Stony Brook and Vermont won their semifinal games in exciting fashion Sunday to advance to the America East Tournament Championship Game next Saturday. The two teams split their two regular season meetings.
Dallis Joyner tipped in a missed Dave Coley jumper as time expired to give top-seeded Stony Brook the win over 4-seed Albany. The Great Danes tied the game at 55 apiece on a Jacob Iati 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the game to potentially send the game into overtime. Gerardo Suero had 17 points to put the Seawolves one win away from a 2012 NCAA Tournament bid.
Vermont needed two overtimes to finally take out the Hartford Hawks. The 2-seed Catamounts were seemingly heavy favorites over the 9-22 Hawks, but they got everything they could handle Sunday. Vermont gave up an 8-point halftime lead, scoring just 24 points in the second half. Sandro Carissimo reinvigorated the Catamounts off the bench, scoring 18 points in 41 minutes on the floor.
The championship game will take tip off at 11:02 a.m. ET next Saturday on ESPN2.
Check the America East website for more information, including a complete bracket. As always, stay tuned to SB Nation New York for more news.