson’s 90-year-old father Don—a decorated former coach of Idaho and Oregon—was in attendance.
The younger Monson discussed what the moment meant to him after the game.
On Sunday, Monson and Long Beach State will hear their names called for the Big Dance for the first time since 2012.
What a week.
LAS VEGAS – N'Faly Dante, playing with a bruised tailbone, made all 12 of his shots and scored 25 points, and Oregon secured an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating Colorado 75-68 on Saturday night in the conference tournament title game to end the Pac-12 basketball era.
By winning the conference tournament, fourth-seeded Oregon (23-11) extended its postseason because the Ducks weren't projected to receive an at-large invitation to the 68-team field. This was the Ducks' sixth Pac-12 Tournament championship and first since 2019.
Third-seeded Colorado (23-10) is expected to receive an at-large bid. The Buffaloes' eight-game winning streak ended.
Dante, who was injured in Friday's semifinal victory over Arizona, also had nine rebounds and three steals and was named the tournament's most outstanding player. Also for Oregon, Jackson Shelstad scored 17 points and Jermaine Couisnard finished with 14.
KJ Simpson led the Buffaloes with 23 points, and Luke O'Brien had 11.
The score was tied at 62 when Shelstad made two free throws and Jadrian Tracey a layup to put the Ducks ahead by four points with 2:41 left. They never trailed again.
The atmosphere wasn't quite what might be expected of a historical conference playing, for now at least, its final basketball game. When sixth-ranked Arizona bowed out Friday night, so did nearly all of its rabid fans who flocked to what has become known as McKale North. The fans who did show up Saturday, filling maybe half of T-Mobile Arena, were high in energy — if not numbers.
Oregon once again was part of a final Pac-12 event, having also played in the football championship in December. The Ducks and three of their brethren will be headed to the Big Ten Conference in the coming months.
Colorado and three other Pac-12 teams will soon call the Big 12 Conference home, and California and Stanford will play in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Only Oregon State and Washington State remain behind, determined to preserve the Pac-12 in some way, even naming Teresa Gould as league commissioner for the next two years.
Whether those two schools find a way to keep the conference alive remains to be seen, and in the meantime they will align with the Mountain West in football and West Coast Conference in other sports. A full merger at some point is a possibility.
Gone for certain is the Pac-12 as it's long been known, the so-called Conference of Champions with a rich basketball history, with Saturday night's championship game the last notable event in that sport.
When being on top of the hill isn’t high enough, you sit on top of the conference.
WKU mens basketball defeated the University of Texas El-Paso Miners Saturday, 78-71, advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013.
Before the game, it was announced that WKU guard Dontaie Allen had been ruled out, having left the team’s win Friday with a knee injury.
However, even without Allen, the Hilltoppers started the first half the way they ended the second half in their previous game against MTSU: Hot.
Opening up the game with a 17-4 run, the Hilltoppers defense shined, grabbing seven turnovers in the first ten minutes. However, the game very quickly shifted gears.
Although the Miners started the game 0-10 from the field, they converted on nine of their next 11 attempts, bringing the game within just a single point with under five minutes to go.
A once ferocious WKU offense had seemingly gone ice cold. In the span of nine minutes, they were on the receiving end of both a 14-5 and 12-3 run. During these runs, the Hilltoppers shot a lowly 5-14 from the field.
However, with their backs against the wall, facing a one-point deficit with just three minutes to play, a familiar offensive presence took over. WKU ended the first half on a 9-3 run, securing a four-point lead heading into the break.
The first half MVP for the Hilltoppers was junior guard Don McHenry. McHenry’s 10 points, two rebounds, and one assist on 3-5 shooting from the field led both the explosive start and end for the WKU offense.
Yet, the success of the Hilltopper scoring attempts can be attributed to more than just an individual player. WKU’s interior strength and size led to 75% of their first half production coming inside the paint.
UTEP found their production coming from senior guard Zid Powell. Powell tallied 10 points on 3-6 from the field, and 2-3 from beyond the arch. Eight of the guard’s 10 points came during an 80-second span, where Powell scored on three consecutive possessions for the Miners.
Heading into the half, the Hilltoppers squeaked out a 40-36 lead.
Team First Half Statistics:
WKU: 17-31 FG, 2-9 3FG, 4-4 FT | 17 Rebounds: 14 Defensive, three Offensive.
UTEP: 11-28 FG, 5-12 3FG, 9-12 FT | 16 Rebounds: 11 Defensive, five Offensive.
WKU could not bring their normal high tempo at the start of the second half. Opening up 1-8 from the field, with most of the misses coming off of good looks, the Miners took comfort in the speed of play, capitalizing with a 15-4 run to start the half.
In what was a rollercoaster of a game, the ride did not stop. Following UTEP’s run, they’d go on a five-minute scoring drought, giving the Hilltoppers a seven-point lead, on a 16-2 run for themselves.
The drive would not stop. With just under five minutes to play, WKU advanced their lead to 10, with help from a 20-4 run.
The Hilltopper offense was once again dominated by McHenry in the second half. The guard’s 15 points, two rebounds, and three steals sealed the WKU victory and conference championship. In total on the night, McHenry had 25 points on 9-16 from the field, 2-8 from three, with four rebounds, and four steals.
UTEP’s offense was still being led by Powell in half number two. Powell tallied 11 points in the half, giving him 21 points on the night.
Team Second Half Statistics:
WKU: 10-27 FG, 1-7 3FG, 17-23 FT | 23 Rebounds: 15 Defensive, eight Offensive.
UTEP: 12-32 FG, 4-12 3FG, 7-10 FT | 20 Rebounds: 13 Defensive, six Offensive.
With the win, the Hilltoppers claim their first C-USA title on their fourth attempt, and Coach Steve Lutz’s third straight conference title win.
WASHINGTON — It must be March.
North Carolina State capped a miraculous conference tournament run with an 84-76 win over North Carolina on Saturday night, stealing a spot in the NCAA Tournament on the eve of Selection Sunday.
The Wolfpack, which lost seven of its last nine regular-season games, arrived in Washington as the No. 10 seed in the ACC tournament, needing to win five games in five days to prolong its season. And with an upset of Duke, an overtime victory over Virginia and its smothering of the Tar Heels on Saturday night, it managed to do just that.
NC State last won the ACC tournament in 1987 under legendary coach Jim Valvano.
"Everybody expected this to be Carolina and Duke," Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts said Friday. "Well, it's Carolina and NC State. We play pretty good basketball at NC State, too."
The Wolfpack were led by fifth-year guard DJ Horne, who racked up 29 points on 9-of-15 shooting while navigating foul trouble for much of the second half. He fouled out with a little more than a minute remaining.
DJ Burns Jr., who is listed at 275 pounds, also caused frequent issues for the Tar Heels with his bruising play in the post, finishing with 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
With the win, NC State injected a bit of chaos into the NCAA Tournament field less than 24 hours before the bracket is revealed. The Wolfpack is expected to join North Carolina, Duke and Clemson as the ACC teams in the field; Its win could amount to disaster for Virginia, which was among the key teams on the bubble.
CLEVELAND — In the realms of Northeast Ohio college basketball, there is no game that matters more.
Never is that truer than in the finals of the MAC Tournament, and Saturday night in downtown Cleveland, bitter rivals Akron and Kent State once again faced off in this ultimate showdown. This time, it was the Zips who prevailed, beating the Golden Flashes 62-61 in what will go down as an instant classic.
Neither team could pull away, with the lead changing multiple times in the final minutes alone. KSU went ahead by one on Cli-Ron Hornbeak's tip in, but then Julius Rollins inexplicably fouled Greg Tribble on the inbound, sending him to the line with just 4.8 seconds left.
Tribble, who finished the night with just four points, drained both. Jalen Sullinger had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but his short jumper was off the mark, and Akron fans exploded with jubilation.
ATLANTIC CITY – They’re back!
Two years after Saint Peter’s made its inspiring run to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight, the tiny school from Jersey City returns to March Madness looking to regain its Cinderella status.
The Peacocks punched their ticket with a 68-63 win over Fairfield in Saturday night’s MAAC Tournament championship game at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, emerging as the No. 5 seed with its third win in as many days.
Sophomore forward Corey Washington led the way with 24 points, at the Peacocks won their fifth MAAC title overall, and their second in three years.
Saint Peter’s is the team that started New Jersey’s recent run of shocking postseason performances, the first of three New Jersey schools to advance against long odds, with Princeton reaching the Elite Eight a year ago, when FDU won two games at a No. 16 seed, including a takedown of top-seeded Purdue.
Now, with Mason having replaced Shaheen Holloway, now the Seton Hall boss, and just one player, MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Latrell Reid, who finished with nine points, remaining on the Peacocks’ roster from two years ago, they head back to the Big Dance.
The Peacocks now wait to find out their next opponent when the 68-team field is announced Sunday night. They figure to be a 16 seed and could end up in the First Four in Dayton, perhaps against NEC champs Wagner, coached by Donald Copeland, a former assistant coach to Saint Peter’s head coach Bashir Mason at Wagner. If they are in the main draw, it could mean a rematch with Purdue, who they beat in the Sweet 16 two years ago, or Houston or North Carolina.
Defense makes difference
After Saint Peter’s built a 61-54 lead, Fairfield rallied with a steal and score by Jalen Leach and a drive by Brycen Goodine to make it 61-58 with 1:39 to play. Washington then missed the front-end of a one-and-one, with Fairfield getting a score from Goodine on a drive to pull within a point with 1:16 left.
When Washington went back to the line shooting two, he sank two to make it a 63-60 game with 1:07 on the clock.
It then came down to the Saint Peter’s defense, which came into the game ranked 12th nationally, getting a stop, with Marcus Randolph getting fouled on the defensive rebound with 50.9 left. He made one of two from the line to make it a two-possession game at 64-60.
Caleb Field then scored on a drive and was fouled for Fairfield, completing the three-point play with 39.9 seconds left. Clarke was fouled and made two free throws with 15.1 seconds. Fairfield’s Jasper Floyd missed a jumper at the other end, with Washington getting fouled with 2.9 seconds left, hitting both free throws to seal the win.
After going down 29-19, the Peacocks rallied with a quick 6-0 run, pulling within four points on a pair of free throws by Marcus Randolph with 1:53 left. But a Yetna tip-in put the Stags up 32-25 at halftime, with Yetna leading all scorers with 10 points over the opening 20 minutes.
Then Washington took over, scoring six straight points, with the final two coming after he blocked a shot at one end and took the ball coast-to-coast for the score, giving the Peacocks a 49-44 lead. It stretched to 52-46 on a triple by Clarke with 7:40 left.
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UConn won the Big East men's basketball tournament on Saturday. We'll find out if the Huskies won the No. 1 overall seed of the NCAA tournament on Sunday.
The Huskies, seeded No. 1 in the Big East, rallied in the second half to put away No. 3 seed Marquette ___ and add one more item to their March Madness résumé. Even more helpful for UConn was a game that finished less than an hour beforehand: Houston, UConn's biggest competition for the No. 1 overall seed, was blown out 69-41 by Iowa State in the Big 12 final.
The NCAA tournament bracket will be revealed at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday.
It was a slow start for UConn and Marquette at Madison Square Garden, with the two teams combining to go 1-for-17 from the field to open the game. UConn's Samson Johnson connected on a dunk with 13:29 remaining in the first half to tie the game 2-2.
Things thankfully picked up from there, with nine lead changes and no deficit larger than four points for the rest of the half. UConn entered halftime up 26-24 and exchanged the lead a few more times before finding the kind of groove that won them so many games in the regular season.
A 19-5 Huskies run midway through the second half put the game out of reach, with Jaylin Stewart and Tristen Newton doing almost all of the damage.
The biggest difference-maker of the game was UConn big man Donovan Clingan, who led the team with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, 16 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
This is UConn's first Big East tournament title since Kemba Walker's immortal run in 2011 (he program spent seven seasons in the AAC in that time span). It is also the program's eighth title, tying it with Georgetown for the most in conference history.
UConn vs. Houston March Madness résumés
UConn
Record: 31-3 (18-2 conference)
Tournament: Won Big East
Quad 1 record: 13-3
Quad 2-4 record: 18-0
Strength of schedule: 27
Losses: Kansas, Seton Hall, Creighton
Houston
Record: 30-4 (15-3 conference)
Tournament: Lost Big 12 final
Quad 1 record: 16-4
Quad 2-4 record: 14-0
Strength of schedule: 14
Losses: Iowa State (twice), TCU, Kansas
On Wednesday, No. 6-seeded New Mexico entered the Mountain West Tournament firmly on the bubble—desperately needing at least two wins over No. 11 Air Force and No. 3 Air Force to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.
When the final buzzer sounded Saturday, they became the first team in conference history to win four games in four days, earning a 68-61 victory over No. 5 San Diego State Saturday afternoon, clinching their fifth-ever MW Tournament title and first since 2017-18.
New Mexico also became the first No. 6 seed since 2002-03 (Colorado State) to win the MW Tournament—the only other No. 6 seed to win it. Though that previous bracket—with just eight teams (it did not have 11 until 2013-14)—lasted just three days.
The Lobos were led by dynamic All-Conference guards Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn, who combined to score 49 of the team’s 68 points. House, who had a team-high 28 points, shot 10-of-22 from the floor and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Mashburn tallied 21 points on 6-of-16 shooting with three triples as well, while JT Toppin finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting, hauling in multiple key (offensive) rebounds down the stretch.
San Diego State, playing in their seventh consecutive Mountain West Title game, missed 13 of its final 14 shots after taking a four-point lead with 7:08 left. Jaedon LeDee was its only double-figure scorer, posting 25 points on 7-of-12 shooting with six rebounds.
New Mexico shot just 37.5 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent from 3-point range; SDSU shot just 35.7 percent and 20.0 percent from 3-point range. New Mexico forced 10 SDSU turnovers that led to 14 points off turnovers, while its four TOs didn’t lead to any additional Aztec points.
Three straight House triples gave the Lobos a nine-point lead with 6:44 left in the first half. Mashburn followed with a triple of his own before House’s fifth field goal of the contest widened their advantage to 32-18.
House and Mashburn ultimately scored 28 of New Mexico’s 36 points—including 24 of their final 26—in the first half, as the Lobos entered up by six. New Mexico shot 44.1 percent compared to San Diego State’s 44.4 percent. New Mexico held LeDee scoreless for the game’s first 17:30, swarming him on every catch inside 15 feet.
Waters’ three-point play followed by an eight-foot floater gave San Diego State their first lead of the evening. After Parrish’s first 3-pointer of the evening put San Diego State up four, two consecutive Toppin’ putbacks knotted the contest up at 57.
JT Toppin’s shot-clock beating finish gave New Mexico a 61-59 lead with 2:29 remaining. The knockout blow came with 1:20 left, when House’s drifting three-point play gave New Mexico its first two-possession lead in since the 14:30 left in the first half.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Keshon Gilbert wrapped up a spectacular Big 12 Tournament for Iowa State with 16 points, and the seventh-ranked Cyclones blitzed No. 1 Houston to begin the second half Saturday night, allowing them to roll to a 69-41 win and their sixth championship in six appearances in the title game.
Milan Momcilovic had 18 points and Hason Ward scored 13 for the Cyclones (27-7), who have beaten five different programs to raise the trophy, including Oklahoma, which at the time was led by current Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson.
He probably felt even worse than he did in 2000. Iowa State turned a 30-23 lead at halftime into the kind of blowout Sampson has rarely experienced with an 18-3 run to start the second half. That gave the thousands of Cyclones fans that paint Kansas City red and yellow every March plenty of reasons to stand on their feet and roar their approval.
Doesn't seem to matter who is coaching them, either. T.J. Otzelberger is the fourth to win the tournament for Iowa State.
Jamal Shead had 10 points on 3-for-17 shooting for Houston (30-4), which was outscored 39-18 in the second half. L.J. Cryer was held to seven points and Emanuel Sharp to five as the Cougars shot 4 of 22 from the 3-point arc and 15 of 56 from the field.
Iowa State built its halftime lead by playing the role of Houston better than Houston.
The preternaturally poised Cyclones never wavered when they fell into an early hole. They exhibited some exquisite interior ball movement for easy layups when the Cougars' guards tried to lock down the perimeter. And when they got those buckets to go, it freed up Momcilovic and and the rest of the Iowa State sharpshooters to begin draining 3-pointers.
On the other end, the Cyclones forced Shead into off-balance runners and long 3s at the end of the shot clock; the Big 12 player of the year — and defensive player of the year — was 2 for 11 in the first half, and it didn't get any better in the second.
Cougars big man J'Wan Roberts was largely ineffective, too, after hurting his right leg and playing sparingly in their semifinal rout of Texas Tech. He started the game and played 13 first-half minutes before sitting out the second half.
He probably wouldn't have made a difference the way the Cyclones were rolling. They scored the first 10 points as part of their run to start the second half, and Momcilovic's 3 from in front of his bench pushed their lead to 48-23 with 12:40 to go.
Resorting to desperation shots, the Cougars went 9 1/2 minutes without a field goal as the game got away from them.
UP NEXT
Iowa State will likely be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and could get a favorable landing spot in Omaha, Nebraska, for the opening weekend. It is only about a 2 1/2-hour drive from its campus in Ames, Iowa.
Houston almost certainly had locked up a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tourney. The question now is whether the selection committee would put the Cougars in the same region as Iowa State to set up a potential rematch.
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NORFOLK, Va. -- Jordan Hairston scored 18 points and Bryce Harris and Seth Towns each scored 16 points as Howard beat Delaware State 70-67 on Saturday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship to secure an NCAA tournament bid.
Harris' jump shot broke a 60-all tie with 4:18 remaining and the Bison led for the remainder, but not without late drama.
Hairston made two free throws with six seconds left for a 70-66 lead. Off the inbounds, Delaware State's Deywilk Tavarez dribbled at a full sprint up the floor and with 2.2 seconds launched a 3-point attempt and was fouled by Jelani Williams.
Tavarez made the first foul shot and missed the second, and his attempt to deliberately miss the third for a desperation rebound and 3-point heave attempt failed when his shot attempt ricocheted off the backboard and failed to touch the rim. Howard inbounded to end the game.
Marcus Dockery scored 15 points for fourth-seeded Howard (18-16), which is headed to the NCAA tournament for a second straight year for the first time in school history. Howard upset top-seeded Norfolk State on its way to the championship game.
Jevin Muniz scored 24 points and Martaz Robinson 16 for the sixth-seeded Hornets (15-18) which saw its improbable MEAC run end.
The Hornets last beat Howard on March 5, 2020. Delaware State entered having beaten second-seeded North Carolina Central and third-seeded South Carolina State.
The Hornets were seeking their first conference championship and NCAA tournament berth since 2005. Delaware State ended the regular season having lost four of five games.
The Bison were without Dom Campbell, Shy Odom, Ose Okojie and AJ Magbegor because of injuries. For the season, Howard's rotation players missed a total of 78 games, which was among the top five in the country.
Howard led 40-34 at halftime on the strength of 8-for-17 shooting from 3-point range. With the exception of a 2-0 deficit, the Bison led for 19:09 of the first 20 minutes. Towns' layup with 3:59 left before halftime gave Howard a 33-23 lead, the only double-digit lead either team held.
Towns, 26, is an eighth-year senior and has had a career marred by injury. His playing career started at Harvard in 2016-17 before the Columbus, Ohio, native transferred to Ohio State and suffered a series of season-ending injuries before transferring to Howard.
The University of Vermont men's basketball team found out in the third game the resolve it possessed — however incalculable it might be to truly measure such a trait.
The Catamounts' roaring comeback vs. Charleston on Nov. 16 at the Myrtle Beach Invitational was the first of five victories this season after trailing by 10 or more points.
"We just knew the kind of guys we had in the locker room, it didn’t matter how far down we were," Vermont junior forward Ileri Ayo-Faleye said. "We had the type of dudes who were going to fight back and never give up."
No deficit too big to overcome. No foe too imposing to handle. Nothing, it seemed, could rattle this year's Catamounts.
And for the third straight March, Vermont's opponent in the America East championship game couldn't break that will. The Catamounts host this day, and own it, annually.
Behind Ayo-Faleye and Shamir Bogues' 94 feet of influence, the top-seeded Catamounts outlasted No. 2 UMass Lowell despite a halftime deficit for a 66-61 victory in the league's title game at sold-out Patrick Gym on Saturday, sealing a championship three-peat and booking yet another berth to the NCAA Tournament.
On a 10-game winning streak, the Catamounts (28-6) join the 2004-05 Vermont squad with three consecutive league tournament titles. The Catamounts, with 11 conference titles to extend their league record, have won five of the last six America East championships.
They'll learn their seed, site and opponent during Selection Sunday on CBS (6 p.m. eastern).
"This group is just so resilient and so tough and these two guys up here epitomize that as much as anybody in our program," 13-year UVM coach John Becker said of Ayo-Faleye and Bogues. "Really, they were the pillars of our program this year. The relentlessness, the athleticism, the instincts with which they play with is breathtaking. They brought so much joy to Catamount Country."
Bogues, a junior transfer guard from Tarleton State, was named the tournament's most outstanding player after collecting 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, four steals and no turnovers in 32 minutes in Saturday's final. Ayo-Faleye, a second-year transfer from Rhode Island, posted nine points, five boards, four assists, two steals, a trio of blocks and no turnovers in 36 minutes.
"We were down at half and still found a way to win," said Ayo-Faleye, who earned a spot on the all-championship team. "We stayed the course, listened to the coaches, listened to the messaging and just applied it. This time of year it’s all about execution."
Said Bogues: "Our message coming in was to stay together. And that’s what we did today."
TJ Long, also on the all-championship squad, sank four 3-pointers and totaled 14 points and three assists. Fifth-year senior Aaron Deloney added a dozen points thanks to a 7-for-8 effort at the foul line and one game-sealing layup, and Nick Fiorillo added 11 points for the Catamounts.
Cam Morris (17 points, 10 rebounds), Brayden O'Connor (14 points) and Ayinde Hikim (11 points) each reached double figures for Lowell.
Saturday's championship encapsulated much of Vermont's gutsy season. The Catamounts struggled to score around the paint, had stretches of shooting dry spells from their outside threats, and had to work from behind. But like they've done all winter, the Catamounts drummed up answers with elite-level defense and a plenty of timely and much-needed Long 3-pointers.
"Knowing that there is going to be adversity throughout the game, just weathering the storm and being able to come out with the win is the most important thing," Ayo-Faleye said. "Never getting too high or too low, just staying even and knowing that we are going to pull it out."
Vermont's early, 19-11 advantage was wiped out by inefficiency on offense — seven straight missed field goals — and the River Hawks (22-10) not only climbed back into contention but took a 32-29 margin into halftime. A year ago, Lowell also had a slight edge at the break before Vermont pulled away.
"UMass Lowell — give them the credit they deserve. They’ve been a team that’s been nipping at our heels for the last bunch of years," Becker said. "They are tough, they are experienced. They battled and we knew it was going to be a tough game. I have a lot of respect for (coach Pat Duquette) and his program."
In a game that featured 11 lead changes and five ties, Vermont created breathing room with a 13-4 spurt highlighted by a pair of Fiorillo triples and an Ayo-Faleye hook shot for a 60-50 lead with 4:01 left in regulation.
To start the separating run, Fiorillo poured in a 3-pointer following Ayo-Faleye's drive into the paint and kick to the wing. Ayo-Faleye also got a crafty and nimble reserve layup to drop through and Bogues steered in a baseline runner on back-to-back possessions.
Ayo-Faleye's hook shot, though, was the type of offense Vermont had been lacking throughout the year without a true post-up presence. The Catamounts won without that position last year with Robin Duncan and Dylan Penn, and have pulled off a similar scheme with Bogues' skillset.
"I thought he made the biggest play of the game," Becker said of Ayo-Faleye's hook.
The Riverhawks made one last push, uncorking a quick 5-0 spurt to trail 60-55 with 3:29 to go. After Fiorillo's two foul shots and Connor's basket made it a five-point game again, Morris missed both of his free-throw attempts and Deloney, the team leader, soared for the final dagger to secure the Catamounts' three-peat.
Instead of letting the clock tick down, Deloney saw an opening to the basket, and the speedy guard bolted to the hoop for a finish off the glass and 64-57 lead with 43 seconds left.
Counting the championship awarded following the cancellation of the 2020 final due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Deloney is now a four-time America East tournament champion, joining former teammates Ben Shungu and Robin Duncan.
"You just get to see kids grow up. AD is a man now. He was a little kid when he got here," Becker said.
Vermont also pulled off three in a row with three remarkably different squads. The Catamounts reloaded this winter after the graduation of four starters, just like they had to do following the 2021-22 campaign. Their program mission remains in sight: Advance to the second weekend at the NCAA Tournament.
"These guys want to go to the tournament and we want to win. We are trying to get this program to Sweet 16s," Becker said. "We are a national brand, we are nationally relevant. I’m not going to let anyone in this program be comfortable with what we did or done. We want to do the next thing until I run out of goals and then I’ll retire if there’s nothing left to shoot for.
"I’m going to continue to try and dream big here."