Men’s Hoop: Bell-Haynes and Henson Guide Cats Past Dartmouth 73-58

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON  –  Vermont had eight different players score a point and used 34 points in the paint to secure their ninth-straight victory over twin-state rival Dartmouth on Wednesday night with a 73-58 win at Patrick Gym.

Vermont improves to 7-3 on the season and 3-0 at home. Dartmouth is left searching for its first win of the season and drops to 0-7.

Despite struggling in the first half, the Catamounts shot 56.5% (13-of-23) from the floor in the second half and knocked down five shots from long range to earn the victory. UVM also made a season-high 22 free throw attempts.

Trae Bell-Haynes poured in a season-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting and sank 9-of-10 trips to the foul line. Payton Henson recorded his first collegiate double-double with 16 points and set a new career-high with 10 rebounds. Ernie Duncan knocked down a pair of three-pointers to finish the night with 10 points. Anthony Lamb and Kurt Steidl had productive outings for the Cats with eight points apiece. Lamb grabbed eight rebounds off the glass while Steidl followed with five boards.

Dartmouth’s leading scorer Evan Boudreaux posted his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Miles Wright and Brendon Barry each added nine points for the Big Green and Ike Nwudo contributed eight points.

The Catamounts jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first five minutes with four points coming from Henson and Bell-Haynes. Vermont’s offense cooled off over the next four and a half minutes with only one field goal as Dartmouth climbed back into the game.

The Big Green mounted a 7-0 run to take a 16-12 advantage but the Cats had an answer. UVM produced a 17-9 run in the final 9:20 and went into the locker room with a 30-23.

The second half belonged to the green and gold. After Dartmouth drew within 30-28 a minute into the final period, but Vermont came through with a 15-7 run over the next four minutes and built a 10-point lead. Vermont continued to ride the momentum midway through the second period. The Cats blew the game open with a 17-6 run over an eight-minute stretch, including 10 unanswered points begin the surge, and saw their largest lead of the night at 22 points.

Vermont hosts Northeastern on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 10) at 1 p.m. in round two of a three-game home stand. Single game tickets can be purchased at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday.  The game can be seen live for free in HD via AmericaEast.TV.