FINAL SCORE: Vermont 74, UMass Lowell 57
BURLINGTON, Vt. – The UVM men's basketball team wrapped up the regular season with a 74-57 win over UMass Lowell on Tuesday night. UVM honored its seniors, Samuel Dingba and Ernie Duncan, before the game with a Senior Night ceremony presented by Aerie Consulting and the UVM Alumni Association. The Catamounts finish the conference slate with a 14-2 record and improve to 24-6 on the year.
 
RELATED LINKS
Box Score: Web | PDF
CatamounTV Highlights | Senior Day Photo Gallery
Postgame: Becker Interview
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"It was great to get a win for Ernie and Sammy tonight on Senior Night and a great way to end the regular season," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "We were able to play a full 40 minutes of defense which we weren't able to do in the first meeting. I thought our young guys played well off the bench and it was good to get everyone some playing time.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The River Hawks scored the first bucket of the game but the Catamounts answered with a 13-0 run in a four-minute spurt.
• UVM kept its lead to double digits for most of the half but UML cut the margin to single digits twice.
• The Cats netted six of the final 10 points of the first half and went into the break leading 40-28.
• The Green and Gold kept the pressure on in the second half and padded their lead to 60-40 with under 10 minutes left to play.
• For the remainder of the contest, UVM prevented the River Hawks from drawing any closer than a 16-point margin.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stef Smith notched his fifth 20-point outing of the season with a game-high 21 points. The sophomore shot 7-of-12 for the night including 4-of-8 from long distance.
• Duncan followed with 14 points in his final regular season game at Patrick Gym. The redshirt senior made 5-of-10 attempts from the floor with a pair of triples.
• Anthony Lamb came close to a double-double with 11 points and corralled eight boards. He handed out a career-high five assists and denied three shots.
• Ben Shungu added seven points and five rebounds in his third-career start.
• UVM has won six straight over UML and improves to 10-2 in the all-time series.
• The Catamounts are 24-6 or better through 30 games for the third consecutive season and for the fifth time in school history. Vermont also won at least 14 games in conference play for the third year in a row and for the seventh time in program history.
• With the victory, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to Make-A-Wish Vermont; bringing this year's total to 39 wins and $3,900.

WHO'S NEXT
Top-seeded Vermont will host eighth-seeded Maine in the America East Quarterfinals for the fourth straight season on Saturday (March 9). The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets online at UVMathletics.com/Tickets. All of the action can be seen on ESPN+ with a paid subscription. Fans can access ESPN+ with a seven-day free trial, followed by a subscription fee of $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with the ability to cancel at any time. Fans can also listen to the contest on 101.3 The Game and 1013TheGame.com with Jake Marsh on the call.
 
National Life Group is the presenting sponsor of the 2018-19 Vermont men's basketball season