Three thoughts: UVM basketball's Lamb, Duncan too much for Albany

After a savvy move to spoil an Albany 2-on-1 with a steal in the paint, Ernie Duncan sent Vermont into its own transition chance.

As he crossed the midcourt logo, the redshirt senior flipped to Robin Duncan and received a return pass from Everett Duncan — a brother to brother to brother connection — to set up a long-range splash, his third 3-pointer in five possessions.

The near-capacity Patrick Gym crowd roared. Ernie and Everett Duncan flashed each other toothy grins two brothers might share.

"I’m having a lot of fun," Ernie Duncan said. "I’m having the time of my life and I really don’t want this thing to end. I’m enjoying every moment of this."

And the good times kept rolling for the Duncans and the University of Vermont men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

With Ernie Duncan catching fire again and Anthony Lamb piling up another double-double, the Catamounts weathered a sluggish start and pulled away from rival Albany for a 67-49 America East Conference victory in front of 3,116.

Lamb totaled 26 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks while Ernie Duncan went for 16 points and four assists to power first-place UVM (19-5, 9-1) to its fourth straight win overall and seventh consecutive triumph over the Great Danes (8-16, 3-6).

"When we are really locked in, we are tough to guard," Lamb said of himself and Duncan. "Credit to him, he’s a really great shooter and I just try and hit him in the right spots when he gets going and he tries to do the same thing for me."

More:Three thoughts: Hot hand of Duncan, Lamb steer UVM past Maine 86-63

Everett Duncan also reached double figures, sinking a trio of 3-pointers to tally 12 points.

Antonio Rizzuto's 15 points (five 3s) and Adam Lulka's 10 points paced Albany. Cameron Healy, one week after draining nine 3-pointers, scored just nine points on 3 of 13 shooting.

My three thoughts from Saturday's contest:

Duncan, Lamb continue to shine

Lamb and Duncan were not as efficient as their combined 50 points on 15 of 17 shooting in Wednesday's 86-63 victory vs. Maine, but they still provided another dose of that deadly 1-2 punch coach John Becker has relied on since Day 1 of the season.

More:Three thoughts: Hot hand of Duncan, Lamb steer UVM past Maine 86-63

"These two have a really good chemistry. They are our leaders and we talk about it openly," Becker said. "It’s been more about listen to Ernie and Anthony, we play off them, just need to do our jobs around those two guys.

"We are in a really good spot right now."

Lamb's power moves to the basket and his patented baseline fadeaway jumper kickstarted UVM's first surge, an 18-2 run late in the first half — also aided by two Everett Duncan 3-pointers — that allowed the hosts to enter the break with a 30-21 advantage.

Ahead 32-25 after a Lulka putback early in the second, UVM uncorked the 22-3 run over the next five-plus minutes.

Lamb (10 of 19 shooting) drilled a corner 3-pointer off a Stef Smith behind-the-back pass and then drove for two more to get the Catamounts into a groove.

Then Ernie Duncan took it from there.

After being harassed by Albany's Rizzuto, UVM's career 3-point percentage leader finally managed to create some space to operate. Duncan drilled 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and then rose for the aforementioned triple for a 52-28 lead with 12:33 to play — capping a perfect 10-for-10 run from beyond the arc dating back to Wednesday.

Duncan (5 of 8 shooting) missed his next three attempts, but the damage was already done: UVM's lead did not dip below 18 points the rest of the way.

"Like I said to you guys the other day, (Ernie's) probably been the best guy I ever had as far as appreciating his senior year and really enjoying the experience," Becker said. "His energy and enthusiasm and joy has been contagious. Him and Lamb have been really, really good for us." 

Defense flummoxes Albany again

At Albany in the teams' first meeting, UVM jumped out to a 20-2 lead en route to the 80-51 victory. The Great Danes shot 35.2 on that evening and Saturday wasn't much better.

Albany made only 8 of 25 shots in the opening 20 minutes and finished at a 36.7 percent clip (18 of 49). Half of Albany's eight 3-pointers came after UVM's decisive run.

UVM's pressure on the perimeter against Healy, Rizzuto and Ahmad Clark was one of Becker's keys on the scouting report. Clark was also handcuffed by foul trouble and made his only field goal with 3:16 to play.

The Catamounts scored 18 points off Albany's 15 turnovers and outrebounded the visitors by a 39-29 margin.

"It might have gotten lost in our offensive outburst there, but our defense was consistently good all game," Becker said. "We challenged everything around the rim, we took some charges and we did a good job on their guards."

Finally, UVM heating up from deep

Following up 14 3-pointers vs. Maine with a 10-of-25 effort Saturday, UVM reached double digits for 3s in back-to-back games for the first time since its Washington, D.C. road trip in late November.

"We moved the ball and guys made shots. It’s not rocket science — when guys are in a rhythm and making shots like that, you're just kind of along for the ride at that point." Becker said.

But for a team that made 40.1 percent of its triples last season, the poor team performance from deep was a concern until this week.

"We've been waiting all year for that and guys understand that it’s coming down the stretch here and no more hoping to find it, we have to find it offensively," Becker said. "We have to make shots and we’ve been doing that the past couple games."

Ernie Duncan said the team did not lose confidence in their shooting abilities.

"This is the product of how much work we have put in, in practice and outside of practice," Duncan said. "It’s good to see the hard work paying off."

UVM wraps a three-game homestand Wednesday vs. New Hampshire.

Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @aabrami5.

VERMONT 67, ALBANY (NY) 49

ALBANY (NY) (8-16)

Lulka 4-9 2-2 10, Hank 1-3 0-0 2, Healy 3-13 0-1 9, Rizzuto 5-9 0-0 15, Clark 1-8 1-2 3, De Sousa 1-3 0-0 2, Campbell 1-2 0-1 2, Lauderdale 1-1 0-0 2, Miller 1-1 2-3 4. Totals 18-49 5-9 49.

VERMONT (19-5)

Lamb 10-19 4-4 26, Dingba 1-2 0-0 2, Smith 1-6 0-0 2, Er.Duncan 5-8 2-2 16, R.Duncan 1-7 0-0 3, Davis 2-5 0-0 4, Moll 1-3 0-0 2, Lorenzo 0-0 0-0 0, Shungu 0-1 0-0 0, Ev.Duncan 3-8 3-3 12, Garrison 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 9-9 67.

Halftime—Vermont 30-21. 3-Point Goals—Albany (NY) 8-20 (Rizzuto 5-8, Healy 3-8, De Sousa 0-1, Lulka 0-1, Clark 0-2), Vermont 10-25 (Er.Duncan 4-7, Ev.Duncan 3-6, Lamb 2-5, R.Duncan 1-2, Smith 0-2, Davis 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Albany (NY) 29 (Hank 7), Vermont 39 (Lamb 14). Assists—Albany (NY) 9 (Healy 4), Vermont 12 (Er.Duncan 4). Total Fouls—Albany (NY) 13, Vermont 13. A—3,116 (3,266).