# 2021 America East men's basketball tournament

The 2021 America East Men's Basketball Conference tournament was the post-season men's basketball tournament for the America East Conference that began on February 27, 2021 and ended on March 13, 2021. Starting in the semifinals, all tournament games were played on the home arenas of the higher-seeded school. In Pod Play and the Quarterfinals, games were played at either New Hampshire or Hartford. The winner received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

## Seeds

All of the teams, except for Maine, in the conference standings qualified for the tournament. Maine cancelled their season after going 2–7, so they did not compete in the conference tournament. The teams were seeded by record in conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.
| Seed | School | AEC Record | Tiebreaker |
| 1 | UMBC | 10–4 | 2–0 vs Albany |
| 2 | Vermont | 10–4 | 1–1 vs Albany |
| 3 | New Hampshire | 9–6 | |
| 4 | Hartford | 8–6 | |
| 5 | Albany | 6–6 | |
| 6 | UMass Lowell | 7–8 | |
| 7 | Stony Brook | 7–9 | |
| 8 | NJIT | 6–10 | |
| 9 | Binghamton | 4–10 | |

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup | Score | Television | Attendance |
| Pod Play – Saturday, February 27 ||||||
| 1 | 1:00 pm | No. 6 UMass Lowell vs No. 7 Stony Brook (at New Hampshire) | 64–62 | ESPN+ | 0 |
| 2 | 2:00 pm | No. 9 Binghamton at No. 4 Hartford | 60–77 | ESPN+ | 0 |
| 3 | 5:00 pm | No. 8 NJIT vs No. 5 Albany (at Hartford) | 66–76 | ESPN+ | 0 |
| Quarterfinals – Sunday, February 28 ||||||
| 4 | 1:00 pm | No. 6 UMass Lowell at No. 3 New Hampshire | 72–64 | ESPN+ | 0 |
| 5 | 3:00 pm | No. 5 Albany at No. 4 Hartford | 77–83 | ESPN+ | 0 |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 6 ||||||
| 6 | 2:00 pm | No. 6 UMass Lowell at No. 1 UMBC | 79–77 | ESPN+ | |
| 7 | 4:00 pm | No. 4 Hartford at No. 2 Vermont | 71–65 | ESPN+ | |
| Championship – Saturday, March 13 ||||||
| 8 | 11:00 am | No. 6 UMass Lowell at No. 4 Hartford | 50–64 | ESPN2 | |
| Game times in ET. Rankings denote tournament seeding. All games hosted by higher-seeded team or at pod site. ||||||

## Bracket and results

| Pod Play Saturday, February 27, 2021 ESPN+ | Pod Play Saturday, February 27, 2021 ESPN+ | Pod Play Saturday, February 27, 2021 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Sunday, February 28, 2021 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Sunday, February 28, 2021 ESPN+ | Quarterfinals Sunday, February 28, 2021 ESPN+ | Semifinals Saturday, March 6, 2021 ESPN3/ESPN+ | Semifinals Saturday, March 6, 2021 ESPN3/ESPN+ | Semifinals Saturday, March 6, 2021 ESPN3/ESPN+ | Championship Saturday, March 13, 2021 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 13, 2021 ESPN2 | Championship Saturday, March 13, 2021 ESPN2 |
| | | | | | | 1 | UMBC | 77 | | | |
| | | | 3 | New Hampshire | 64 | 6 | UMass Lowell | 79 | | | |
| | | | 6 | UMass Lowell | 72 | | | | | |
| 5 | UMass Lowell | 64 | 6 | UMass Lowell | 72 | | | | | |
| 5 | UMass Lowell | 64 | | | | | | | 6 | UMass Lowell | 50 |
| 8 | Stony Brook | 62 | | | | | | | 6 | UMass Lowell | 50 |
| 8 | Stony Brook | 62 | | | | | | | 4 | Hartford | 64 |
| 3 | Hartford | 77 | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Hartford | 77 | | | | 2 | Vermont | 65 | | | |
| 10 | Binghamton | 60 | | | | 2 | Vermont | 65 | | | |
| 10 | Binghamton | 60 | 4 | Hartford | 83 | 4 | Hartford | 71 | | | |
| | | | 5 | Albany | 77 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Albany | 76 | 5 | Albany | 77 | | | | | | |
| 7 | NJIT | 66 | | | | | | | | | |

## Game summaries
### Pod Play

* ESPN+
* February 27, 2021 1:00 pm EST
No. 7 Stony Brook Seawolves 62, No. 6 UMass Lowell River Hawks 64 :
| Scoring by half: 43-29, 19-35 |||
| Pts: J. Rodriguez – 22 Rebs: M. Gueye – 13 Asts: J. McKenzie – 2 | Pts: O. Noel – 23 Rebs: 2 tied – 4 Asts: 2 tied – 3 |
* Lundholhm Gymnasium – Durham, NH Attendance: 0 (COVID-19) Referees: Kevin O'Connell, Andy O'Brien, Michael Fortunato
* ESPN+
* February 27, 2021 2:00 pm EST
No. 9 Binghamton Bearcats 60, No. 4 Hartford Hawks 77 :
| Scoring by half: 24-34, 36-43 |||
| Pts: D. Petcash – 15 Rebs: H. Hjalmarsson – 7 Asts: 3 tied – 2 | Pts: A. Williams – 29 Rebs: A. Williams – 15 Asts: 2 tied – 5 |
* Chase Arena – West Hartford, CT Attendance: 0 (COVID-19) Referees: John Floyd, King Whetstone, Mike Kitts Jr.
* ESPN+
* February 27, 2021 5:00 pm EST
No. 8 NJIT Highlanders 66, No. 5 Albany Great Danes 76 :
| Scoring by half: 23-39, 43-37 |||
| Pts: Z. Cooks – 26 Rebs: 3 tied – 4 Asts: M. Gray – 2 | Pts: J. Doles – 21 Rebs: 2 tied – 6 Asts: J. Horton – 7 |
* Chase Hall – West Hartford, CT Attendance: 0 (COVID-19) Referees: John Floyd, King Whetstone, Mike Kitts Jr.