Story by
Last-second basket sinks Vermont basketball in season-opening loss at Iona
- Story by
- Last-second basket sinks Vermont basketball in season-opening loss at Iona
Iona's Kevon Vanderhorst went coast-to-coast for the game-winning layup with less than 1 second to play as Vermont basketball dropped its season-opener, 56-55, during a nonconference tilt on Monday, Nov. 2, at New Rochelle, New York.
Trailing 55-54 with 6 seconds on the clock, Vanderhorst, who finished with a game-high 27 points, received the inbounds pass, raced up court, cut into the paint and flipped in a layup with just six-tenths of a second to play.
Advertisement
Vermont had taken the lead on the prior possession when Gus Yalden powered into the lane for two. Yalden paced the Catamounts with 17 points on 7 of 12 shooting to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
More: Despite offers to leave, Vermont basketball's Gus Yalden finds home in Burlington
Momo Nkugwa (12 points, five rebounds) and Will Davies (10 points, four assists) also reached double figures for Vermont. John Broom added nine points and 11 rebounds.
Vermont led by as many as 10 points and were in front for 84.8% of the game before the Gaels marched back. Kosy Akametu (18 points) went for a backdoor cut to give Iona a 54-53 margin with 21 seconds to play. Yalden then followed with his strong take to the rim before Vanderhorst delivered on his end-to-end layup.
Advertisement
Vanderhorst also sealed the game with a steal on Vermont's long inbounds pass.
Vermont continues its road trip on Thursday, Nov. 5, at Fairfield in the America East-Metro Basketball Challenge.
Vermont women's basketball routs Keene State in season opener
Three players reached double figures as hot-shooting Vermont women's basketball rolled to a 96-37 nonconference win over Division III Keene State during the Catamounts' season-opener on Monday, Nov. 2, in front of 880 at Patrick Gym.
Sienna Papanastasiou-Thomas' 20-point outing included four 3-pointers in a 7 of 12 shooting effort to pace Vermont. Neta Mayshar also hit four 3s and finished with 18 points while Emma Haan knocked down a trio of triples in her double-digit scoring effort of 12 points to go with seven rebounds.
Advertisement
Catherine Gilwee (eight points, four assists), Jacklynn Hosier (eight points, nine assists, six rebounds) and Madison Hall (eight points, five rebounds) also contributed for Vermont, which shot 53.7% from floor with 16 3-pointers.
More: Catherine Gilwee ready for one last ride with UVM women's basketball
Vermont had 32 points in the paint, scored 20 points off turnovers and 19 on the fast break and saw its bench score 41 points.
Former BFA-St. Albans standout Ruby Dasaro led Keene State with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Vermont women's XC captures America East crown
The Vermont women's cross-country running team raced to its first America East Conference championship in nearly 40 years on Friday, Oct. 30.
Advertisement
And three former Vermont high school standouts were front and center for the Catamounts.
Freshman Zoey McNabb (Champlain Valley), junior Siena Stanley (Mount Abraham) and freshman Lydia Donahue (CVU) were among the Catamounts' top-five scoring runners as Vermont edged Maine 61-69 to claim the program's first conference title since 1989.
McNabb, who won the individual New England title earlier this season , ran to runner-up honors at the league championship meet with a 5-k time of 17 minutes, 16.8 seconds. Stanley followed in third place (17:29.8) while Donahue took 20th (18:09.4) out 90 competitors in the race held in Albany, New York.
Isabella Fryer (13th in 17:49.8) and Grace DeLisle (23rd in 18:12.6) rounded out Vermont's top-five scoring.
Advertisement
Also this season, McNabb set the UVM program record for the 6-k (20:39.10) in a meet held in Missouri. Stanley, a multiple-sport athlete and track champion at Mount Abraham, is coming off winning the Fall Foliage Invitational in St. Albans and was Vermont's top returning runner from last year's America East championships. Donahue was also Vermont's third runner at the New England meet.
McNabb and Donahue were part of CVU's nationally ranked XC squad that won three straight New England titles .
The UVM men also shined in the 8-k championship, earning runner-up honors, 11 points back of first-place UMass Lowell (61-49). CVU graduate Darius Parker (fourth in 24:15.1), Eamon Burke (fifth in 24:19.3) and William Locke (15th in 24:34.9) picked up top-15 finishes to pace UVM.
For complete race results, visit lancertiming.com .
Advertisement
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com . Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5 .
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Last-second basket sinks Vermont basketball in season-opening loss at Iona
