Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
BURLINGTON – The top-seeded Vermont Catamounts advanced to the 2017 America East Championship game after beating fourth-seeded New Hampshire on Monday night with a convincing 74-41 win in the semifinal round of the America East Tournament. Vermont freshman forward Anthony Lamb dropped 24 points to lead all scorers.
Vermont improves to 28-5 and breaks the America East record for most wins. The semifinal victory also extended the nation’s longest active winning streak to 20 games. The Catamounts will move onto their 10th America East Championship since 2003. New Hampshire locks up a 20-12 record for the 2016-17 season which ties a program record for most victories.
The Catamounts’ defense stymied the Wildcats’ offense to 28.0% (14-for-50) shooting for the game. UNH’s 14 field goals are tied for the fourth-fewest in an America East Tournament contest. On the offensive end, UVM’s offense was firing on all cylinders after sinking 56.3% (27-for-48) from the floor and 52.6% (10-for-19) from long distance.
Lamb posted his seventh 20-point outing of the season and second of the conference tournament. The freshman shot 9-of-14 from the floor and drained 6-of-9 attempts from three-point land. Lamb also grabbed six rebounds, recorded three steals, and swatted away two shots. Payton Henson scored 14 points for the Cats on 4-of-8 shooting, including a pair from beyond the arc. Dre Wills added 12 points and five rebounds with four boards coming on the offensive glass. Trae Bell-Haynes had a solid night with nine points and handed out five assists.
New Hampshire’s offense came from Jaleen Smith and Luke Rosinski. Smith charted a team-high 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting while Rosinki was right behind Smith with 12 points. Rosinski was 5-for-7 from the floor with five rebounds.
The Catamounts jumped out to an 18-6 run to start the game and held the Wildcats to 2-of-18 from the floor to begin the semifinal matchup. As UNH clawed the deficit back to single digits with five minutes left in the first half, UVM closed out the period on a 16-6 run for a 37-20 lead at the break. Vermont contained New Hampshire to 24.0% (6-for-25) shooting in the opening period.
UVM stretched the advantage to 54-26 with a 17-4 in the first six and a half minutes of the second half. The Catamounts held the Wildcats in check for the remainder of the period and even pushed their lead to as large as 36 points with a minute and a half left in the game.
Vermont will host third-seeded Albany on Saturday (March 11) in the 2017 America East Championship game. All UVM men’s basketball games can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM and online at 1013ESPN.com with Sam Hyman on the call. The title game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 and on the watchESPN app by logging in with your cable provider.
Canon Solutions America is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men’s basketball season
AMERICA EAST CHAMPIONSHIP TICKET INFORMATION
All reserved tickets for the America East Championship can be purchased for $30.
All season ticket holders have until 9 a.m. on Wednesday (March 8) to purchase their reserved seats online via the MyUVM ticket portal, or in person at the Patrick Gym Box Office. Any phone calls will be returned as soon as possible dependent on the high volume of calls.
Victory Club members at the Captain ($1,500) level and above will be able to request additional tickets until 5 p.m. on Tuesday (March 7). To request tickets please email the Victory Club at Victory.Club@uvm.edu or call 802-656-0956. If you are a Victory Club member and also have season tickets, please purchase your reserved season seat as indicated above and make requests for any additional tickets through the Victory Club office.
A public on-sale will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday (March 9th) online at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or in person at the Patrick Gym Box Office. Phone orders will not be taken for championship tickets.
Student tickets will be available starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday (March 11) in person at the Patrick Gym Box Office.