VERMONT

UVM men's basketball claws out 66-63 win at Bucknell

Alex Abrami
Burlington Free Press

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The University of Vermont men's basketball team is 2-0 for the first time in 17 years.

The Catamounts pulled out a 66-63 victory over Bucknell on Sunday afternoon. Matched with their 61-59 triumph at St. Bonaventure on Friday night, the Catamounts went 2-for-2 in their season-opening road trip.

The Cats return to Burlington for their home opener vs. Boston University on Wednesday night. Tip-off is 7.

In Sunday's matinee affair, Anthony Lamb overcame foul trouble to post 20 points on 7 of 15 shooting and Ryan Davis continued his strong start to his sophomore season with 16 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Davis, who recorded his first career double-double, went 5 of 11 from the floor and 5-for-6 at the line.

Ben Shungu (10 points, seven rebounds) and Everett Duncan (10 points) aided the offense for UVM, which battled through another poor performance from beyond the arc (4 of 25).

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"We have a lot to work on offensively, but we found a way to get the win," UVM coach John Becker said in a news release. "Defensively, Everett Duncan was tremendous and Anthony Lamb came alive for us offensively in the second half. As a team, we hung in there made the plays we had to on the defensive end."

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In a back-and-forth contest that featured six ties and three lead changes, UVM built an eight-point martin, 56-48, with 6:19 to play.

But the Bison rallied to knot the game at 57 with 2:53 to go on an Andrew Funk jumper.

Then on UVM's next trip, Lamb buried a 3-pointer at the top of the key for the go-ahead points. In the final 20 seconds, Duncan went to the line twice to connect on four free throws, each trip giving UVM a three-point cushion.

Jimmy Sotos missed a potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Bison (1-1). This was UVM's first win in three tries vs. Bucknell.

For Bucknell, John Meeks and Bruce Moore each had 16 points. Sotos added a dozen.

Sunday's box score

VERMONT 66, BUCKNELL 63

VERMONT (2-0)

Lamb 7-15 5-8 20, Giddens 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-9 0-0 3, Shungu 4-13 2-4 10, E.Duncan 3-5 4-5 10, Patella 0-0 0-0 0, Demuth 1-4 0-0 3, Davis 5-11 5-6 16, Deloney 1-4 0-0 2, R.Duncan 0-3 2-6 2. Totals 22-64 18-29 66.

BUCKNELL (1-1)

Moore 5-8 6-8 16, Newman 3-6 0-2 6, Sotos 5-16 0-1 12, Robertson 1-2 0-0 2, Funk 3-8 0-0 7, Spear 1-2 0-0 2, Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0, Meeks 5-10 6-7 16, Rice 0-0 2-4 2, Ellis 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 14-22 63.

Halftime—Bucknell 35-32. 3-Point Goals—Vermont 4-25 (Smith 1-4, Lamb 1-4, Demuth 1-4, Davis 1-4, Deloney 0-2, E.Duncan 0-2, R.Duncan 0-2, Shungu 0-3), Bucknell 3-22 (Sotos 2-11, Funk 1-5, Spear 0-1, Meeks 0-1, Robertson 0-1, Moore 0-1, Ellis 0-2). Fouled Out—Moore. Rebounds—Vermont 39 (Davis 10), Bucknell 34 (Newman 11). Assists—Vermont 9 (R.Duncan 3), Bucknell 8 (Sotos 3). Total Fouls—Vermont 22, Bucknell 21. A—2,321 (4,000).

Women's basketball

Minnesota 90, Vermont 58: Jasmine Powell scored 19 points and No. 23 Minnesota used a 27-point opening quarter to set an early tone vs. visiting Vermont in Catamount senior Hanna Crymble's homecoming.

Destiny Pitts added 16 points on the strength of a trio of 3s for the Gophers, who shot 48.5% from the floor, out-rebounded UVM 41-32 and committed just five turnovers.

Crymble, a Minnesota native, paced the Cats (0-2) with 22 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Freshman Emma Utterback added 14 points and six rebounds.

UVM hosts Bryant in its home opener next Sunday at 2.

Women's hockey

Vermont 1, New Hampshire 0: Blanka Škodová turned back 25 shots for the shutout and Lily Humphrey deposited a second-period goal as visiting Vermont edged New Hampshire on Saturday.

The Cats improve to 5-2-4 overall and 2-2 in Hockey East.

"This was our toughest weekend of the season to date and we really had to play a grinding game both days," UVM coach Jim Plumer said in a news release. "Credit to UNH for their hard and work and style of play, and to our team for being able to win a tight game like this. Blanka Škodová was outstanding for all 60 minutes today and Lily Humphrey delivered a key goal. I'm proud of the team for their grit all weekend."

Humphrey opened the scoring with her fifth tally of her rookie season. The forward gathered a pass from Ali O'Leary and sent a wrister through traffic and into the back of the net.

Vermont plays at UConn on Friday.

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