FINAL SCORE: Vermont 94, UAlbany 80
ALBANY, N.Y. – Six Catamounts reached double figures as Vermont (22-6, 12-1 AE) defeated UAlbany (12-15, 4-8 AE) 94-80 in a high-paced conference matchup Thursday night at the Broadview Center. UVM owns a two-game lead in the America East standings with three games remaining in the regular season.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Yeah, great team win tonight, six guys in double figures you know, led by Shamir," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "We really did a good job offensively, our best offensive game of league play and defensively, obviously they put up 80 points. It was a struggle. Tyler Bertram really shot it well and, you know, made it harder for us. We kind of went to a zone in the second half and I thought that slowed him down and kind of got them out of rhythm. We did a good enough job rebounding out of it and made our free throws down the stretch for a really good road win. Looking forward to a big game on Saturday."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• UVM jumped out to a 14-6 lead before the first media timeout, hitting each of its first six attempts from the field. Vermont knocked down both attempts from beyond the arc with TJ Hurley and TJ Long each cashing in from deep.
• Nick Fiorillo gave the Cats their first double-digit lead of the night minutes later when he finished a driving layup to go up 18-8 with 14:18 left in the half. The graduate student's basket came in the midst of an 11-4 run for the Catamounts that stretched their lead to 25-12 with 11:57 left in the frame. Matt Veretto knocked down a three-pointer for the 13-point lead – UVM's largest of the frame.
• Tyler Bertram countered with a trey less than a minute later to spark a 16-5 run for the Great Danes. The guard led UAlbany with nine points during the run, all coming from beyond the arc. His final three of the run cut the Vermont lead to 30-28 with 7:19 left in the half.
• Veretto answered with his second three pointer of the night to shift momentum back in Vermont's favor. His triple began a 9-0 run for the Cats, capped off by a three from TJ Hurley to go back up by double digits, 39-28 with 4:49 remaining in the opening frame.
• Bertram's offense continued, scoring five of UAlbany's next 10 points as the Great Danes pulled back to within a possession, down 41-38 with 2:12 left on the clock.
• Aaron Deloney and TJ Long finished layups on back-to-back possessions to take an eight-point lead with 1:19 left, but Bertram countered with his sixth trey of the half to make the score 45-41 with 0:35 remaining in the frame.
• Nick Fiorillo sent the Catamounts into the half up 47-41, pouncing on a rebound in the final seconds and finishing the putback before the buzzer.
• Vermont made its first three attempts from the field coming out of the break to take a 54-44 lead with 17:35 remaining.
• A Bertram three pointer briefly cut the UVM lead back to single digits, but the Catamounts answered with four straight points to go up 58-47 with 15:35 left.
• Sam Alamutu provided five points off the bench as the lead teetered between single and double-digits. Alamutu's layup with 13:08 to go had Vermont up 63-53.
• The Great Danes embarked on a 10-2 run over the next 3:07 to cut the Catamounts' lead to 65-63 with 10:01 left. Sebastian Thomas had four points to lead the UAlbany surge, and Amar'e Marshall made the layup that put his team to within a possession.
• Bogues received a handoff at the top of the key and drove to the rack for a two-handed slam to begin a 9-0 run for the Catamounts. Veretto knocked down a corner three at the end of the run as Vermont led 74-63 with 8:13 remaining.
• Hurley grew the UVM lead to 15 points when he hit two free throws to go up 80-65 with 6:33 to go.
• The Cats maintained a double-digit lead over the Great Danes for the remainder of the game with UVM's cushion growing to as big as 18 points on a three-point play by Ileri Ayo-Faleye that made the score 94-76 with 1:06 left.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Catamounts had the offensive edge on the night, shooting 55.2% (33-for-58) from the field, while the Great Danes made 46.8% (29-for-62) of their attempts.
• UVM last had six players in double figures when it defeated NJIT 98-59 in the 2022 America East Quarterfinals.
• Bogues led Vermont in points (17), field goals (8-for-11), rebounds (5), and assists (7). His seven assists were a career-high.
• Long scored 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the field, while playing a team-high 31 minutes. The junior also recorded a team-high two steals.
• Deloney notched 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting, including a 2-for-5 clip from beyond the arc.
• Ayo-Faleye and Hurley each had 12 points. Ayo-Faleye matched a career-high eight free throw on 11 attempts. The 6-8 forward had a career-high four blocks and recorded two blocks. Hurley led the Cats at the break with 10 first-half points.
• Fiorillo rounded out the Catamounts in double figures with 10 points.  
• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Vermont Children's Trust Foundation as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $94,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.

UP NEXT
Vermont returns to action Saturday (Feb. 24) when it hosts second-place Bryant in a huge America East matchup at Patrick Gym. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. Saturday's game is presented by McGee Automotive Family.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Saturday's America East matchup will broadcast live on ESPN+ with Cooper Boardman and Bernie Cieplicki on the call. An international stream will also be available on AmericaEast.TV. Fans can listen to the game for free on the Vermont Sports Network, from Learfield on The Game, which will air on 97.1 FM in Burlington, 105.9 FM in Plattsburgh, and 960 AM around the rest of the region. The radio broadcast is also available via the Varsity Network App with Brian McLaughlin on the call.
 
McGee Automotive Family is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball