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Long's last-minute 3-pointer saves season for UVM basketball in AE playoff win over Albany
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- Long's last-minute 3-pointer saves season for UVM basketball in AE playoff win over Albany
TJ Long did it again. And the University of Vermont men's basketball team did just enough to survive and advance.
In a season packed with dramatic Long 3-pointers, the junior transfer's long-range bomb in the corner with 30 seconds to go put the No. 1 Catamounts ahead to stay in a back-and-forth, 75-72 triumph over eighth-seeded Albany during Saturday's America East Conference quarterfinals in front of 2,682 at Patrick Gym.
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"TJ really lives for those moments," UVM coach John Becker said. "He's been incredible, I've never had a kid do what he's done this year as far as clutch, game-winning shots."
Two-time reigning league champion Vermont (26-6) will host No. 4 New Hampshire (16-14) in a tournament semifinal on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN2. The Catamounts have reached the America East semifinals in 15 straight seasons and will seek their 10th conference title-game appearance in Becker's 13-year tenure.
Saturday's win marked Vermont's fifth this season after trailing by double digits.
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"Another incredible, gutsy performance by our group," Becker said. "Credit Albany, they played really, really well and had us on the ropes there."
More: 2024 America East basketball tournaments: What you need to know for UVM men, women
Indeed. Behind a sensational 31-point performance from Sebastian Thomas, the Great Danes led by as many as 10 points in the first half and had the upper hand, 70-69, and possession with 1:01 left in regulation. But after Tyler Bertram's long 3-point attempt went in and out on a long Albany offensive trip, Vermont set up for Long's go-ahead trey .
Shamir Bogues passed out of a double team in front of the UVM bench to Aaron Deloney, who cycled the ball to Nick Fiorillo on the wing. Fiorillo, who was a game-time decision due to injury, quickly fired a bounce pass in the corner for Long's 3-point splash.
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"Better not miss this shot," Long said he thought just before hoisting his triple.
The Vermont men's basketball bench celebrates after the final buzzer of its 75-72 America East quarterfinal win over Albany at Patrick Gym on Saturday, March 9, 2024.
Long's 3-point heroics this winter include his four-point play in the final second to stun Yale and his go-ahead shot with 1:21 left to cap Vermont's 17-point comeback at Brown in the nonconference finale .
"I have confidence in my shot, but if anyone else is on the team taking that shot, I have just as much confidence as them taking it," Long said.
More: Vermont's John Becker named America East coach of the year for seventh time
Long finished with 20 points, making three of Vermont's five 3-pointers, while also going 7 of 8 at the foul line and grabbing six rebounds. Deloney recorded 17 points and three assists, Bogues added 16 points, five assists and five steals and Ileri Ayo-Faleye collected nine points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
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"I just always know he has one coming, no matter what," Deloney said of Long. "The ball finds him, it's his shot and it always goes in it seems like. I don't want to jinx it, but it always does."
Vermont's TJ Long lines up a 3-pointer during the Catamounts 75-72 win over Albany in the America East quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at UVM's Patrick Gym.
Vermont, though, still had to grind out the final 30 seconds.
Ayo-Faleye rose for a big defensive play, forcing a loose ball in the paint, getting fouled and making 1 of 2 foul shots. After Ny'Mire Little's two foul shots to cut the Vermont lead to 73-72 with one second to play, Long dropped in both of his free throws and Thomas' long heave from his own end came up short at the buzzer.
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Vermont has rallied from double-digit deficits against Charleston (15), Northeastern (13), the aforementioned Brown game (17), UMBC (20) and Saturday's tilt when Albany's margin stood at 24-14 in the first half.
"We are a group that faces adversity pretty well. It's not the first time we've been down at the half," Long said. "No one was panicking and we all stayed together through the end."
Thomas' 31 points came on 11 of 16 shooting and 4 of 6 on 3-pointers. Teammates Amar're Marshall and (13 points) and Muneer Newton (10) also reached double figures for the Great Danes, who held the advantage for nearly 29 minutes of game clock.
The lead changed nine times and the game was tied on eight occasions.
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"We gave them everything," Albany coach Dwayne Killings said. "(Vermont) knows how to win games."
Albany's Sebastian Thomas tries to tie the game from halfcourt at the buzzer during the Great Danes 75-72 loss to Vermont in the America East quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at UVM's Patrick Gym.
On that see-saw battle, Vermont appeared to seize control with a 7-0 spurt to take its first lead, 45-44 with 15:06 to play, since scoring the game's opening basket. Vermont then staked to a 58-53 margin with 8:23 to go following Jace Roquemore's fast-break dunk and wing 3-pointer, the former coming off Bogues' fifth steal of the afternoon.
Later in the half, Albany slipped back in front on Thomas' personal 6-0 spurt for a 70-67 advantage with 2:12 on the clock. Then Bogues connected with a pair of foul shots and Vermont overcame an extended Albany possession — two offensive rebounds by the Great Danes — that ended with no points after Bertram's almost-down triple rimmed out.
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Then Long entered for his game-winner.
"All you have to do is win by one. We stuck together and got it done," Long said.
Vermont improved to 12-0 in the league quarterfinals as the No. 1 seed.
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com . Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5 .
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont men's basketball: Catamounts rally past Albany in final minute
