The University of Vermont Catamounts men’s basketball collected back-to-back wins last week at Patrick Gym. Vermont began its week last Wednesday, Nov. 29 with a 64-53 win over Dartmouth.
The Cats were powered by 36 points in the second half, led by a 15-0 run against the last-place Ivy League team.
The Big Green went into the halftime break with a 31-28 advantage over the Cats, capped by a three pointer from senior forward Dusan Neskovic. But Vermont’s offense found its groove in the second half, with junior guard T.J. Long clocking three consecutive three-pointers in the first five minutes of the new half.
Sophomore guard T.J. Hurley gave Vermont the lead with a three pointer of his own, and from there the Cats erupted for 15 unanswered points before Dartmouth could stop the bleeding. Junior guard Romeo Myrthil kept the Big Green within striking distance with a three of his own.
Vermont expanded the lead by rattling off seven more unanswered points highlighted by a four-point play from Hurley, who sank a three while getting fouled with just under four minutes left on the clock. The Cats traded buckets with the Big Green before closing out the win.
Saturday’s contest against the Yale Bulldogs delivered even more drama for the Patrick Gym faithful. Long continued his standout week with a three-pointer that ignited an 11-2 Catamount run in the opening minutes of the game. Grad student guard Aaron Delony joined Long in the offensive attack, sinking a pair of free throws to put UVM in front 13-3 early on in the affair.
The Bulldogs clawed their way back into the game with a 10-3 run, before trading blows with the Catamounts. In the final minutes of the first half, Yale climbed within two points, trailing 28-26 going into the half.
Vermont clung to their lead throughout the second, and on several occasions allowed the Bulldogs to even the score. But they didn’t find themselves trailing until a costly Catamount turnover with less than a minute left in the game.
Yale got a fastbreak on the turnover and executed the basket to move ahead 61-60. After successful free throws from August Mahoney and Bez Mbeng, the Bulldog seemed to have all but stolen a victory from Vermont.
With 0.6 seconds to work, Delony cut the deficit to 65-62 with an uncontested free throw. Trialing by three, Hurley drew a hard offensive foul underneath the Bulldogs’ basket to give Vermont the ball with milliseconds to spare.
Deloney inbounded the ball and passed to Long on the right wing. The junior got the ball and got off a buzzer-beating shot that evened the score at 65 each and sent Patrick Gym into mayhem. Having drawn a foul, Long sank a game-winning free throw to seal one of the best comebacks in college basketball this season.
An impossible finish to complete a stellar week, Vermont’s basketball program sits at the top of the America East Conference with a 7-2 overall record. They will travel to Boston on Wednesday, Dec. 6 to take on the Northeastern Huskies.
