FINAL SCORE: UMass Lowell 80, Vermont 65
LOWELL, Mass. – A late first-half run fueled UMass Lowell (15-3, 3-1 AE) as Vermont (8-10, 2-2 AE) suffered an 80-65 loss on Wednesday night at Costello Athletic Center.
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Tough loss tonight to a really good UMass Lowell team who shot the ball really well, especially from three," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "Again, we got off to a slow start in the first half, but the guys battled back and played hard in the second half and had a couple chances to try to cut the lead to under 10. Credit Lowell though they played a really good game."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The conference foes traded baskets for the majority of the opening half, with six lead changes in the first 12 minutes. Robin Duncan led the UVM attack with six points in the early minutes. Matt Veretto had five points, making a layup to start the game, and adding a three-pointer on the following possession. Vermont had a 17-14 lead with 8:44 remaining in the half.
• UMass Lowell grabbed a nine-point lead late in the first half on a 14-2 run led by Everette Hammond and Abdoul Karim Coulibaly. The River Hawks were 5-for-6 from the field during the run, which spanned over three minutes, as UML took a 28-19 lead with 4:16 left in the frame.
• The River Hawks' lead extended to as large as 14 points in the opening frame when Allin Blunt sank a three-pointer that gave his squad a 36-22 halftime lead.
• UMass Lowell made four of their first five attempts from the field, including a trio of three-pointers to open the second half on an 11-2 run. Blunt had two of UML's triples, with his second giving the River Hawks a 47-24 lead with 15:58 remaining.
• Vermont countered with a 16-4 run to cut the UML lead down to 51-40 with 9:14 remaining. Dylan Penn had six points and Sam Alamutu threw down a pair of dunks to fuel the UVM run. Alamutu added another dunk minutes later to bring the Catamounts' deficit to 56-46 with 7:01 remaining.
• UMass Lowell added to their lead, but Duncan pulled Vermont back to within 10-points when he grabbed an offensive rebound on a missed free throw and finished the put-back to trail 66-56 with 3:16 left in the game.
• Hammond converted a pair of three-pointers down the stretch to help the River Hawks pull away from the Catamounts.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Vermont made 51.4% (18-35) of its field goals in the second half.
• Duncan posted a team-high 16 points, seven rebounds, and five assists for the Cats. The guard was 6-for-13 from the field.
• Veretto made 2-of-5 attempts from long range, and 4-of-7 from the floor en route to a 14-point outing. Aaron Deloney was also in double figures with 11 points.
• Ileri Ayo-Faleye recorded a team-high two steals and two blocks on the defensive end.

UP NEXT
Vermont returns to Patrick Gym on Wednesday (Jan. 19) to host Maine on Team Impact Night, presented by Inspired Closets. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. The matchup between the Catamounts and Black Bears will broadcast live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan and Bernie Cieplicki on the call. Fans can listen to the action 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 Group is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball