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America East Basketball: Vermont and Stony Brook battling for league supremacy

By Daniel Benjamin

MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 16: Vermont
MILWAUKEE, WI - MARCH 16: Vermont /
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CHARLOTTE, NC – MARCH 16: K.J. Maura
CHARLOTTE, NC – MARCH 16: K.J. Maura /

The Vermont Catamounts and the Stony Brook Seawolves are battling for supremacy in America East Basketball.

This year’s race for the America East regular season championship, and for that matter, the conference tournament crown appears like it is going to come down to two teams, the Vermont Catamounts and the Stony Brook Seawolves. Although, the UMBC Retrievers could have something to say about that.

Vermont (22-6, 12-2 America East) currently holds a one-and-a-half game lead over Stony Brook (22-6, 10-3) in what is the tightest race for the conference title in the last few years. The Catamounts have two games remaining while the Seawolves have three. The good news is that the two teams will meet in Burlington on March 2. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with tipoff set for 7 p.m.

But before the Wolves get too far ahead of themselves, they have an important game against the Retrievers (18-11, 10-4) in what could determine who will get the second seed in the conference tournament. UMBC won the earlier matchup against Stony Brook 57-49 as the Retrievers limited the Seawolves to 30 percent shooting from the field and nine percent (2-for-22) from beyond the arc. Senior forward Joe Sherburne led the way for UMBC with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

While the AE is down a little overall from the past couple of years, the last time the race for the conference title was this close was during the 2015-16 season when Stony Brook claimed the crown by one game over Albany. It is conceivable that only three teams will win 10 league games, which last happened in 2013-14. Also, Binghamton, Maine and New Hampshire may not reach double-digit wins — 2015-16 was the last time that three conference teams failed to win 10 games. Maine was the only team last season to not hit 10 win mark.

If Vermont can hold onto the league lead, it will be the Catamounts third straight regular-season championship. The Catamounts are 43-3 in conference play over the last three years, although they have captured one tournament title during this period. Last year, UMBC upset Vermont in the conference tournament championship game. Stony Brook has 29 conference wins during this stretch while UMBC has 31.

So, can the America East get two teams in the NCAA tournament?

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