Vermont vs Albany 1/31/22

Vermont 73 Albany 61

Offensive identity? C'mon these are the Vermont Catamounts. 

Vermont held Albany scoreless for 5 minutes after the score was knotted at 49 and pulled away for their 10th win in a row. What an incredible college basketball game. Albany came in charged up and played with energy and emotion. Their best in the conference defense lived up to its name for much of the contest. A classic rivalry matchup where both teams kept punching but the other team punched right back. The crowd was as loud as I have heard it all season. The run of offensive firepower has been great but there were starting to be questions about how the defense would respond when it was needed. Those questions were certainly put to rest tonight with an incredible performance down the stretch. Every player dug deep and physically walled up Albany. Ben Shungu drew two charges and Finn Sullivan, Nick Fiorillo, and Isaiah Powell all had big defensive stops down the stretch. This team continues to demonstrate an incredible will to win and the way they play as a team is special to watch. Another 17 assists to only 8 turnovers and the offensive chemistry is a thing of beauty. 

Shungu once again demonstrated his uncanny ability to hit shots when it matters most. He was stymied for the entire first half by Albany's defense. Then every time Vermont needed a big play down the stretch, there was Shungu ready to meet the challenge. He finished with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Another in a growing list of big time second half performances. While Shungu was the closer, Powell was the MVP. He made big shots during the late Vermont run as well and broke out of a mini offensive slump with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Powell did everything for the Cats tonight. Ryan Davis led Vermont with his typical ultra efficient offense. He finished with 17 points and 5 boards on 6-8 shooting from the field. Justin Mazzulla chipped in 11 points of his own as the master of the cut to the basket. The bench mob once again played a big role as Aaron Deloney, Robin Duncan, Bailey Patella, and Nick Fiorillo all made big plays. Aaron Deloney has been playing particularly well and his physical play is starting to pay off on both sides of the ball. He works very hard on defense and is growing into a disruptive defender.  

Another big win and an important statement to the rest of the league that the defensive minded Cats are still there, hiding behind their powerful offense. Another quick turnaround for Vermont and the starters had to play big minutes tonight so it will be interesting to see how the rotation looks for Wednesday nights showdown with NJIT.