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STONY BROOK, N.Y.  – Behind a game-high 14 points from the America East Rookie of the Year Four McGlynn, the University of Vermont men's basketball team defeated Stony Brook 51-43 in the conference championship game on Saturday afternoon on ESPN2. Vermont advances to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in school history and will find out who and when it will play on Sunday night on the Selection Show on CBS starting at 6 p.m. CBS Sports broadcasts the exclusive, live first-time announcement of the pairings for the 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

Sophomore Brian Voelkel was named the Reggie Lewis Most Outstanding Player, while he was joined on the all-tournament team by McGlynn, senior Matt Glass and sophomore Sandro Carissimo. The Catamounts held Stony Brook to shoot only 29.3 percent from the floor, which is the lowest percentage in America East Championship Title Game history, and a season-low 43 points.

“It's a surreal feeling right now. We were talking earlier today about our very first meeting back in July and how we talked about getting to this point. And today it was here and we were able to beat a very good Stony Brook team and I would like to congratulate them on a great year,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “I would like to thank our fans for coming down and making that long trip.”

 “It was just a great team effort, something that we have been doing all year, we played a great defensive game and they only shot 29 percent, which is just a credit to the way our kids compete on the defensive end of the court,” added Becker. “We made timely shots and it got a little physical down towards the end of the game and our guys hung in there and made enough plays to win. I couldn't be more proud of our guys. We are going to the tournament.”

Voelkel pulled down game-highs for both rebounds (15) and assists (seven), to go with five points and a steal. McGlynn was 4-for-7 from long range, scoring nine of his 14 in the second half and Carissimo had eight points and five rebounds.

Vermont led by as many as 17 in the second half after Voelkel hit a 3-pointer with 9:56 to go, but that would be the Catamounts' last field goal of the game, as they withstood a Stony Brook run to earn the win.

In the first half Vermont jumped out to an 11-4 lead as five different Catamounts scored at least two points. With the Cats leading 13-7, they went on a 9-2 run to make it 22-9 after a Carissimo reverse layup with 6:36 to go in the frame. Vermont held Stony Brook to make only three of its first 20 attempts from the floor and of UVM's first 20 points, 13 came off the bench.

The Seawolves (22-9) would score six straight to cut it to 22-15, but Voelkel helped stopped the run with a backdoor feed to Glass for a layup, as Vermont would take a 26-19 lead into intermission. The Catamounts only allowed Stony Brook to shoot 29.6 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play, as Glass (seven) and sophomore Clancy Rugg (six) paced the UVM offense.

Vermont opened the second half with five straight on a three from Carissimo and a layup from sophomore Luke Apfeld that made it 31-19. Two straight 3-pointers by Stony Brook cut it to 31-25 with 16:33 remaining. The Catamounts responded with a 16-4 run to push their lead to 46-29 with 9:56 left. McGlynn hit three 3-pointers in the run, while junior Ben Crenca added a 3-point play and Voelkel wrapped it up with his fifth 3-pointer of the season.

Stony Brook fought back, using a 12-1 run as Dave Coley scored eight in the push and Bryan Dougher added two free throws to make it 47-43 Vermont with 1:00 remaining. Dougher's free throw would be the Seawolves final point of the day, as Vermont made four free throws down the stretch to hold on.

Vermont shot 41.9 percent from the floor for the game and 46.7 percent (7-15) from 3-point range. The Catamounts also used a 26-7 bench scoring advantage. Coley and Al Rapier each scored 10 points to lead Stony Brook.

The Catamounts will now await to see who they will face in the NCAA Tournament, as they return for the first time since 2010 and for a fifth time in the last 10 years overall. Becker is only the fourth, first-year head coach in America East history to make the championship game in his rookie season. Of the four, only Northeastern's Karl Fogel won the championship (1985-86) prior to Becker.
 
NOTES: This year marks the fourth time that Vermont has won the America East Championship as the second seed … Voelkel joins Marqus Blakely, Taylor Coppenrath (twice) and Matt Sheftic as tournament outstanding players for the Cats … UVM is now 19-6 all-time against Stony Brook … The 29.3 shooting percentage by Stony Brook breaks the old championship game record of 31.7 percent that Maine shot against Boston U on March 9, 2002 … With the win, Vermont now has the most road wins in the nation over the last three seasons combined (33) …  The home team was 25-3 all-time in the America East Championship Title Game prior to Saturday, as Vermont now owns two of the four road team victories in the championship (won at Boston U in 2003) … The top seed was also 13-2 all-time in the championship game … Stony Brook had won 14 straight at home dating back to last year before Saturday … The Cats have won 18 of their last 23 against teams from New York … The Cats are 5-3 all-time in the title game … Vermont has given up only 51.1 points per game against its last seven league foes … Vermont has now won 21 of its last 26 games in the America East Tournament … Vermont is 12-1 all-time as the second seed … The Catamounts have won 14 of their last 15 overall … The Cats are 9-2 on TV this year … The two teams split the season series, with the home team winning each … UVM has made eight finals appearances overall, including seven in the last 10 years …