Friday, February 10, 2017

New Hampshire at Vermont 2/9/17

Vermont 82 New Hampshire 74

14 in a row.

Vermont withstood a hot start by New Hampshire and pulled away in the second half for their 22nd victory of the season. Anthony Lamb had his best game of the season leading Vermont to the victory. Lamb tied his career high with 26 points and added 13 rebounds, 9 of which were on the offensive end., He scored inside and out knocking down two threes to go along with an array of crafty finishes around the rim. He is improving each game and his strength underneath the hoop is overpowering. He put up those numbers through sheer will and tenacity. Trae Bell-Haynes was the other MVP, putting together his best all around game of the season as well. Bell-Haynes finished with a season high 23 points on 9-15 shooting and added 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and zero turnovers. He broke out of his mini slump and was back to attacking the basket with his tremendous speed. New Hampshire made a conscious effort to try and play faster than they usually do and it worked in Bell-Haynes' favor. After that it was another balanced effort with Kurt Steidl adding 11 points and Payton Henson chipping in 10. Cam Ward put together a great 7 points and 6 assists and Darren Payen blocked 5 shots. Payen completely changed the game in the second half by not allowing anything easy at the rim. The Cats took every shot that New Hampshire had and responded with a shot of their own. The atmosphere was tremendous in Patrick tonight and the student section was both the loudest and largest I have seen since I have been going to games. What a great all around game for the Vermont program. Now Vermont heads out on a very tough road trip. UMBC and UMass Lowell are two high octane offensive teams who are really going to test Vermont's defense. Both of those teams are difficult match ups for Vermont and I expect them to be tough games. That is all I have for now as it is way past my bedtime. Go Cats Go!

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