FINAL SCORE: Vermont 66, Yale 65
BURLINGTON, Vt. – TJ Long's four-point play at the buzzer lifted Vermont (7-2) to an improbable 66-65 comeback victory over Yale (5-4) on Saturday night in front of a packed Patrick Gym. The Catamounts were down 65-60 with just 3.8 seconds left.   
 
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Well, how about them apples," Cioffi Men's Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. "Just a hard-fought game against a really good Yale team. This week with the Dartmouth game, we were finding our defensive identity, our toughness. I thought we battled a really talented and big team all night. TJ Hurley has the play where he draws a foul on the inbounds play. We're down three, we're able to get a timeout draw something up and then Aaron Deloney with an unbelievable inbounds pass across the court. TJ Long didn't have much daylight and they fouled him and he banks it in. I mean, I've never experienced anything like that in my career. Unbelievable crowd tonight, and you could just feel the crowd wanted to get us over the top. Obviously one of the best major programs in the country and, you know, this has really become the premier mid-major matchup in the Northeast, you know, our yearly battle with them.  And, you know, hopefully it can start to be recognized as that gets the coverage that this game deserves because there are two really, really good teams that have dominated their conferences and put out a really good product, have really good players, and good coaching. And so, it's just another magical night in Patrick."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Long's first three pointer of the night sparked an 11-2 Catamount run to open the game and take a nine-point lead into the first media timeout. The junior drilled two treys in the first five minutes to lead the early attack.
• Deloney sank a pair of free throws minutes later as Vermont took a double-digit lead, up 13-3 with 13:04 left in the first half. The Catamounts led by double digits as late as 12:05 left in the half on a Shamir Bogues layup.
• Nick Townsend came off the bench for the Bulldogs and canned a three pointer that fueled a 10-3 run for Yale to pull back to within one possession. August Mahoney capped off the run with a triple as the Bulldogs trailed 18-15 with 8:40 remaining.
• Bogues and Matt Veretto answered with five straight points for the Catamounts to grow back the lead, but the Bulldogs ended the opening half on an 11-5 run to cut the deficit. Danny Wolf and Matt Knowling each produced four points for Yale in the final minutes as Vermont led 28-26 heading into the break.
• Yale tied the game on several occasions in the second half, but never took the lead until a UVM turnover with 1:00 left that led to a fastbreak basket from Wolf that made the score 61-60. August Mahoney and Bez Mbeng made free throws down the stretch extend the Bulldogs' lead to 65-60 with 3.8 seconds remaining.
• The Catamounts quickly moved up the court and Deloney made an uncontested free throw with 0.6 seconds reaming to cut the deficit to 65-62.
• On the following inbounds,  Hurley drew a hard offensive foul under the Yale basket, giving the Cats the ball with 0.6 second still on the clock.
• Deloney, with the ball under the basket, motioned Long to run to the right wing where he received the pass and quickly released a three-pointer while getting fouled, banking it off the glass and in at the buzzer to tie the game at 65-65. Long knocked down the lone free throw to secure the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• KenPom had UVM's probability of winning as low as 0.8% when down 65-62 with 0.6 seconds remaining. ESPN's Gamecast had the Cats at a 0.0% chance to win.
• Long led all players with a season-high 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field. The junior matched a season-high six three pointers on 10 attempts. Long had 15 points in the second half, shooting 4-for-6 from deep in that frame.
• Bogues also reached double figures, scoring 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting. The UVM guard also pulled in a team-high six rebounds, and recorded two blocks.
• Deloney had 10 point, and two assists for the Catamounts.
• 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
The Catamounts head to Boston for a matchup with Northeastern on Wednesday (Dec. 6). The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. ET at Matthews Arena. Tickets are available for purchase at NUHuskies.com.
 
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Wednesday's game will broadcast regionally on NESN. The broadcast will also be available for streaming on FloHoops. 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 Ryan Zimmerman on the call.
 
McGee Automotive Family is the presenting sponsor of Vermont men's basketball