"The second-seeded Vermont Catamounts punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament on Saturday when they defeated Boston University 83-70 in the America East finals. Behind a stellar performance from three-time first-team All-Conference performer Marqus Blakely, the Catamounts collected their fourth championship and now must prepare for the first-seeded Syracuse Orange on Friday.
At Vermont, the Catamounts controlled all 40 minutes and never trailed. The fourth-seeded Boston University Terriers, however, didn’t go down without a fight. Trailing 42-31 at the half, BU started off with a 15-4 run to slim the gap to one. But Vermont responded with a run of its own to force BU to foul down the stretch. In its first NCAA appearance since 2005, Vermont again faces Syracuse. In first-round action in 2005, No. 13 Vermont stunned No. 4 Syracuse 60-57 in overtime.
Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. on Friday at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.
— Jaki Goldner"
is a member of the 
