UVM storms back to stun Stony Brook

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Catamounts shot under 15 percent in the first half. And they trailed by 17 points with 14 minutes, 30 seconds left in regulation against Stony Brook.

But Vermont found a way.

The University of Vermont men's basketball team caught fire and roared back to stun the Seawolves 57-48 in a America East Conference battle on Saturday night.

Shooting 72.7 percent in the second half and riding big-time performances from Brandon Hatton and Ethan O'Day, Vermont erased the double-digit deficit and locked down defensively to pull away in the final two minutes.

The Catamounts improve to 14-10 overall and 9-2 in the conference, where they sit in second place behind 11-0 Albany. Vermont also swept the regular-season series from the Seawolves (15-10, 6-4).

O'Day tallied 17 points and nine rebounds while Hatton, a freshman, knocked down two 3s and finished with a career-best 12 points.

Trailing 38-21 with 14:30 to go, Vermont uncorked a 22-4 run to seize the lead for the first time in the game on an O'Day jump hook in the lane with 5:44 to play. O'Day made his next three baskets to offset two Stony Brook makes, with the junior's third giving UVM a 49-46 advantage with under a 1:44 to play. Then Hatton doubled the lead under a minute to play when he took a cross-court feed from Cam Ward for a corner 3-pointer.

Vermont made just 4 of 27 shots in the first half and trailed 29-15 at the break. UVM shot 40.8 percent from the floor for the game after hitting 16 of 22 attempts in the second half.

Zach McRoberts tallied six points, seven rebounds and three blocks and Dre Wills added eight points and three steals for UVM, which held Stony Brook to 31 percent shooting.

Jameel Warney paced Stony Brook with 14 points and 15 rebounds but shot 6 of 18 from the floor. Carson Puriefoy had 15 points on 6 of 14 shooting.

Vermont returns to action Wednesday when it plays host to UMass-Lowell, which took Albany down to the wire in a loss on Saturday night.