FINAL SCORE: Vermont 67 , UMass Lowell 63
BURLINGTON, Vt. – The Vermont men's basketball team took a big win in Lowell, MA against UMass Lowell. TJ Hurley led the Catamounts in scoring with 23 points and Ileri Ayo-Faleye recorded his first double-double of the season contributing 17 points and 11 rebounds for Vermont.

RELATED LINKS
Box Score
 
COACH'S QUOTE
"Gritty win tonight on the road against a really good team. I'm so proud of how our guys played tonight. All of these road wins should age well as we move through league play. A quick turnaround but we need to be ready to play on Saturday afternoon against Bryant."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Vermont started in a press for the first few minutes. TJ Hurley kicked things off with a step-back mid-range jumper.
• Two offensive possessions later, a Sam Alamutu offensive rebound would lead to an Ileri Ayo-Faleye slam dunk.
• At the 16-minute media timeout, UMass Lowell led Vermont 5-4.
• Catamounts had a great defensive presence early only allowing 7 points in the first 8 minutes.
• Another TJ Hurley mid-range jumper and an Ileri Ayo-Faleye three put the Catamounts up 13-7 at the 12-minute media timeout.
• Ileri Ayo-Faleye had a putback layup in transition as the Catamounts had an 18-17 lead with 7 minutes remaining.
• Seth Joba hit a three from the top of the key as Vermont retook a 21-19 lead.
• With 4 minutes remaining, the score was tied at 25 until the referees reversed a goaltending call and Vermont was down 23-25.
• A Noah Barnett block led to TJ Hurley breaking out in transition until he was fouled with 0.3 seconds left. Vermont would go into halftime down 28-31.
• UVM went down 36-30 early in the 2^nd half until they stormed back with four straight points going into the 16-minute media timeout.
• With 15:23 remaining, Nick Fiorillo was hit in the face by Cam Morris III which resulted in a flagrant one. Fiorillo made one of the two free throws. UVM led 38-36.
• The Catamounts and River Hawks exchanged baskets until the Catamounts went on a 6-0 run thanks to Sam Alamutu attacking the basket. Vermont led 50-44 at the 12-minute media timeout.
• UMass Lowell would proceed to go on their own 7-0 run as the River Hawks led 51-50 with nine minutes remaining.
• Shamir Bogues would get a block on defense on one end, and then on offense, Ayo-Faleye hit a right-wing three-pointer. Vermont would go into the 8-minute media timeout up 55-51
• Vermont would go on a 7-2 run thanks to a TJ Hurley. He hit a three and two free throws to extend UVM's lead 62-53.
• Catamounts had a 62-55 lead going into the 4-minute media timeout with three minutes remaining.
• Vermont would then hold UMass Lowell scoreless for two straight possessions.
• The River Hawks would storm back thanks to a Martin Sommerville corner three. Vermont still led 62-60 with 44 seconds remaining.
• TJ Hurley would hit a right-wing three with 16 seconds left to extend UVM's lead 65-60. On the other end, Martin Sommerville missed a three but was fouled with nine seconds left. He would go on to make all his three free throws.
• With the River Hawks down two, Ileri Ayo Faleye was fouled with five seconds remaining and hit both of his free throws.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• TJ Hurley had a team-high 23 points which marks his 5^th game this season scoring 20+ points. Hurley also went 9-10 from the charity stripe.
• Ileri Ayo-Faleye recorded his first double-double of the season. Ileri Ayo-Faleye is the first Vermont player to record a double-double this season. Along with his 17 points, he had a team-high 11 rebounds and a team-high 2 steals.
• Shamir Bogues had a team-high four assists and a team-high two blocks.
• Vermont outrebounded UMass Lowell 44-30.
• The Catamounts have won six straight games against the River Hawks.
• Nick Fiorillo played in his 100^th career game. He contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds Thursday night.

 
UP NEXT
UVM will continue their road trip and head down to Bryant on Saturday, January 11^th. That game will tip off at 4 p.m. ET and it will be on ESPN+. 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