Anthony Lamb becomes a legend

Vermont 83 St. Bonaventure 76 in 2OT

An all time great game from an all time great player.

The three thousand or so Cats fans that attended tonight's game witnessed something special. That is a game that will forever come up in conversation as a "Were you there when......" moment. Anthony Lamb keeps raising his game to another level. Each time you think you have seen his best most unbelievable performance he goes out and takes it up another notch. He has reached the upper echelon of Vermont greats and is taking over games like a man named Coppenrath used to. He was an absolute warrior in this game. Kept the Cats in the game while everyone figured out what to do without Ernie Duncan. Made big shot after big shot and then, just when it seemed he might have nothing left in the tank, he hits the dagger to finish off the Bonnies. Lamb played 47 minutes scoring 42 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, swatting 3 shots, and ZERO turnovers. While doing all that he was keeping his teammates calm, telling them to take it one play at a time, firing up the crowd, and then celebrating the win. He does it all with poise and composure. Get to a game. He is in the midst of an all time great season. Stef Smith struggled in the first half. It looked like the pressure of trying to replace Ernie was getting to him and he was trying to do to much. He finally broke through and it was his big scoring run that got Vermont back into the game. He came alive and ignited the Cats and the crowd. Smith finished with 21 points and led the team with 7 rebounds in 42 minutes. What more is there to say about the tremendous maturity, poise, and determination that Robin Duncan plays with. He was everywhere in this game. Grabbing offensive rebounds including the play of the game when he corralled a Ben Shungu free throw miss and tied the game at the end of regulation. Robin finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in 40 minutes. Ben Shungu and Bailey Patella also gave the Cats great minutes. The offensive rebounding down the stretch was the thing that changed the game. Vermont was out hustling the Bonnies to every lose ball and particularly the Vermont guards were diving to the rim to get big rebounds. The adversity that the Cats overcame to get this win shows the kind of guts this team has. No Ernie. Everett goes down. Short bench. Terrible start. Big second half deficit. The list goes on and on. They never got rattled. They never stopped believing. These are the qualities of a winning team. To be 9-3 at this point with the Cats youth and the difficulty of their schedule is an incredible accomplishment. Now they have another quick turnaround as they make their way down to Tennessee to meet Lipscomb. With the heavy minutes this week it will be interesting to see who has anything left in the tank for Friday's game. That is all for me tonight as I know I can't truly do this game justice. What a night.