Men’s Hoops: Smith’s 25 Point Night Carries Catamounts Past Towson 55-38

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON –– Stef Smith scored a season-high 25 points to lead Vermont (7-4) over Towson (4-5) 55-38 on Saturday night at Patrick Gym. Cioffi Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Becker registered his 200th-career Division i win, making him the quickest UVM coach to reach the milestone.

COACH’S QUOTE
“It was a great win tonight and I thought we played really hard for 40 minutes,” Becker said. “It was a bit of a rock fight for a good portion of the game, but we didn’t let offensive frustrations affect us on the defensive end. We kept grinding away defensively and had a late spurt offensively.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Smith powered the Cats to a 15-8 lead in the opening 11 minutes. The junior made all four field goals attempted, including a trio of threes for an early 11 points.
Vermont outscored Towson 11-8 to close out the first half. Anthony Lamb had six points in the final stretch and Smith drove to the basket in the final seconds for a 26-16 lead at the break.
The Catamounts held a 33-22 lead at the first media timeout of the second half, but the Tigers answered with a 10-0 run. Nicolas Timberlake hit a three for Towson that brought the deficit to one. Smith responded with his fifth triple of the night to end the Tigers’ run.
UVM put the game out of reach with a 15-1 run to take a 49-33 advantage in the final four minutes. Lamb drilled a big three and Everett Duncan converted an and-one opportunity for the insurmountable lead.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Smith matched his season high with five three pointers as he shot 7-for-11 from the floor. The guard was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and picked up five rebounds.
Lamb was also in double figures with 15 points and led the team with nine boards.
Ben Shungu had seven rebounds in his return to the lineup and dished out a team-high three assists.
UVM improves to 11-9 in the all-time series with Towson.

UP NEXT
Vermont continues the four-game homestand against UNC Greensboro on Wednesday (Dec. 18). Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Patrick Gym. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. The non-conference contest can be seen on ESPN+. Fans can also listen live on the Vermont Sports Network, from Learfield IMG College, on 101.3 The Game or online at Catamounts All-Access with Jake Marsh on the call.