The Aaron Deloney game

Vermont 78 Colgate 68

Aaron Deloney sparked the Cats with a career high 18 points off the bench as Vermont defeated Colgate to wrap up the non-conference portion of the season. The Vermont program has always hung their hat on the "next man up" mentality and that effect was on full display. With Robin Duncan sidelined with an injury and Kameron Gibson struggling to make an impact, it was Deloney who finally gave the Cats the scoring punch they have been looking for off the bench. It was another gutsy effort for Vermont against a very good, well coached Colgate team who was without their leading scorer. The 3-9 record is very deceiving as they have been dealing with injuries. This team was picked to win the Patriot League and dropped 100 points in a win over Syracuse earlier this season at full strength. They are one of the best three point shooting teams in the country and Vermont held them to 6-19 (31%). The perimeter defense was pesky once again, helmed by Ben Shungu and Justin Mazzulla. In a very similar fashion to the game at Brown this game highlighted the Cats heart. They were downright awful for the first 10 minutes of the second half. With Ryan Davis on the bench due to foul trouble the offense came to a screeching halt. The twelve point lead evaporated and Colgate took a two point lead at 50-48 with 9:20 to go. Then as he has done all year, Shungu calmly drained a three to regain the lead. Vermont didn't trail for the rest of the game and pulled away thanks to Isaiah Powell and Aaron Deloney knocking down some much needed perimeter shots. This team believes they are going to win. You can see the body language as they dig deep and will themselves to victory. 

Deloney was tremendous. Vermont has been waiting all year for someone to come in off the bench and make shots. Deloney made 3-4 from three and attacked the basket with lightning speed. This has to be one of the most out of nowhere performances in recent memory. Deloney had played a combined 13 minutes over the last 9 games (including 4 games where he did not play at all) before logging 18 today. Deloney has always had a feisty spirit but struggled to provide enough offense to offset how much opposing teams attack him on defense. Today he was able to make a huge impact and lead the Cats. It says a lot about the program that these bench guys are ready when their number is called. Also off the bench today Nick Fiorillo made a big impact as well. Colgate played two bigs for much of the game and Fiorillo was needed to bang down low. He played a season high 23 minutes and scored 5 points to go along with a team high 8 rebounds. Isaiah Powell continued his incredibly consistent play with 17 points and 6 rebounds. He hit two big threes during the late run and continues to impress with his physicality. Ryan Davis finished with 17 points as well and knocked down three more threes. Before his last two misses this afternoon Davis had made 9 consecutive threes. Pretty incredible. Shungu continues to start slow offensively but makes every one of his shots count in crunch time. He finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists in another tone setting performance. His defense was superb in forcing the Colgate guards into tough shots all game. 

I am very excited for conference play to get going when the intensity gets ratcheted up another few notches as every game matters. Finishing the non-conference at 8-4 with the very tough schedule that Vermont played is impressive. The Cats have learned alot about their team and have been battle tested for sure. This team looks poised to make a run at the title.