Harvard at Vermont 12/8/18

Vermont 71 Harvard 65

Anthony Lamb. Nuff Said.

Lamb took over the game in the second half and brought Vermont back from a 10 point deficit to defeat Harvard. After setting a career high with 34 against Yale a few weeks ago, Lamb one upped himself by scoring 37 points on 14-22 shooting in this one. Lamb out muscled the helpless Harvard defenders and scored from just about every spot on the floor. This was a gutsy performance by the Cats and Lamb was the leader. He is continuing to amaze and is working on a special season. The hard work he put in during the offseason is paying off as he has added significant quickness to his game. Harvard tried several different defenders and strategies to stop him but Lamb was just able to take what the defense gives him, take advantage, and score anyway. What an incredible performance. There have been enough games this season to say that this group has the mental toughness to win. They expect to win and when they are asked to dig deep they respond. The defensive performance by the Cats in the second half was incredible. They had Harvard back on their heels and completely locked up on the perimeter. Robin Duncan's length has provided the Cats with a versitile defender. In the first half when Harvard was knocking down perimeter shots at will and dominating Vermont on the boards, the Cats were hedging ball screens and attempting to recover. Becker made the adjustment at halftime to switch everything and it was very effective. Harvard finished the game with 21 turnovers to Vermont's 7. That was the difference in the game. Part of the effectiveness of the defense is the luxury of having a 6-5 point guard who can hold his own against bigger players. The defense game plan was executed beautifully and Vermont completely changed the momentum. Ernie Duncan was the other Catamount in double figures with 14. He had a big putback of his own miss at a crucial point late in the game. What was great about his game tonight was he scored the 14 without knocking down threes or making a ton of free throws. He was able to get rim and finish with an array of creative moves. This performance shows the maturation in his game. In the past if Ernie wasn't hitting threes he struggled to contribute offensively. Now he has rounded out his game and is a threat no matter what. Now the Cats have the week off for finals before a very tough Northeastern team comes to Patrick. I hope the gym will be as electric next Sunday as it was tonight because the atmosphere was incredible.