Vermont alive and well in America East after resilient win at UMass Lowell

By Ray Curren (@currenrr)

LOWELL, Mass. — Those that threw dirt on the 2024-25 Vermont basketball team’s grave probably should have checked to see if it was dead first.

Yes, there were some dreadful non-conference results, but Thursday night, the eight-time defending America East regular season champion Catamounts showed—even if they’re a bit wounded—they aren’t giving up their crown without a fight, stopping new favorite UMass Lowell, 67-63, at a sold out Costello Athletic Center.

“It’s been interesting, for sure,” Vermont coach John Becker (now 179-31 in America East play), said. “Obviously we’ve gone through a lot this year, ups and downs, injuries. But we’re still the defending champs until someone beats us. I see on social media and people talking about everyone else. That’s fine, but we’re still here and we’ll let our play do the talking. I’m really proud of how we played tonight.”

Vermont’s offense is still a work in progress, but its defense was spectacular Thursday. The River Hawks (12-5, 1-1) entered 72nd nationally in offensive efficiency and 31st in two-point shooting (57.3 percent), but there was nothing easy getting to the rim against the Catamounts, the hosts going just 12-for-30 from inside the arc, seemingly every shot contested by multiple defenders.

“We’ve been able to score in the paint, either posting up or driving the ball, but they did a great job walling up and keeping us out and not giving us open paths to the basket,” UMass Lowell coach Pat Duquette said. “They did as good a job as anybody we’ve faced this year. We labored to score all game and that was a big part of it.”

The loss was the first at home this season for UMass Lowell and the last time it lost at the Costello Center was January 25, 2024 to—you guessed it—Vermont in overtime.

Still, thanks to Vermont’s poor shooting and a 12-for-12 performance at the free throw line (that included a technical on Becker), the River Hawks held a 31-28 halftime edge and figured to pull away at some point in the second half. But after a Yuri Covington three-pointer made it 34-28, that would be UMass Lowell’s largest lead. In fact, the River Hawks would have just one more lead, 51-50 on a Max Brooks’ layup with 9:35 left.

And when the Catamounts needed a big play or shot, someone stepped up. Down the stretch, it was T.J. Hurley, who did not shoot it well in the first half, but still finished with 23 points, the biggest three coming to snuff out a late River Hawk comeback. With the shot clock running out and Vermont leading 62-60 with 17 seconds left, Hurley hit a contested three to all but seal his team’s 29th victory in its last 30 America East regular season contests. Ileri Ayo-Faleye added 17 points and 11 rebounds for Vermont, who also got big defensive performances from Shamir Bogues and Sam Alamutu. The Catamounts shot only 34 percent from the field and 7-for-31 from three, but did collect 17 offensive rebounds while playing without regular starters TJ Long and Jace Roquemore. Becker hopes Roquemore will return soon, but Long’s injury is more long-term.

“We knew they attack the paint, so we just wanted to make them be passers,” Becker said. “We really wanted to crowd the paint and make them work for everything.”

It’s possible this result becomes a blip in the 2024-25 season, as we all know one-bid conferences are not won in January. Vermont is still 328th nationally offensively and 315th in effective field goal percentage, numbers that could bite the Catamounts against any upcoming America East opponent, starting with a hot and rested Bryant team on Saturday.

The loss broke a seven-game winning streak for UMass Lowell (who were led by freshman Martin Somerville's 17 points off the bench), who the computers say is still the favorite in the conference. The River Hawks will get another shot at Vermont on February 22, and would love to get a third with much more on the line a couple of weeks after that. 

“They’ve been the top team in this league seems like forever, and they proved that tonight,” Duquette said. “We just have to get better from here. Every game counts the same, so we have to get excited for Saturday (NJIT) and be ready to go. We’ll see them again.”

But on Thursday night, at least, this felt like more. Vermont, left for dead after a 30-point loss to Ivy League bottom feeder Dartmouth just three weeks ago, is back where it should be: the hunted in America East.

“I think the Dartmouth game was a good wakeup call, honestly,” Becker said. “We made some changes to how we’re playing. We needed to find a way to have our defense help our offense, and whether that’s turning people over or getting stops, playing a little looser in transition. We’ve been pretty methodical and slow paced through the years and this team just isn’t built that way. We’ve won eight straight titles playing a certain way, but that might not be best for this group.”