UMBC continued their incredible play down the stretch and DJ Armstrong Jr. put together an all time championship game performance to lead the Retrievers to the tournament berth. The final score (and box score) will not do this game justice and don't tell the whole story. It will be easy to nitpick the poor Vermont shooting or look at the free throw disparity and if you didn't watch the game think same old problems. It was a closely contested game throughout with both teams responding to runs each way. Vermont's defense was really good and they made every shot tough for UMBC. DJ Armstrong Jr. single-handedly won this game with an insane performance, hitting tough contested shots, and scoring 13 points in a 4 minute stretch after Vermont took a three point lead. It was insane to watch and an incredible clutch performance. Armstrong Jr finished with with 33 points and almost all of his makes were deep, off balance looks, with hands in his face. Tip of the cap to him. To illustrate the point of how incredible his performance was, the rest of the Retrievers shot 12-40 (30%) and their leading scorer Jah'likai King was held scoreless. Great performance by UMBC and they will continue their hot streak into the NCAA tournament.
TJ Long led the way for the Cats with a vintage 17 point performance in his final game. TJ Hurley struggled to make shots against a UMBC team determined to take him out of the offense and finished with 11 points. It is too bad the injuries never allowed the TJ & TJ experience to be fully realized. Gus Yalden chipped in 11 points and 5 rebounds (4 offensive) but battled foul trouble in the second half. Lucas Mari willed the Cats into the lead with his energy on both ends of the floor before getting hit with a elbow to the head and not returning down the stretch. He finished with 6 points and 8 rebounds. He was really incredible getting the Cats back into the game. Sean Blake finished with 7 points and 6 rebounds.
I will post a season review sometime in the coming weeks but in the meantime it is time to turn our attention to the Vermont women's basketball team following their incredible performance in the championship game last night. There are Catamounts in the postseason!
