VESTAL, N.Y. -- UMBC's offense struggled throughout yesterday's America East semifinal against Vermont. But the Retrievers maintained their poise and took advantage of some clutch free-throw shooting plus tough defense in the final minutes to make school history.
Ray Barbosa went 15-for-15 from the free-throw line, scored a game-high 29 points and teamed with Cavell Johnson to spark a late rally that carried UMBC to a 73-64 victory over Vermont in an America East semifinal at the Binghamton University Events Center.
The victory tied a school record for wins in a season and earned UMBC (23-8) its first trip to a conference championship game in 22 years of Division I competition. Top-seeded UMBC will host second seed Hartford, which beat Boston University, 59-52, in the other semifinal, for the America East championship at noon Saturday. UMBC and Hartford split a pair of one-point games in the regular season.
Against the fourth-seeded Catamounts, UMBC took command with a 12-0 run in the final five minutes and scored 18 of the game's final 22 points. The Retrievers made 16 of 20 free throws during that stretch to erase a 60-55 deficit.
"It was one of those days where we just had to battle back again," Barbosa said. "We fought adversity plenty of times this year, and this is just another one."
The Retrievers missed 12 of their first 13 shots after halftime and made only six of 25 from the field (24 percent). But UMBC stayed tough defensively, especially during the late run. The Retrievers forced two turnovers and limited Vermont (16-15) to two baskets in the final 4:36.
"That's what we talk about, playing four-minute segments, you know, intervals during the course of the game instead of a full 40 minutes," UMBC coach Randy Monroe said. "I thought the guys did a terrific job down the stretch, and I'm really proud of them."
Johnson came through with a number of big plays down the stretch. He pulled down rebounds in traffic on three consecutive possessions and made four key free throws. He made only four of 11 shots from the field but finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Darryl Proctor also played a big role, scoring 17 points and limiting Vermont forward Marqus Blakely, America East's top scorer and Player of the Year, to nine.
VERMONT-Blakely 4-9 0-0 9, Fjeld 4-4 2-2 10, Vier 0-4 0-0 0, Trimboli 7-15 5-5 21, Cieplicki 3-6 0-0 6, Accaoui 3-5 0-0 7, Powlovich 0-0 0-0 0, McIntosh 4-6 2-3 11, Shields 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-49 9-10 64. UMBC-Spadafora 2-4 2-2 7, Fry 2-3 1-1 5, Proctor 6-15 5-6 17, Greene 1-7 0-2 3, Barbosa 5-14 15-15 29, Johnson 4-11 4-8 12, Hodges 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 20-61 27-34 73. Half-Vermont 34-33. 3-point goals-Vermont 5-17 (Trimboli 2-6, Blakely 1-2, Accaoui 1-2, McIntosh 1-3, Cieplicki 0-1, Vier 0-3), UMBC 6-21 (Barbosa 4-9, Spadafora 1-2, Greene 1-5, Proctor 0-1, Hodges 0-4). Fouled out-Fjeld, Trimboli. Rebounds-Vermont 37 (Blakely 14), UMBC 33 (Johnson 8). Assists-Vermont 11 (Trimboli 3), UMBC 12 (Greene 5). Total fouls-Vermont 22, UMBC 15. Technical-Vermont Bench. A-NA.