Men’s Hoops: Second Half Rally Falls Short, Catamounts Fall to Bearcats 82-73

Posted on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

CINCINNATI, Ohio — Despite a late surge and an 18-point effort from Stef Smith, Vermont (6-4) suffered an 82-73 loss to Cincinnati (6-2) on Tuesday night at the Fifth Third Arena.

COACH’S QUOTE
“It was a tough loss tonight, but Cincinnati deserves some credit for the way they shot the ball,” Cioffi Men’s Basketball Head Coach John Becker said. “I thought the last 15 minutes could’ve gone either way. Our guys really showed a lot of toughness and heart to chip away at the lead.”

HOW IT HAPPENED
Vermont was 5-of-7 from behind the arc in the opening 11 minutes to take an early 17-15 lead. Ryan Davis drilled a pair of threes to spark the UVM offense.
Keith Williams accrued eight of his game-high 23 points in the first half, but Jaevin Cumberland led the Bearcats at the break. The Cincy guard tallied seven of his nine first-half points in the final five minutes to take a 40-27 lead into the locker room.
Davis nailed his third three-pointer to start the second half, but the Bearcats answered with a 14-4 run. Jaevin Cumberland continued to fuel the Bearcats by hitting a trio of threes coming out of halftime.
Vermont trailed by as much as 23 points in the half, but then went on a 31-16 run to cut the deficit to six with 30 seconds left. Smith led the Catamount surge with 11 points late in the second half.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Smith shot 7-for-15 from the floor for his team-high 18 points. The junior made 4-of-8 attempts from behind the arc.
Anthony Lamb tallied 16 points and picked up a team-high 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.
Everett Duncan was also in double figures with 13 points and 3-for-5 shooting from downtown.
Davis was a perfect 3-for-3 from deep for a career-high.

UP NEXT
Vermont begins a four-game home stretch on Saturday (Dec. 7) against Towson. Tip-off at Patrick Gym is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at UVMathletics.com/Tickets or at the Patrick Gym Box Office on gameday. All of the action can be seen on ESPN3 and the ESPN app by logging in with your television provider. Fans can also listen live on the Vermont Sports Network, from Learfield IMG College, on 101.3 The Game or online at Catamounts All-Access with Jake Marsh on the call.