Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
NASHVILLE. TN — The UVM men’s basketball team had its six-game winning streak come to an end at Lipscomb with a 91-66 setback on Friday night. Vermont finishes the calendar year with a 9-4 record while Lipscomb improves to 9-3.
COACH’S QUOTE
“I give all the credit to Lipscomb, they’re a veteran team and they don’t make mistakes.” Cioffi Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. “Tonight’s loss put into prospective how young and inexperienced our team is right now. We know we have a lot to improve upon but overall, it’s been a great start against good non-conference opponents.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The mid-major powers played the majority of the first half pretty tight as the Bison only led 17-16 at the 12-minute media timeout.
Coming out of the timeout, Lipscomb broke out a 14-6 run in an eight-minute stretch for a 31-22 advantage.
The Cats went on a mini run of their own and trimmed the deficit to 35-30 with two minutes left in the period. LU countered with seven of the final nine points of the half and went into the locker room leading 42-32.
The Bison carried their momentum into the second half and built a 20-point margin at the 11:57 mark.
UVM managed to cut the deficit to 72-56 with eight minutes left to play but the defending Atlantic Sun champion continued to pad its lead in the late stages of the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Anthony Lamb scored 20-plus for the third time in the last four games. The junior notched 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds. He also dished out four assists, blocked three shots, and recorded two steals. He heads into the holiday break needing nine points to reach the 1,000-career point mark.
Stef Smith matched Lamb with 21 points and shot 7-of-15 from the floor. He buried three triples and swatted away two shots
Samuel Dingba added eight points and four boards. The redshirt senior nearly had a perfect shooting night after knocking down 3-of-4 attempts.
Friday night was the first ever meeting between the two programs.
WHO’S NEXT
Vermont will welcome the new year and regional rival Dartmouth on Wednesday, Jan. 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+. 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.
MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT PRESENTED BY MILTON CAT
The non-conference finale is also Military Appreciation Night presented by Milton Cat. Complimentary tickets are available for all military service members with the presentation of a government issued ID at the Patrick Gym Box Office. The Catamounts will be wearing special camouflage jerseys that will be auctioned off after the game at UVMathletics.com/Auctions and the proceeds will benefit the Vermont Veterans Fund. The auction will run until Saturday, Jan. 5 at 12 p.m.