Robin Duncan scored on an offensive rebound tip in with 7 seconds left and NJIT's attempt at the other end went long, as Vermont escaped New Jersey with their 9th straight win. There are a couple ways to look at this game.
Take one: Winning on the road is tough and scratching out a win, no matter how it happens is all that matters. NJIT and Kevin Osawe in particular played absolutely out of their minds. They hit tough shot after tough shot and every bounce went their way right up until then end. For Vermont to gut out a victory against a team playing their best game of the season by executing a the the precise moment when they needed it is huge.
Take Two: Teams are shooting a high percentage against the vaunted Vermont defense at a pretty regular clip lately, exposing some gaps in the armor. There have been stretches of games over the past month where teams seem to be able to score at will. Most of the time it has been after Vermont has built a huge lead so the impact has been minimal but for whatever reason teams are hitting lots of tough shots against the Cats. And the free throw shooting. Ouch. Missing free throws is a back breaker and Vermont is lucky that up until this point they have not ended up in close games because that is something that could cost them a win.
So now that that analysis stuff is out of the way, what an incredibly exciting basketball game. Take away who is in what place in the standings and which team you are rooting for, and that was fun to watch. Teams trading punches and Vermont battling back after trailing for the entire game. My heart was in my throat as Vermont came all the way back from 11 down with 10 minutes to go. The turning point was Dylan Penn knocking down Vermont's first three pointer of the second half with 8 and a half minutes to go. Penn a career 26% three point shooter is a scorching 6/8 (75%) from three over the last 6 games. In the first half the three kept Vermont in the game as shots were falling on both ends. Vermont then opened the second half by missing their first 9 three point attempts and scoring a measly 5 points in the first 9 minutes. Then slowly but surely the Cats clawed their way back before Finn Sullivan hit a game tying three with 3 seconds left to send the game to overtime. TJ Hurley made a great "wise beyond his years" decision to get the ball to Sullivan for the big shot. Once again Vermont took care of the ball, committing only 6 turnovers. A big part of the comeback was Vermont forcing NJIT into several turnovers and capitalizing on the other end.
Finn Sullivan led the Cats with 21 points. He was really good in this game and battled through a pretty gnarly ankle injury for some big buckets down the stretch before fouling out in OT. Sullivan also added 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He is really on an amazing run and I hope his ankle injury does not cause him to miss any time. He is so crucial to the Cats success. Dylan Penn seems to be matching Sullivan shot for shot on a run of his own collecting 19 points to go along with 3 assists and 3 steals. Penn is flying all over the court and gliding into difficult finishes around the rim. Similar to last season when Ben Shungu and Ryan Davis were making a simultaneous run at player of the year, Vermont again has teammates who are both putting together a run at the top honor. Aaron Deloney had a big old fashioned three point play in OT and finished with 9 points. Matt Veretto hit a trio of three pointers to chip in 9 as well. But the star was none other than Robin Duncan yet again. Who else? Duncan hit the game winner to cap off a monster 13 point, 12 rebound double double. The free throw shooting is frustrating (I am sure to Duncan more than anyone else) but man does this guy will Vermont to victory. He played a team high 42 minutes and left absolutely everything out there on the floor.
With the victory Vermont clinches a share of the regular season title for the 7th consecutive season. Only Gonzaga has more in a row. An incredible run of success. Now they can have a chance to clinch the outright title at Patrick on Wednesday night against Binghamton.
