FINAL SCORE: Vermont 64, Saint Michael's 47
BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Vermont men's basketball team finished the preseason slate with a victory, defeating crosstown foes Saint Michael's 66-47 in an exhibition on Wednesday night at Patrick Gym. Prior to tip-off, members of the 2022-23 America East title-winning team were honored and given their championship rings.
 
RELATED LINKS
Ring Ceremony Photos
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Another really good exhibition game for us," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "First of all, St. Mike's I was missing a couple guys tonight. They definitely could help them, but I thought they played really, really well. They were picked towards the bottom of their league, and I'm hard pressed to believe that that's going to actually be the case. I thought. Eric did a terrific job and they played really, really well and made it really, really hard. I thought we got a lot of good performances. We didn't shoot the ball well, and those nights are going to happen. I'n trying to emphasize in part to our new players that, you know, we got to be able to win, and depend on our defense. I thought tonight the defense was terrific. And I thought we learned a lot from the first exhibition game that carried over into this game, and saw a lot of positive performances as a team."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Ileri Ayo-Faleye scored six of Vermont's first eight points, going 3-for-3 from the field in the early minutes to help the Catamounts take an 8-5 lead into the under-16 media timeout.
• The crosstown foes traded baskets over the next four minutes before a 7-3 run for Vermont. Ayo-Faleye's offense continued, scoring four of UVM's points during that run. Brenton Mills' trey capped off the run to put the Cats up 21-14 with 9:40 left in the half.
• Vermont took its first double-digit lead of the night with 6:14 left in the first half on a turnaround jumper by Matt Veretto that gave the Catamounts a 26-16 lead.
• A three-pointer by Romar Reid sparked an 8-2 run for Saint Michael's to cut the UVM lead to 28-24 with 2:34 left in the opening frame. Vermont would take a 30-25 lead into the break.
• Ayo-Faleye threw down a dunk 1:55 into the second half to ignite a 10-0 run for the Catamounts. TJ Long followed it up with a spin move on a driving layup, and added a three-pointer on the following possession to force a Saint Michael's timeout. Ayo-Faleye capped off the run minutes later when he pulled in a rebound and converted the put-back for the 39-25 lead.
• After trading baskets during the middle-part of the half, Vermont's lead would extend to 17 points when Mills sank two free throws to go up 50-33 with 6:38 remaining.
• Seth Joba fueled an 8-2 run in the latter minutes of the frame, scoring five points in a span of 2:34. His jumper from the free throw line put the Cats up 58-39 with 2:09 remaining.
• Vermont's largest lead of the night came on a pair of free throws from Jackson Skipper that made the score 65-44 with 0:37 left.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Ayo-Faleye scored a team-high 14 points on an efficient 7-for-9 shooting from the field. The UVM forward pulled in eight rebounds and dished out two assists.
• Aaron Deloney also reached double figures, recording 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting.
• Long tallied nine points on 3-for-6 shooting, and registered six rebounds.
• Vermont cleaned up 36 of 41 rebounds on the defensive glass. In total, the Catamounts picked up 44 rebounds on the night.
• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.

UP NEXT
Vermont tips off the 2023-24 regular season on Monday (Nov. 6) when it hosts reigning Northeast Conference champion Merrimack at Patrick Gym. The season opener begins at 7:30 p.m. ET. Monday's game is part two of a Vermont Basketball doubleheader as the UVM women open up against Miami Ohio at 5 p.m. ET. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
The matchup between the Catamounts and Warriors will broadcast live on ESPN+ with Rob Ryan and Bernie Cieplicki on the call. An international stream will also be available on AmericaEast.TV. Fans can listen to the game 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 Family is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball