Men’s Hoop: Catamounts Ease Past Fort Kent 90-54

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON – The UVM men’s basketball team will head into the Thanksgiving holiday break on a four-game winning streak after beating Maine-Fort Kent 90-54 in the regular season home opener on Wednesday night. The Green and Gold improve to 4-1 on the year while the Bengals even out at 6-6 overall.

The Cats shot 45.3% (29-for-64) from the field and drained a season-high 12 shots from beyond the arc. UVM outrebounded UMFK 50-31 and the Catamount reserves outscored the Bengals’ bench 49-26.

Vermont was led by a pair of players making their Catamount debuts. Samuel Dingba scored 13 points and tallied six rebounds in his first taste of action since transferring from Quinnipiac prior to last season. Dingba was 5-of-8 from the floor and the redshirt junior was tenacious on the offensive glass with four boards. Redshirt freshman and homegrown Ben Shungu added 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with five rebounds and two assists. Anthony Lamb matched Shungu with 11 points. The sophomore also recorded seven rebounds and swatted away two shots. Payton Henson was the fourth Catamount in double figures with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Bengals had two players reach double figures. Anthony Knight was a rebound shy of a double-double with a team-high 12 points and nine rebounds. Bobby Syvanthong added 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and posted four rebounds.

The Catamounts opened the game on a 13-0 run and canned three triples off the hands of Everett Duncan and Henson. The Bengals responded with a quick 9-5 run of their own over a two-minute stretch and trimmed the deficit to single digits. Vermont continued to pad its lead for the remainder of the period and went into the locker room with a 48-25 advantage.

In the second half, UVM carried its offensive momentum into the final frame. The Green and Gold produced a 20-11 run over a 10-minute stretch and led 68-36 at the midway point. After two quick buckets by UMFK at the 7:30 mark, the Cats never let the Bengals get any closer than 30 points for the remainder of the game.

Vermont heads to Ivy League rival Yale on Saturday (Nov. 25). The opening tip is set for 2 p.m. Fans can watch the game on ESPN3 and the watchESPN app by logging in with your television provider. All Vermont regular season games can be heard on 101.3 ESPN FM and online at 1013ESPN.com with Sam Hyman on the call.