Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
VESTAL, NY. — A pair of 20-point outings from Anthony Lamb and Ernie Duncan propelled the UVM men’s basketball team to a 69-63 conference win at Binghamton on Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts stand atop the America East standings with a 12-2 league record and a 22-6 overall mark. The Bearcats slip to 4-9 in conference play and 8-20 on the year.
COACH’S QUOTE
“Today was a really good road win against a tough Binghamton team who made 12 threes,” Cioffi Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. “Anthony and Ernie carried us offensively plus we made enough stops down the stretch. It was a good way to end a three-game road swing but we’ll be happy to get back home.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Catamounts scored seven of the first 10 points of the game but the Bearcats clawed back with a mini 7-4 run of their own and closed the gap to 11-10 by the 8:30 mark.
UVM bounced back with nine unanswered points in a 1:23 span and built a 20-10 double-digit lead.
Binghamton started to heat up from outside and canned three triples as a part of 15-8 run to cut UVM’s lead to 28-25 with two minutes left in the half. The Cats netted five points in the final minutes and went into the locker room up 33-27.
The conference foes traded scores through the 12-minute media timeout of the second half but Binghamton’s J.C. Show (22 points) drained a three-pointer from the left side of the arc to give the Bearcats a 47-46 lead with 10 minutes to play.
In the next four minutes, the lead exchanged hands three times and was deadlocked once.
With the score tied at 58-58 with 5:39 left on the clock, Duncan buried a corner three to give the Cats the lead for good. BU banked in a layup on its next possession but the Green and Gold scored nine of the final 12 points of the contest for the final margin of victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Lamb recorded his sixth double-double of the season with a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds. He hit 10-of-21 attempts from the floor with two assists, one block, and one steal.
Ernie Duncan reached the 20-point mark for the seventh time this year with 22 points. Duncan shot 7-of-11 in the matinee including 5-of-7 from long range.
Ben Shungu and Everett Duncan added six points apiece.
The Cats are off to a 22-6 start for the third consecutive season and fifth time in program history.
UVM has won eight straight against BU and improves to 32-8 in the all-time series.
With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Make-A-Wish Vermont; bringing this year’s total to 36 wins and $3,600.
WHO’S NEXT
Vermont heads into the bye week but will host Stony Brook next Saturday (March 2). The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. All of the action can be seen on ESPN+ with a paid subscription. Fans can access ESPN+ with a seven-day free trial, followed by a subscription fee of $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with the ability to cancel at any time. Fans can also listen to the contest on 101.3 The Game and 1013TheGame.com with Jake Marsh on the call.