Vermont 74 Binghamton 42
On to the final.
The Cats rolled Binghamton for their second consecutive 30+ point victory to secure their place in the America East finals. Another dominant performance that was both led by the stars and supported by a tremendous team effort. The defense was tenacious and unrelenting yet again. Vermont took away everything Binghamton wanted to do on the offensive end and grabbed every loose ball and made every hustle play. In both playoff games so far, despite the large leads the Cats never let the effort drop. A full 40 minutes of all out play. This is a group that comes ready to play and leaves it all out on the floor. It was also another clinic on the offensive side of the ball with 15 assists and only 4 turnovers. There is just no way opposing defenses can focus on one player to stop for Vermont because someone else will step up. With two consecutive dominations Vermont is playing like a team on a mission. They have the championship in their sights and are ready to go and get it.
Ben Shungu scored his 1,000th point and finished with a team high 23 points. What an incredible accomplishment for a player who has now scored more points this season than he scored in his previous four years COMBINED. What he has accomplished this season is just unbelievable. He was locked in and ready from the get go and never let his foot off the gas. Ryan Davis was right there with him with 19 points. His touch around the rim continues to make your jaw drop. The rest of the scoring was balanced with no one else scoring more than seven. Nick Fiorillo has had three full seasons of development compacted into one. He has gone from end of the bench to serviceable rotation player to key contributor in rapid succession. He was incredible tonight on both sides of the ball. He is backing up the player of the year and tonight there was very little drop-off in production when Fiorillo was in the game. He played tough defense, hit the boards, and made shots. So many winning plays from him tonight. Speaking of winning plays, once again Justin Mazzulla gave a clinic on how to change the game without even taking a shot. Mazzulla was all over the court. It felt like he made very single hustle play when was out there. He finished with 3 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals but did so much more to help the Cats win. Isaiah Powell gave the Cats a huge momentum swing with his offensive rebounding and a kick out for three in the second half.
This team is locked and loaded and ready to go get that title. Looks like we will all be driving through a snowstorm to get there as the "white out" game takes on a new meaning. Can't wait for Saturday.
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