The UMBC Retrievers men’s basketball team is going to the NCAA tournament.

The Retrievers earned an automatic bid by knocking off the Vermont Catamounts 74-59 in the America East championship game Saturday at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore County.

This will be the third NCAA appearance in the team’s history.

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The victory marked UMBC’s third win over Vermont this season, and it capped a 16-2 run through league play.

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UMBC entered the title game riding a 10-game winning streak and outscoring opponents by nine points per game on the season.

DJ Armstrong made seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 33 points, leading top-seeded UMBC over No. 2-seeded Vermont.

The Retrievers (24-8) earned their first NCAA bid since 2018, when they famously became the first 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed, upsetting Virginia 74-54.

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Three 3-pointers by Armstrong, with the second one resulting in a four-point play, gave UMBC a 64-56 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Armstrong and Josh Odunowo then combined to go 10-for-10 from the free-throw line to finish off the win.

Armstrong was 9-for-11 from the field and 8-for-9 from the foul line. Ace Valentine scored 13 points and was 7-for-7 at the line. UMBC made 22 of 26 free throws.

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TJ Long scored 17 points, and TJ Hurley and Gus Yalden each scored 11 for Vermont (22-12). The Catamounts made only four of 10 free throws.

A 3-pointer by Long gave Vermont a 17-12 lead with 9 1/2 minutes left in the first half, and the Catamounts led 23-22 with five minutes remaining. A three-point play by Armstrong put UMBC out front and opened a run in which he scored all eight of UMBC’s points over the final three minutes of the half. The Retrievers led 30-28 at the break.

Vermont’s last lead was 51-48 with seven minutes left in the second half.

The Retrievers finished 15-2 at home this season and were undefeated at home against America East opponents.

NCAA tournament pairings will be announced Sunday.