Score: Vermont 86, UAlbany 75
 
Location: SEFCU Arena in Albany, N.Y.
 
Records: UAlbany (12-11, 5-3 AE); Vermont (17-6, 7-1 AE)
 
Short Story: UAlbany hangs tough in the first half but falls behind first-place Vermont in the second to drop this year's Big Purple Growl 86-75 to the Catamounts.
 
Key Stats
 

• Cameron Healy has hit a three in 55-straight games
• Anthony Lamb scored 11 of Vermont's first 16 points
• UAlbany shot 55.6% in the first half; Vermont shot 51.5%
• Antonio Rizzuto scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half on 4-4 from three
• Vermont shot 50.0% in the second half; UAlbany shot 33.3%
• Vermont outscored UAlbany 32-22 in the paint and 17-8 on second-chance opportunities

 
Coach Brown: "We had a great crowd tonight, it was a great atmosphere for our guys to play in.  Vermont's really good.  They're an older group, an experienced group, and a group that doesn't beat themselves.  I thought in the second half we reverted back to some bad habits offensively.  We got very impatient, and they went on a little bit of a run, and I think that's when we really needed to settle down and defend and make them spend some time on offense.  It didn't happen.  We got back on our heels, our offense affected our defense, and before you know it we're down 19.  I thought our guys did a great job of fighting back and hanging in there, but Vermont is the best team in our league right now.  Hopefully when we play them again we'll be able to sustain our energy, our effort, and our execution a little bit longer, but let's give Vermont credit tonight.
 
Recap
 
Playing in front of their first sellout crowd of the season, the University at Albany men's basketball team hosted first-place and defending America East champion Vermont for the 23rd Big Purple Growl on Saturday night.  After a tight first half, Vermont used big run to take a 21-point lead in the second before holding off a Great Dane comeback attempt to win by 11, 86-75.
 
The Catamounts had won their last six-straight, and each of the last seven meetings against the Great Danes.  Vermont had allowed 60 or more points in just one of their last six games during their winning streak, and fielded the reigning America East Player of the Year, Anthony Lamb.
 
Early on, the teams traded baskets, with UAlbany building a small, 8-4 advantage within the first two-and-a-half minutes.  Vermont quickly took the lead, 10-8, with 16:39 to go, on a three-pointer from Stef Smith.
 
Ahmad Clark broke a 12-2 Vermont run, drawing a foul on a jumper and converting the and-one to cut UAlbany's deficit to three with 13:53 remaining in the first.
 
With 8:25 remaining before the break, Vermont took advantage of a breakdown in UAlbany's defense hit an open three to take their first double-digit lead of the night, 30-20.
 
Cameron Healy hit his first three of the night with 6:24 left in the first, cutting Vermont's advantage to five points, and extending his made-threes streak to 55 games.  The Great Danes forced a shot clock violation on Vermont's ensuing possession, and took over with 5:35 to go trailing 32-27.
 
Healy hit another three to cut Vermont's lead to two, extending the Danes' scoring run to 8-0.  Clark drew a foul on a rebound after consecutive Vermont put-back misses, and hit both free throws to tie the game at 32 with 4:39, and extend the run to 10-0.
 
Vermont ended UAlbany's run on their next possession when Lamb hit a three-pointer.  Clark drew another foul on the Danes ensuing possession and hit both free-throws to keep the Danes within one.
 
Lamb hit a baseline jumper to put Vermont back up by three, before Romani Hansen hit a corner three to tie the game at 37 with 3:39 remaining in the first.
 
Clark forced a Vermont turnover and Healy hit a transition layup to give UAlbany its first lead since 16:46 remaining in the first, 39-37, with 2:41 to go.
 
With 30 seconds remaining, Vermont hit a three to go up 44-42.  Clark responded with a deep three on the other end with six seconds left.  Finally, Vermont heaved a three-quarter court shot as the buzzer sounded, draining the long shot to take a 47-45 lead into halftime.
 
Healy finished the first half with 17 points on 5-7 shooting and 3-4 from three.  Clark added 15, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the line.  Lamb, who had scored 11 of the Catamounts' first 16 points, led all scorers with 20, and was the only Catamount in double-figures.  UAlbany outscored Vermont in the first half 18-12 in the paint, while shooting 55.6% for the first 20 minutes.  Vermont was not far behind, converting 51.5% of its shots before halftime, and hit five of its last six shots to close the half.
 
Vermont scored first to open the second half, taking a four-point lead.  Healy responded with a three to cut the lead to just one.  At this point, Vermont slowly started pulling away, scoring the next four points.
 
Clark drew a foul and hit one of two free-throws, snapping a nearly four-minute scoreless streak, to bring UAlbany within four.
 
An 8-1 run put Vermont up 57-49 with 13:40 to go.  Vermont's overall run extended to 26-4, including 17 unanswered, during which UAlbany shot 1-12 and was held scoreless for more than five minutes, leading to a 70-49 Catamount advantage with 10:04 to go.
 
Brent Hank finally ended Vermont's run with a layup to cut Vermont's lead to 70-51 with 9:28 to go.
 
UAlbany put together a quick 9-2 run to cut Vermont's lead to 74-60 behind back-to-back threes from Antonio Rizzuto, and another three from Malachi de Sousa.
 
Another pair of threes from Rizzuto drew UAlbany within nine with 4:27 to go.  Nine would be the closest UAlbany would come for the remainder of the game, as Vermont scored each of the next four points to go back up by 13, before ultimately claiming victory by 11.
 
Clark and Healy each finished with 22 points.  Rizzuto scored 16, including 12 in the second half on 4-4 from three.  Romani Hansen grabbed 10 rebounds.  For Vermont, Lamb finished with 33 points on 10-17 shooting and a perfect 10-10 from the line.  The Catamounts outrebounded UAlbany 35-26, and outscored the Danes 32-22 in the paint and 17-8 off of second-chance opportunities.
 
Next: UAlbany hosts Binghamton on Wednesday, February 5.  Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.