UMBC stuns Vermont with last-second dagger and clinches NCAA tournament bid
This shot is so disrespectful.
UMBC is going dancing for the first time in a decade on the strength of a wicked Jairus Lyles three pointer to punch his Retrievers through to the club’s first big dance appearance since 2008. Lyles’ disrespectful three with half a second to go in regulation elevated UMBC to a 65-62 win over Vermont in a toe-and-nail contest on the Catamounts’ home floor in Burlington.
While Vermont held the country’s longest active winning streak coming into this game with 15 straight, UMBC entered the day’s proceedings without a win over the Catamounts in a decade and one day, dropping 23 straight contests since March 9, 2008. Coincidentally, that season also marked the Retrievers’ last trip to the big dance. At halftime, then, UMBC’s 37-35 advantage appeared to have the Retrievers on track to exorcise a 10-year old bogeyman.
Vermont battled back to a ten point advantage midway through the second period, but thanks to Lyles’ game-high 27 points, some furious runs, and a Vermont scoring drought that lasted nearly seven minutes, UMBC wiped out that Catamount advantage and splashed down the game’s final shot.
Trae Bell-Haynes contributed a team-high 18 points for Vermont in the losing effort. As for the Retrievers, they await Selection Sunday to find out where, when, and whom they’ll be playing in the NCAA tournament’s opening round.
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