The University of Vermont men's basketball team pulled ahead early against Albany on Wednesday night, Jan. 24, 2018, at home, but Albany answered back. But as the game went on, UVM pulled ahead and stayed there, winning 61-50. RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS
Soaring for a defensive board late in regulation, Drew Urquhart came crashing to the floor on his side, wincing in pain as the ball trickled out of bounds for a turnover.
A minute later, the 6-foot-8 senior big man left his feet again, this time to swat a driving David Nichols layup attempt.
Albany was in town. Urquhart knew those bumps and bruises will heal quicker in victory.
“It hurt, but I looked up at the clock and there was what, two minutes left? There’s no excuse for you to come out of the game, especially if Albany makes a run and you’ll be kicking yourself later,” Urquhart said. “You can push through the pain for two minutes — that’s how I looked at it at the time.”
Relying on a rollicking first-half run and a tenacious, well-executed defensive performance throughout, the University of Vermont men’s basketball team clawed out a 61-50 victory over rival Albany in an America East Conference showdown in front of a sellout crowd at Patrick Gym on Wednesday night.
Not allowing a Great Danes field goal in the final 3 minutes, 45 seconds, the Catamounts (17-5, 7-0) earned their 10th straight win and their 20th consecutive at home while running their conference regular-season unbeaten streak to a nation-best 28 in a row.
“It was another classic Vermont-Albany game,” UVM coach John Becker said. “The game is different when we play — there is no denying that. It’s not always pretty basketball, but it’s competitive, it’s tough, it’s interesting.”
In a rematch of last year’s league title game, UVM proved it has the latest edge over its archnemesis from New York.
“We’ve been fortunate to come out on the winning end the last few times. We had a couple years where we couldn’t beat them,” Becker said. “It ebbs and flows and that’s what a rivalry is, each team has won their fair share, each team has won their fair share of championships and tonight we were fortunate enough to be on the winning end.”
Trae Bell-Haynes scored 21 points, one of four in double figures, to lead the Catamounts, who closed the first half on a 21-6 run to take a 34-23 margin into the intermission.
Everett Duncan tallied his first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Urquhart (10 points, five rebounds, three blocks) and Payton Henson (10 points, six rebounds, two blocks) aided UVM, which held Albany to just one 3-pointer and 39.2 percent overall from the floor
In a grinder of a second half, Ernie Duncan (eight points, four assists) buried a double-pumping, hanging 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to boost UVM's margin to five points, 48-43, with 6:45 to play. And Urquhart's block and a Everett Duncan corner 3 only served as a satisfying conclusion for the Cats.
Greig Stire tallied 14 points and David Nichols, who reached 1,000 career points, added 11 for the Great Danes, who fall to 16-7 overall and 4-4 in league play. Albany leading scorer Joe Cremo (eight points in 34 minutes) was limited with an ankle injury.
“You have to give credit to Vermont … they don’t beat themselves, they don’t waver from the game plan,” Albany coach Will Brown said. “You have to beat them, you have to literally beat them to win the game. A team hasn’t been able to do it in league play in a while.”
The intensity of the Albany-UVM showdown took a backseat midway through the first half when a man in the bleachers behind the scorer’s table needed medical attention. Emergency medical technicians administered CPR to the man, who was stretchered off.
Both teams exited to their locker rooms and the game resumed after approximately a 25-minute delay.
“It really puts things in perspective,” said Becker, who mentioned the man was “doing fine” at the University of Vermont Medical Center. “All of a sudden worrying about ball-screen coverage or mistakes here and there on a basketball court — we are talking life or death here.”
When they realized the situation unfolding, players grew concerned for the fan.
"We care about our fans, they care about us," Everett Duncan said.
Once teams regrouped, the Catamounts pushed the pace and got a spark off the bench from freshman Ra Kpedi, who tallied two points and two rebounds in seven minutes.
“We put Ra in there and I thought he gave us a great energy and great minutes. He kind of reestablished our toughness in the paint,” Becker said.
Bell-Haynes’ coast-to-coast layup with a euro-step finish and a Henson 3-pointer kickstarted UVM’s 21-6 closing spurt of the first half.
Everett Duncan picked up seven offensive rebounds and 10 boards overall in the opening 20 minutes.
“I thought Everett Duncan with a double-double was the player of the game,” Becker said. “He made big shots. That’s the first time Ev has been in that game and I thought he handled himself pretty well.”
And the other Duncan, Ernie, came through on a wild shot to stem Albany’s hopes of a late comeback.
Out by mid-court, Ernie Duncan had to find space before launching an off-balanced, desperation 3-pointer near the arc to beat the shot-clock buzzer.
Albany never got closer again.
“Never relinquishing the lead was important for us, and that’s why I thought Ernie’s shot was so big,” Becker said.
UVM returns to action next Wednesday at Binghamton.
Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aabrami5.
VERMONT 61, ALBANY (NY) 50
ALBANY (NY) (16-7)
Campbell 2-7 2-2 6, Charles 4-9 1-2 9, Stire 6-9 2-2 14, Cremo 3-10 2-3 8, Nichols 4-10 2-3 11, Foster 1-5 0-0 2, Clark 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 9-12 50.
VERMONT (17-5)
Urquhart 4-4 2-2 10, Henson 4-10 0-0 10, Er.Duncan 3-7 1-1 8, Ev.Duncan 3-10 2-2 10, Bell-Haynes 7-17 6-11 21, Kpedi 1-1 0-0 2, Rohrer 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Ward 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-51 11-16 61.
Halftime—Vermont 34-23. 3-Point Goals—Albany (NY) 1-11 (Nichols 1-4, Campbell 0-3, Cremo 0-4), Vermont 6-16 (Ev.Duncan 2-4, Henson 2-4, Er.Duncan 1-3, Bell-Haynes 1-4, Smith 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Albany (NY) 26 (Stire 7), Vermont 32 (Ev.Duncan 11). Assists—Albany (NY) 3 (Clark, Nichols, Stire 1), Vermont 9 (Er.Duncan 4). Total Fouls—Albany (NY) 17, Vermont 14. A—3,266.