Stony Brook (15-16) will either travel to No. 2 seed Boston University or host No. 6 seed Hartford, depending on tonight's outcome. The Seawolves advance to their first-ever America East final and are just the fourth No. 5 seed to ever reach the final.
Hayes was 7-for-10 from the field and 6-for-7 from three-point range. He also had six rebounds and two blocks. He was part of an infectious shooting Seawolves team that shot 27-for-56 from the field (48.2 percent) and made eight three-pointers. Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) had 14 points, 12 in the second half, to supplement Hayes' scoring.
Stony Brook's defense also played a critical role in the victory, holding Vermont to 31.8 percent shooting and just 14 field goals. The Seawolves forced 16 UVM turnovers that turned into 18 points.
"I love the way we played tonight," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We went for it. Chris made big plays, Lenny made big plays, all of our guys made big plays. And we played great defense. We really came right at them. It's a great win for our program after all the adversity we went through this season."
Stony Brook controlled the entire first half with physical play in the paint and strong shooting. The key was Fjeld picking up his second foul at 13:55, setting up a Seawolves 6-0 run that included a Dougher jumper put the Seawolves on top 15-8. The Catamounts were within three, 17-14, when the Seawolves strung together a 10-3 run that was buoyed by a pair of Hayes three-pointers and capped by Dave Coley's jumper at the 4:00 mark.
Stony Brook took a 27-20 lead into halftime after shooting 44 percent and limiting the Catamounts to six field goals.
Stony Brook opened the second half on a 10-2 run to extend its lead into double digits. Danny Carter (Windsor, England) sank a three-pointer, which was followed by jumpers from Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) to give the Seawolves their largest lead yet, 37-22.
Vermont fought back, but every time the team got close, Hayes stepped up with a dagger three. After a free throw brought UVM within six, 40-34, Hayes took a pass from Martin and drilled a three to put SBU back up by nine. UVM closed within seven again, but Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) cleaned up a Martin miss with a dunk and then Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) fed a wide-open Hayes for a another three to put SBU up 12, 50-38. Vermont's Matt Glass sank a three to pull within 10, but two minutes later, Hayes finished off the Catamounts with his fourth triple of the half.
Martin iced the game with 10 points in the final six minutes to extend his career and lift the Seawolves to one victory away from an NCAA Tournament bid.
