Men’s Hoops: Catamounts Roll Past Hartford 76-53

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

WEST HARTFORD, CT. –  The Vermont Catamounts won their ninth game in a row after senior Trae Bell-Haynes and redshirt senior Payton Henson combined for 35 points in a 76-53 rout of Hartford on Sunday afternoon.

Vermont improves to 16-5 on the year and stays unbeaten in conference play at 6-0. The Green and Gold extended their historic America East regular season winning streak to 27 games. Hartford falls to 11-10 overall and 4-3 in the league standings.

Bell-Haynes scored a game-high 18 points with six rebounds, four assists, and one steal. He also became the 11th Catamount to surpass the 1,400-career point plateau. Henson followed with 17 points, five boards, and connected on three attempts from long range. Everett Duncan matched his career high with 12 points and made 4-of-5 attempts from three-point land.

J.R. Lynch was the only Hawk to reach double figures with a team-high 10 points. Hassan Attia and Travis Weatherington tallied eight points apiece.

The Catamounts jumped out of the gate with an 18-3 run in the opening 7:17. The Hawks countered with a quick 9-3 run and cut the deficit to single digits with nine minutes left in the period. UVM managed to keep Hartford from getting any closer and went into the break leading 38-25.

After Hartford scored the first field goal of the second half, Vermont answered and blew the game open with 33-13 run over the ensuing 13 minutes. Bell-Haynes gave the Cats their largest lead of the afternoon at 73-43 with four minutes left in the game after lofting an alley-oop to Drew Urquhart, who finished the play with a two-handed slam.

With the win, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual have donated another $100 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, bringing this year’s total to 76 wins and $7,600 donated.

Vermont returns to Catamount Country and hosts rival Albany on Wednesday (Jan. 24) in a rematch of last year’s title game. The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. Single game tickets are available at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gymnasium Box Office on gameday. Fans can watch the America East matchup 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.