The first chance to crash the Patrick Gym floor was halted by the officials.

The delay — nearly five minutes to sort out a video review when only three-tenths of a second remained — was essentially a formality.

The University of Vermont men’s basketball team was thisclose to finally exhaling in triumph after 40 agonizing minutes against Albany.

But five years since their last title, a year removed from heartbreak on Long Island, the Catamounts and their fans could hold back the court-storming for just a few more minutes.

“I would’ve waited an hour if that’s how long it took,” UVM coach John Becker said.

Top-seeded Vermont roared back in the final stages and booked its spot in the NCAA tournament with a 56-53 victory over Albany in the conference title game at sold-out Patrick Gym on Saturday.

The America East Conference championship — “the longest game of the year” — belonged to Vermont again.

“What a day, what a day. What more can be said about these guys?” Becker said. “We just hung in there and hung around and kept believing.

“We found a way, and that’s what we’ve done all year.”

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The Catamounts (29-5) improved their winning streak to 21 games in a row, the longest current run in the nation, and finally solved the Great Danes in the conference tournament by overcoming a nine-point deficit with 8 minutes, 45 seconds left to seal the program’s return to March Madness.

It will be Vermont’s sixth trip to the Big Dance — all since 2003.

“The thing I told the guys before the game is this is my fourth championship game in six years, so one thing I know about this game: It’s the longest game of the year,” Becker said. “Ten minutes is a lot of time and there’s no deficit that can’t be overcome with 10 minutes to go.”

Payton Henson provided the go-ahead points, finishing a three-point play with 39 seconds to go off a feed from Trae Bell-Haynes, and UVM relied on its bedrock, defense, to close out Albany for the first time in six tourney tries.

Henson, a junior transfer, led all scorers with 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting, while freshman Anthony Lamb, the tournament MVP, added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to keep UVM’s historic season rolling on.

“We’ve won 21 in a row, and that says a lot. It’s a hard thing to do in college basketball,” Henson said. “The confidence comes with the group of guys we are playing with. This team is extremely special, from the coaches and all the way down.”

Travis Charles scored 16 points off the bench to pace the visitors and all-league first-teamer David Nichols hoisted 25 field-goal attempts but settled for 14 points as the Great Danes were handed their first defeat in six appearances in the league final. Joe Cremo, Albany’s other standout guard, had seven points and six rebounds.

“We had the ball in the right guys’ hands, the guys who have gotten us to this point, and you ride those guys in big games,” Albany coach Will Brown said. “We came here to win and we thought we could win. Nothing but respect for what (UVM has) accomplished this year.

“The game came down to a possession.”

Trailing 47-38 with 8:45 left, UVM’s season-saving run started and finished with a pair of Kurt Steidl triples.

Steidl bombed a trey from the left wing and, after four UVM foul shots and one Charles’ free throw, the 6-foot-6 senior from Ridgefield, Connecticut, book-ended the 10-1 spurt with a corner 3-pointer in front of the home bench to knot the score at 48 with 4:37 to go.

After missing his first five attempts from the floor, Steidl found his range when UVM needed him most. And it moved Becker.

“It killed Kurt not to make those shots and we all knew it. ... And for him to come back and make those shots is just, you know, I just felt so good for him,” Becker said. “There’s no kid that’s worked harder in this program, there’s no kid that does more on and off the court for this program. He’s the unsung hero of this team. He’s the glue.”

The Great Danes responded swiftly, though, with Charles canning a jumper on their next trip.

Lamb, overcoming a 2 of 12 shooting effort, connected on four straight foul shots over the next 2:36 for UVM to regain a 52-50 margin with 1:13 remaining.

When Cremo made 1 of 2 at the charity stripe, Henson came up with the game’s decisive play.

Bell-Haynes drove baseline and flicked a pass to Henson, who hung in the air to draw the foul before polishing off the three-point play, flexing to the crowd and bench.

“Credit (Bell-Haynes) for the drive and the beautiful pass,” Henson said. “We knew we had to get movement off the ball and cuts to the rim.”

Ahead 55-52, UVM’s defense wouldn’t budge in the final minute and Albany could only muster one free throw following the 5-minute delay for the video review.

“We did what we set out to do, we just did not finish,” Brown said. “I think maybe the pressure got to us a little bit in the last two minutes of the game. We probably made some youthful mistakes down the stretch. I’m going to leave it at that.

“We lost to a really good basketball team.”

Shooting 33.3 percent from the floor — its worst performance of the season — UVM relied on the nation’s 12th-ranked defense to wrestle the title away from Albany’s grasp.

“That’s what we are. It’s defense and rebounding here,” Becker said. “I just believe that’s how you win championships, that’s why we were able to win 21 games in a row. Offense can come and go and these guys, especially after last year, bought into that.”

Driven by last year’s loss at Stony Brook, Saturday came down to redemption for UVM, especially for its upperclassmen.

“That Stony Brook game was a long trip back and that one hurt because you only get so many opportunities with games like this. You never know if you are coming back,” said senior Dre Wills, who tallied seven points, four rebounds and two of UVM’s championship-record nine blocks. “When we got here this time, we wanted to make the most of it.”

And now UVM’s unbeaten stretch and chance to add to its program wins record runs deeper into March.

“We’re going to try to play as long as we can and continue to do things that no other Vermont Catamount team has done or no other America East team has ever done,” Becker said. “We continue to want to be the best team to ever play in this league.”

Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aabrami5

VERMONT 56, ALBANY (NY) 53

ALBANY (NY) (21-13)

Campbell 3-6 3-6 9, Rowley 1-3 0-0 2, Stire 2-4 0-0 4, Nichols 6-25 0-0 13, Cremo 2-6 2-3 7, Charles 6-7 4-5 16, Ennema 1-2 0-0 2, Anderson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-53 9-14 53.

VERMONT (29-5)

Lamb 2-12 7-8 12, Henson 5-8 6-7 17, Er.Duncan 2-5 0-0 6, Bell-Haynes 2-11 4-7 8, Steidl 2-7 0-0 6, Payen 0-0 0-0 0, Rohrer 0-0 0-0 0, Ward 0-0 0-0 0, Wills 3-5 1-2 7. Totals 16-48 18-24 56.

Halftime—27-27. 3-Point Goals—Albany (NY) 2-15 (Cremo 1-3, Nichols 1-9, Ennema 0-1, Campbell 0-2), Vermont 6-16 (Steidl 2-3, Er.Duncan 2-5, Lamb 1-3, Henson 1-3, Bell-Haynes 0-2). Fouled Out—Lamb. Rebounds—Albany (NY) 32 (Rowley 8), Vermont 30 (Lamb 10). Assists—Albany (NY) 10 (Cremo 4), Vermont 9 (Bell-Haynes 4). Total Fouls—Albany (NY) 22, Vermont 15.