Men’s Hoops: Vermont Stays Unbeaten in Conference Play with Win Over Binghamton

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON –– The UVM men’s basketball team improved to 5-0 in America East play with a 78-50 conference win over Binghamton on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gym. The Catamounts extended their winning streak to six games and stand at 15-4 on the year. The Bearcats fall to 5-14 overall and 1-3 in league play.

COACH’S QUOTE
“It was a great game today especially with the Rally Against Cancer cause,” Cioffi Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. “I thought we did a great job, especially defensively, and we were able to up early and play with a 20-point lead. We’ve been shooting really well in practice and it translated over to the game.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams struggled to find their offensive rhythm early on as Vermont led 4-2 five minutes into the game.
Binghamton kept the score close until the 12-minute media timeout when UVM broke free with a 24-5 surge.
The Cats went into the locker room with a 36-14 advantage and held the Bearcats to a 27.3% (6-for-22) field goal percentage.
The conference foes traded scores for most of the second half but Vermont never let Binghamton draw any closer than an 18-point margin. The Catamounts pushed their lead to as large as 28 points with two minutes left to play.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Ernie Duncan notched his third 20-point outing of the season with a game-high 20 points. The redshirt senior shot 5-of-11 from the floor including 4-of-9 from long distance.
Everett Duncan followed with 13 points, including 11 in the second half, on 5-of-8 shooting and knocked down three triples. He also pulled down five rebounds and dished out an assist.
Samuel Dingba recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. The redshirt senior cleaned up the boards with seven offensive rebounds.
Vermont won its seventh consecutive meeting with Binghamton and improved to 31-8 in the all-time series.
The Cats won the rebounding battle 46-16.
The Green and Gold are off to a 15-4 overall start for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign.
The contest was UVM’s annual Rally Against Cancer game presented by Inspired Closets. The Catamounts wore special edition lavender jerseys this year – the color that represents the fight against all cancers. The jerseys are currently being auctioned off at UVMathletics.com/Auctions and the proceeds will benefit the UVM Cancer Center.
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 nine wins and $900.
WHO’S NEXT
Vermont will host defending conference champion UMBC on Wednesday (Jan. 23) in a rematch of last year’s title game. 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 ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app by logging in with your television provider. Fans can also listen to the game on 101.3 The Game and 1013TheGame.com with Jake Marsh on the call.