THE BASICS:

RESULT: Vermont 85, Hartford 54
LOCATION: Patrick Gymnasium (Burlington, Vt.)
ATTENDANCE: 2,192
RECORDS: Hartford (5-11, 0-1 America East); Vermont (12-5, 2-0)


THE LEAD:
Jalen Ross scored 19 points, but an impressive offensive performance by first-place Vermont led the Catamounts past the Hartford men's basketball team on Sunday. It marked the first conference game of the season for the Hawks.
 
Darren Payen led the home squad with 18 points, his fourth-straight game in double figures, while Trae Bell-Haynes (12) and Payton Henson (11) also finished with at least 10 points. The Catamounts shot 56.7 percent from the field in the victory, including 63.9 percent in the opening half.
 
Jason Dunne and Hassan Attia each added nine points for the Hawks, with Attia grabbing eight boards. John Carroll snared seven rebounds as well in the loss.

FIRST HALF:
The Catamounts came out red hot on both ends of the floor, hitting their first three shots from downtown to jump out to a 9-0 lead. The Hawks battled back with a Dunne layup and a Ross jumper to trim it to 11-4, but UVM was able to slowly add to its lead for a 22-12 advantage after Ross knocked down a three pointer.
 
At that juncture, the home squad went on a 23-3 run to push the lead to 30 points. Dunne closed the gap with four points at the free-throw line and Ross added a three, but the Catamounts were able to enter the locker room up 52-22.

SECOND HALF:
Vermont pushed the lead to 54-22 out of the break, but the visitors began to slowly chip away, using a Ross three and three putback baskets from Attia to cut it to 58-32. But Vermont was able to lock down on the defensive end, and put together a 13-4 run to push the lead to 71-36. Carroll delivered both Hawks baskets during the rally with some nice work down low.
 
Ross delivered a three and a layup in quick succession to snap the run, then added another triple to cut the lead to 74-46. Andy Ramirez netted five quick points late, but Vermont delivered another rally and closed out the victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Ross extended his double-figure scoring streak to 30-straight games, dating back to January of last year. He went 5-for-6 from beyond the arc in the loss.
• Attia delivered another nice game for the Hawks, finishing with nine points and eight rebounds, five on the offensive end.
• Hartford grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, a season high. It marks the third-straight contest that the Hawks brought down at least 13 boards on the offensive glass.
• Walk-on Mark Plousis converted a three-point play in the final minute of the contest for a career-best three points.
• Vermont had seven different players score at least eight points in the game.

 
UP NEXT:
Hartford returns to Reich Family Pavilion on Wednesday, Jan. 11, for a clash against UMBC at 7 p.m. It marks the first conference home game of the season for the Hawks. Tickets are available at HartfordHawks.com or by calling 860.768.HAWK (4295).