FINAL SCORE: No. 4 Florida State 76, No. 13 Vermont 69
HARTFORD, Conn. – The 13th-seeded Vermont Catamounts had their season come to an end with a 76-69 loss to the fourth-seeded Florida State Seminoles in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon. UVM finishes the season with a 27-7 record – tied for the second-highest single season win total in school history.  
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score: Web | PDF
NCAA Tournament: Highlights 
Postgame: Press Conference
Photo Gallery
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"I thought we played really hard and battled a very good Florida State team," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "I'm really proud of this team and it always hurts when the careers of our seniors come to an end. I also want to thank all of our fans who came down from Vermont, New England, and all over the country. We felt you, we heard you out there, and it meant a lot to us to see all of the green and gold.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Catamounts used a pair of long balls and jumpers to generate an early 10-4 lead.
• The Seminoles closed the gap to 10-7 but the defending America East champions drained two more triples and took a 16-12 advantage into the 12-minute media timeout.
• FSU responded with 14 unanswered points and forced a near six-minute scoring drought by UVM until Anthony Lamb canned a three-pointer from the left wing. After coming up with a stop on the defensive end, Everett Duncan made a corner three to put the Cats back on top 22-21 with six minutes left in the half.
• The Cats' defense also caused a three-minute scoring drought for the Seminoles and the foes went into the locker room deadlocked at 27-27, thanks to a fastbreak layup by Stef Smith in the final minute.
• The two teams traded scores through the 12-minute media timeout of the second half as neither squad led by more than one possession.
• The 'Noles built a seven-point lead at the six-minute mark, but Smith buried another triple to draw within 55-51, then FSU countered with four quick points for a 59-51 lead with four-and-a-half minutes left in the game.
• Facing a double-digit deficit in the final minutes, the Catamounts made two more from behind the arc but could not gain any further ground on the Seminoles before the clock ran out.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont had four players score at least 15 points, highlighted by a team-high 16 points from Lamb. The junior pulled down eight boards, dished out three assists, and denied two shots.
• Smith followed with 15 points, six boards, and one steal.  
• Ben Shungu tallied a career-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting including a perfect 3-for-3 from downtown.
• Ernie Duncan rounded out the scoring attack with 15 points. The redshirt senior shot 5-of-6 from long range and logged a pair of boards.
• Ernie, Everett, and Robin Duncan became the first trio of brothers to play in an NCAA Tournament game together.

CLASS OF 2019
Thursday's postseason contest marked the final collegiate game for UVM's Class of 2019 – Ernie Duncan and Samuel Dingba. The duo will graduate this spring as the program's all-time winningest program with 106 career victories. Duncan finished his collegiate career as the school's all-time leader in three-point percentage (41.9%), second in total three-pointers (308), fourth in games played (136) and 10^th in scoring (1,489).
 
National Life Group is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 Vermont men's basketball season