Men’s Hoops: Lamb Powers Cats Over Bonnies in Double Overtime, 83-76

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON – UVM junior forward Anthony Lamb racked up a career-high 42 points as the Cats pulled off an 83-76 double overtime comeback win over St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night at Patrick Gym. Vermont extends its winning streak to six games and improves to 9-3. The Bonnies suffer their second straight defeat and fall to 4-7.

COACH’S QUOTE
“Tonight, was such an unbelievable performance from our guys,” Cioffi Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. “These are tough kids and I like coaching tough kids. We have the pleasure of seeing one of the best players to ever play here play every night and every night it’s a better performance than the one before and it doesn’t seem possible. I’m prouder of the man and leader he’s becoming than his point totals. So, it’s a great win and I’m glad we found a way tonight.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bonnies made their first five attempts from the floor and jumped out to a 14-4 lead.
The Cats spent most of the first half playing catch-up but whittled the margin to 25-22 at the 3:48 mark after Lamb canned a three-pointer from the top of the arc. St. Bonaventure scored the last six points of the period, including a step-back jumper from Courtney Stockard (27 points) in the final seconds, for a 31-22 advantage at the break.
SBU kept the pressure on to begin the second half and pushed its lead to 43-29, the largest margin of the night, but UVM mounted a comeback. The Cats overtook the Bonnies with a 20-5 surge for their first lead of the game as Stef Smith buried a corner three.
As the game came down to the final minutes of regulation, Ben Shungu grabbed a long rebound, went coast-to-coast for the fast break layup, and gave the Green and Gold a 62-61 lead. On the other end of the floor, Stockard beat the shot clock with a long triple as the advantage swung back in SBU’s favor. With 1.4 seconds left on the clock, Robin Duncan collected an offensive board off a missed free throw and banked in the game-tying layup to force the extra session.
In overtime, the non-conference rivals traded baskets for most of the period but the Catamounts gained some breathing room after cleaning up the offensive glass. Duncan made a layup plus a pair of free throws by Smith had the Cats on top 71-68. The Bonnies chipped away and tied the game at 71-71 after Kyle Lofton (23 points) laid the equalizer off the glass with seven seconds remaining.
The Bonnies hit shots in the paint on their first two possessions of double overtime but the Cats evened the score once again. Smith drained a long ball to bring UVM within 77-76 then Lamb made two free throws to put the Cats over the top. The junior forward swished another triple and Vermont iced the game at the charity stripe for the final margin of victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Lamb’s big night came on 15-of-28 shooting including six three-pointers. He also tallied six boards and recorded three blocks. Lamb’s 42-point outing is the most points scored by a UVM player since Taylor Coppenrath in the 2004 America East Championship Game.
Smith used the final three periods to rack up 19 of his 21 points. He shot 7-of-19 for the game and gathered a team-best seven boards.
Robin Duncan followed with 11 points and distributed a game-high six assists.
Vermont got its first ever win over St. Bonaventure and completed the first season sweep of Atlantic 10 opponents in school history.
UVM played its first double overtime game since Dec. 6, 2014 against Harvard.
With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate another $100 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, bringing this year’s total to 116 wins and $11,600.
WHO’S NEXT
Vermont will head to defending Atlantic Sun champion Lipscomb on Friday in the final contest of the calendar year. The opening tip is set for 8:15 p.m. ET. Fans can purchase tickets LipscombSports.com. All of Friday’s action can be seen on ESPN+. 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.