Bulldogs fall to Catamounts, 73-47, Wednesday on road

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, Minn.) led the Bryant University men's basketball team with 13 points, but the sharpshooting University of Vermont was too much to handle, handing the Bulldogs a 73-47 road loss Wednesday night.

Vermont (3-2) converted 59 percent (23-39) of its shots from the floor and outrebounded the Bulldogs (1-2), 39-25, at Patrick Gymnasium behind a game-high 14-point effort from Dre Wills and 12 points from both Hector Harold and Ethan O'Day. Wills also paced the contest on the glass with nine boards while O'Day registered four of the Catamounts' seven blocks.

Junior point guard Shane McLaughlin (Old Tappan, N.J.) added 11 points for the visiting Black and Gold on 3-for-4 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 mark from the free throw line, while redshirt-junior Zach Chionuma (Jamesville, N.Y.) contributed nine points with a trio of steals. Sophomore Dan Garvin (Bethel, Conn.) paced the Bulldogs on the glass with six rebounds.

Vermont jumped out to a 13-2 lead to open Wednesday's contest, fueled by six points from Wills and five more from O'Day before a 10-5 Bulldog run behind five points each from Starks and McLaughlin closed the gap to 18-12 with 6:47 left in the opening half.

The Catamounts doubled Bryant up with the next six points for a 24-12 advantage, and Vermont would ultimately end the frame on a 16-2 run stretching the final 4:20 of the half for a 34-14 lead at the break.

In the second, the Bulldogs would keep pace with their hosts, outscored just 39-33 in the final 20 minutes, but Bryant couldn't make up any ground thanks to a .588 second-half shooting percentage from the Catamount ranks. The Black and Gold shot 34.3 percent in the frame after posting just a 4-for-20 mark in the first.

Vermont built its lead up to 30 points, 46-16, six minutes into the second stanza and maintained that advantage through the nine-minute mark. A three from Starks with 7:54 to go cut that lead to 25, and Bryant pulled within 23 with 3:34 remaining in the contest. But the Bulldogs wouldn't get any closer in the outing for the 73-47 final.

The Bulldogs return to the court after the Thanksgiving holiday, when they travel to Ohio to take on Akron Sunday, Nov. 30 at 5:00 p.m.