Vermont 81 Binghamton 70
The Catamounts battled a depleted but determined Binghamton squad and emerged victorious, clinching the America East title outright and winning their 10th straight game. The championship goes through Patrick. It is Vermont's seventh consecutive league title which is honestly an absurd standard of success. Sustaining that level of success for that long is one of the hardest things to do in sports in general. There is a lot of chance and variability in one and done playoff style championships but the regular season is about preparation and execution. In order to win consistently during the grind of the season against the same opponents year in and year out, there has to be incredible focus, mental toughness, and a culture that values winning over individual accolades. The program that Becker, his staff, and the players have built together is nothing short of incredible. It is worth taking a moment to appreciate that level of consistent success because it is a rare thing that we as the Vermont fan base have gotten to and continue to experience.
The game was exciting from start to finish with a 6 man Binghamton team scratching and clawing and once again shooting the lights out and giving Vermont all they had. Vermont was able to tighten up the defense down the stretch in the second half and also made their free throws to ice the game. On the offensive end, Vermont attacked the rim relentlessly and shot 57% from the field including 8-13 (61.5%) from three. With Binghamton focused on limiting attempts from three, the Cats found cutters and even went to a few more post up possessions than usual. This team keeps adapting and finding new a different ways to attack teams and make adjustments to maximize possessions.
Finn Sullivan was masterful in tonight's game and in my mind, locked up the player of the year award. Sullivan scored the 1,000th point of his career on his way to a career high 29 points. This game was Sullivan realizing his full potential. Every other time he has had a big game it has been based on taking and making a lot of threes. In tonight's game he was 2-3 from deep but attacked the rim when his defenders closed out hard, made some plays in isolations, and knocked down 9-10 from the line to ice the game. He also blocked 3 shots and made life difficult for Binghamton around the rim. It has been fun to watch him grow as a player over these last two seasons. Aaron Deloney was the catalyst for Vermont and took over for a stretch in the second half to help the Cats surge ahead. In the first half Binghamton did a good job taking advantage of Deloney on the defensive end and was making him work hard. In the second half Deloney made some really tough shots and got tough on the defensive end. He was forced into bigger minutes with Dylan Penn taking a hard fall in the first half and looking gimpy for the rest of the game. Deloney scored 15 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and 3-4 shooting from three, including the 100th three pointer of his career. . He has done such an incredible job accepting and excelling in his 6th man role this season. Matt Veretto had a nice game with 11 points and 7 rebounds. He scored inside and worked out of the post more than he has all season. Dylan Penn scored 10 points before getting hurt. Hopefully he is all right. Robin Duncan filled up the stat sheet with 4 points, 6 assists, and 9 rebounds. He passed the 400 assist threshold for his career and is now only 3 rebounds shy of 600. When he gets his 600th rebound, he will become just the second Catamount with 600 points, 600 rebounds, and 400 assists for his career. The other being Brian Voelkel. What a unique and incredible accomplishment. He will also break the all time games played record with his next appearance. Kam Gibson scored 8 points and now needs only 3 to break the 1,000 point barrier.
What an exciting game and securing home court is huge for the playoff run. After all the travel and trials during the month of November, it must feel good to only have one more road game. The Catamounts first trip down to Bryant as a conference foe should be an intense atmosphere.
P.S. How often have the Vermont men's and women's teams been on double digit winning streaks at the same time? What a run in Catamount Country!
