Vermont tops UMBC 80-71, on cusp of 5th straight AEC title

Feb 19, 2021, 10:38 am

BALTIMORE -- — Ryan Davis scored 21 points as Vermont stretched its winning streak to eight games, beating Maryland-Baltimore County 80-71 on Thursday night, earning at least a share of the America East Conference title.

The Catamounts and UMBC play again Friday in the regular-season finale. Vermont needs a sweep to become the first team to win five consecutive AEC titles. The Retrievers can share the championship with a split.

Stef Smith and Ben Shungu added 20 points each for the Catamounts. Shungu also had eight rebounds. Isaiah Powell had 11 points for Vermont (10-3, 10-3 America East Conference).

R.J. Eytle-Rock had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Retrievers (13-5, 9-4). L.J. Owens added 12 points. Keondre Kennedy had 11 points.

Brandon Horvath, who led the Retrievers in scoring coming into the contest with 14 points per game, was held to only 7 points on 3-of-11 shooting. He made one basket in the first half, two in the second.

Vermont outscored UMBC 34—26 in the paint and was a perfect 12 of 12 at the free throw line. UMBC was 11 of 18 at the line.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com