Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – UVM redshirt senior Payton Henson became the 38th Catamount to surpass the 1,000-career point mark as Vermont held off Stony Brook 69-60 on Saturday night. The Cats improve to 24-6 on the season and 14-1 in conference play. The Seawolves drop to 12-18 overall and finish the league slate at 7-9.
With the win, the Green and Gold extended the nation’s longest active road winning streak to nine games.
Henson reached the career milestone with a 17-point effort, including 14 points in the second half. He was 6-of-8 from the floor and collected nine rebounds. Trae Bell-Haynes scored a team-high 19 points with six assists and five boards. Drew Urquhart rounded out three seniors in double figures with 16 points and grabbed six rebounds.
Stony Brook’s Akwasi Yeboah tallied a game-high 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting and hit three triples. Elijah Olaniyi added 11 points and Jakub Petrus was the third Seawolves player in double figures with 10 points.
The first half was a low-scoring defensive battle as the Seawolves held a 17-11 lead at the midway point. The Catamounts clawed back into the game at the charity stripe and drew within a bucket three minutes later. As the minutes ticked down, Stony Brook held a 31-26 advantage in the final minute. Ernie Duncan drained a three-pointer from the top of the arc and and Nate Rohrer banked in a layup at the buzzer as the two rivals went into the locker room tied at 31-31.
UVM and SBU continued to trade baskets for most of the second half until the final five minutes. With the score tied at 54-54, the Cats rattled off five quick points after Henson converted an and-one opportunity and Rohrer made a layup from the low block. The Seawolves trimmed the deficit to 61-58 after Yeboah drove into the paint and hit a layup, but the Green and Gold cashed in at the foul line in the final minute. The Catamounts went 6-for-6 at the line to ice the game.
With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate another $100 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, bringing this year’s total to 102 wins and $10,200.
Vermont will play the regular season finale at Maine on Tuesday (Feb. 27) The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. on the hardwood of the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Tickets are available for purchase at GoBlackBears.com. 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.
AMERICA EAST QUARTERFINAL TICKET INFORMATION
Top-seeded Vermont will host eighth-seeded Maine in the quarterfinal round of the America East Tournament on Saturday (March 3). A public on-sale for quarterfinal round tickets will begin on Monday (Feb. 26) at 12 p.m. To secure your quarterfinal round seats at Patrick Gym, log on to UVMathletics.com/Tickets. Fans can purchase reserved seats for $15 while general admission seats will cost $12 for adults and $10 for children ages 12 and under.