Vermont at St. Bonaventure 11/8/19

Vermont 61 St. Bonaventure 59

The first game of the season is in the books and the Cats used a strong defense to pull out the victory versus St. Bonaventure on the road. This three year series produced some tremendous games with the Bonnies winning on a buzzer beater two years ago, Vermont striking back with the thrilling double overtime victory last year and this year's back and forth affair. Coach Becker said in a radio interview this week that with adding the new guys (and missed practice time for a few starters) he expected the early part of the season to be choppy and that the Cats would have to rely on their defense. That proved to be very prophetic as Vermont struggled to find any kind of rhythm on the offensive end. This game was ugly on both sides with the teams combining to shoot 7/47 (15%) from three. Anthony Lamb showed some rust shooting 3-12 from the field and 0-7 from three. He gutted it out, got to the line, and finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. After torching the Bonnies the last two years it was clearly their game plan to make his night difficult. Everett Duncan stepped up and chipped in 14 points of his own. Duncan was very aggressive slashing to the rim which allowed him to get to the line as well. I was very impressed with Ben Shungu coming off his injury. He slid right back into the starting lineup and made some clutch plays. He did a little bit of everything and hit a big three in the second half. The rust was there as he committed a team high 5 turnovers but he finihsed with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Ryan Davis provided a nice spark off the bench finishing with 8 points and 6 rebounds. His footwork is very impressive and he really battled on the boards at the end of the game. This was really a team victory with each player that saw the floor making important plays. The only major concern was that Stef Smith didn't seem right. He really struggled finishing 2-10 form the field with 4 turnovers. He looked like he was laboring and didn't have his normal explosiveness. Getting a road win against an A-10 team to open the season is huge. No matter what it is tough to win games on the road, especially when you don't have your best stuff. It is going to be a quick turnaround for tomorrow's game at Bucknell and it will be interesting to see what adjustments Vermont makes.