America East final: Vermont at Stony Brook 3/12/16

Stony Brook 80 Vermont 74

Vermont battled through injuries and foul trouble but ultimately could not overcome Jameel Warney's career day. I will start off by congratulating Warney on his tournament berth. He has worked hard to be where he is and came up big in the biggest game of his career. He was not going to let Stony Brook lose. Great player. Great Performance. Vermont played very well and almost pulled off the upset. There were just too many in game roadblocks to overcome. The game was very poorly officiated all the way around which resulted in poor game flow and foul trouble for Vermont. They were still hanging on and executing until Ethan O'Day went down with what looked like a significant knee injury. With an already thin frontcourt, that was a killer. From that point, Vermont had even less interior defense available to try and slow down Warney. Ultimately when the dust settles this was a great season for the Catamounts. They came together as a team and gave themselves a chance to make the NCAA tournament. The future is bright and some of the pieces to be excited about were on display in today's game. Trae Bell-Haynes continues to round out his game and is a tremendous scorer, leading Vermont with 17 points in today's game. If it wasn't for several flops by defenders he would have had an even stronger game. The increase in his ability to shoot the three at the end of the season should make defenders quiver. He is going to score many more points in a Vermont uniform. Ernie Duncan also looked great down the stretch. He finished with 11 points (3-5 from three) and 7 rebounds in this game. He started to expand his game at the end of the year as well and I am excited to see what he can do with a fully healthy offseason. His .448% shooting from beyond the arc this season is the second highest single season percentage all time at Vermont. Throw in Cam Ward's strong finish and the backcourt is set for the next several years. The Cats came together at the end of the year and turned themselves into a strong rebounding team. Maintaining that momentum on the boards will be important on next years team. My heart goes out to Ethan O'Day. He played his heart out this season and to finish his last game hobbled and then on the bench was tough. I hope he is okay but the injury did not look good. Both the players and the coaching staff grew tremendously this year and it will make them better and more prepared for next season. As long as Vermont can avoid having a difficult offseason (like last year) they should be the favorite to win it all next year. I will post a season recap after waiting to see if Vermont accepts a bid to the CBI or the CIT.