Vermont men's basketball falls short in 2OT battle at Cal-State Fullerton
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Despite forcing not one but two overtimes, and getting a game-high 27 points from Dylan Penn, the University of Vermont men's basketball lost a wild, back-and-forth affair at Cal State Fullerton in Sunday night's 94-85 nonconference decision.
The Titans (2-1) put away the Catamounts (1-2) with a 12-3 spurt in the final 1:57 of the second overtime period in a contest that featured 31 lead changes and 11 ties.
Penn, who went 9 of 17 from the field, had four assists while Aaron Deloney chipped in 15 points and three assists — the duo each logging 40 minutes. Six other Catamounts scored at least six points, including Robin Duncan (eight points, seven rebounds, three assists), Matt Veretto (eight points) and Nick Fiorillo (seven points, five rebounds).
"Hard fought game tonight," UVM coach John Becker said in a statement. "Tough double overtime loss, obviously, but we had our chances – both teams had their chances. And, you know, I thought we got off to a slow start in the first half defensively. We're a work in progress and we had a lot of foul trouble tonight and we have to keep our best guys on the floor. But the guys battled and, you know, we had our opportunities down the stretch."
Tory San Antonio's 21 points paced five Titan players in double figures. Jalen Harris struck for 18 points. Fullerton own the rebounding edge (45-36) and committed just eight turnovers to UVM's 10.
The Catamounts soared out of halftime with an 11-0 run, sparked by Penn's five points, to seize a 47-37 lead with 15:41 left in regulation. The Titans responded with a 15-5 run to knot the game at 52-52 on a pair of Max Jones (13 points) with 7:41 to go.
Penn sent the game into OT on a driving layup just before the buzzer, leveling the game at 65. Then with the Titans ahead 74-73 in the final seconds of the first extra period, Deloney slithered into the lane and handed off to Fiorillo, who was fouled with nine-tenths of a second on the clock.
The forward made his first foul shot but clanked the second to extend the game to a second OT.
Penn's layup with 1:57 to play tied the game at 82. However, the hosts regained the lead for good on Latrell Wrightsell Jr.'s foul shots to start the 12-3 game-sealing spurt.
The Catamounts wrap their California trip Tuesday at Southern California. Tip-off is set for 11 p.m. eastern.
More:UVM men's basketball: St. Mary's overwhelms Catamounts
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: UVM men's basketball: Catamounts fall in 2OT at Cal-State Fullerton
