Vermont Rallies to Beat Brown in Bears’ Non-Conference Finale

The Vermont Catamounts (10-5, 0-0 America East) took its only lead of the game with 1:21 remaining and held on for a 71-70 win over the Brown Bears (4-10, 0-0 Ivy League) in the non-conference finale Tuesday night at Pizzitola Sports Center.

Kino Lilly Jr. led Brown scorers with 18 points and six assists while Kalu Anya recorded his third career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

FIRST HALF
Brown jumped to a 9-2 lead with four points from Anya in the early part of the first half and continued to build the lead.

Kimo Ferrari swished a three just before the under eight media timeout to push Bruno’s lead to 15 at 32-17. In the scoring run, Lilly Jr. surpassed the 1,100-point milestone to crack the top-25 in career points, passing Mark McAndrew ’08.

The Catamounts punched back and ended the half on a 9-0 run to cut the Brown lead to eight at 42-34.

SECOND HALF
The Bears and Cats traded buckets early in the second half with Brown maintaining the lead. A quick 7-0 UVM run with 8:06 remaining cut Brown’s lead to two at 60-58.

Lilly Jr. drained his fourth three-pointer of the game with 3:08 remaining to push Brown’s lead to five, but the Cats responded with two quick buckets to even the score at 68-68.

Aaron Cooley gave Brown a 70-68 lead with a lay-up with 1:53 remaining but from there, Vermont’s TJ Long nailed a three to give Vermont its first lead of the game.

In the final seconds, Brown had two chances to win the game, but neither went down to give the visitors the one-point win.

NEXT
The Bears open Ivy League conference play next Tuesday (Jan. 9) at home against the Yale Bulldogs (8-6, 0-0 Ivy League). Tuesday’s game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at Pizzitola Sports Center and will stream on ESPN+. Click here to purchase tickets.