Men’s Hoops: Catamounts Clipped by St. Bonaventure 81-79

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure senior guard Matt Mobley made a three-pointer as time expired and handed Vermont an 81-79 defeat at the Blue Cross Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Catamounts drop to 7-5 while the Bonnies improve to 8-2 after winning their fifth straight contest.

Anthony Lamb poured in a game-high 27 points in his homecoming to Rochester, N.Y. The star sophomore approached a double-double with eight rebounds and made 13-of-14 attempts at the charity stripe. Trae Bell-Haynes added 13 points and handed out four assists. Everett Duncan was the third Catamount to reach double figures with 13 points after knocking down three triples.

Jaylen Adams scored a team-high 17 points and distributed six assists for St. Bonaventure. Courtney Stockard followed with 14 points while Izaiah Brockington and Amadi Ikpeze tallied 13 points apiece. LaDarien Griffin contributed 11 points and Josh Ayeni rounded out six Bonnies in double digits with 10 points.

The first half was highly competitive as the lead changed hands six times through the first 20 minutes. With two minutes left in the period, the Catamounts faced a 37-29 deficit but back-to-back three-pointers from Stef Smith trimmed the score to 39-35 as both teams headed into the locker room.

The Catamounts wasted very little time regaining the lead in the second half after scoring on three out of their first five possessions. UVM boosted its advantage to as many as five and did not relinquish the lead until the 11:03 mark when Ipeze made a layup and knotted things up at 56-56.

In the last two minutes, Stockard converted an and-one opportunity by getting a friendly roll on a layup, then hit the ensuing free throw to put SBU up 78-75. On the other end of the floor, Lamb sank a pair of his own at the line as UVM trailed 78-77 at 1:44 left in the game.

The score stood until six seconds remained on the clock. Bell-Haynes drove down the lane but could not get a layup to fall. Payton Henson was there to clean up the glass and tipped-in the go-ahead score in the final seconds.

St. Bonaventure rushed up the floor in desperation mode as Adams found Mobley on the right wing. The senior let the game-winning shot go with 0.6 left on the clock for his only points of the afternoon.

Vermont will host Quinnipiac in the final game of the 2017 calendar year on Thursday (Dec. 21). The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. on the hardwood of Patrick Gym. Single game tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. Fans can watch the contest 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.