In a flurry of lead changes in the game’s final minutes, Yale nailed the decisive basket as Vermont basketball dropped a 77-74 nonconference decision to the Ivy League favorite in front of 2,057 at Patrick Gym on Sunday, Nov. 30.
Sophomore Riley Fox’s game-high 23 points included a 3-point splash with 1 minute, 38 seconds to play, giving the Bulldogs a 73-69 advantage. Vermont (5-4), which trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half, had a chance for the tie or take the lead, but a turnover with 11.9 seconds to go put an end to the hosts’ comeback bid.
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Gus Yalden, one game after dropping a career-high 27 points, tallied 22 points on 8 of 14 shooting to go with seven rebounds in 32 minutes. TJ Hurley, who reached 1,000 career points, scored 19 points and TJ Long added 18 points. Hurley and Long each sank four 3s. Sean Blake tossed in 10 points and handed out four assists, but committed five of Vermont’s 11 turnovers.
“I feel bad … bad last play call, should’ve just thrown the ball into (Yalden) and use the other stuff that had been working the rest of the half,” Vermont coach John Becker said about his team’s late turnover. “That’s one I’ll have to take ownership of.”
After Fox, Isaac Celiscar (16 points) and Nick Townsend (13 points) also hit double figures for Yale (7-1), which has won four straight games since a home loss to Rhode Island.
Vermont basketball, Yale trade baskets, leads down stretch
TJ Hurley drives to the hoop during Vermont basketball’s 77-74 loss to Yale at Patrick Gym on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025.
The Bulldogs opened a 48-38 advantage with 14:09 left in regulation. But Vermont hung around, chipping away at the deficit until Long’s 3-pointer and free throw for a four-point play leveled the contest at 59 with 5:48 remaining.
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Townsend responded with a tough layup under the basket. And Yalden followed by rattling in a corner 3-pointer for Vermont’s first lead, 62-61, since the 2-minute mark of the first half.
Yalden’s triple kick-started eight lead changes over the game’s final 5 minutes. The scoring swings included Hurley, a senior, knocking down a trey to reach 1,000 career points as a Catamount.
The back-and-forth tilted to Yale’s favor on a Townsend hook shot and Fox’s 3-point splash via an extra pass, the latter pushing the visitors to that 73-69 margin.
More: Vermont basketball score, schedule, stats at ESPN Events Invitational
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Fox did most of his damage on drives into the lane in the first half, scoring 16 points before the break. He finished 9 of 14 from the floor in just 25 minutes.
“We were really concerned with Townsend. We were jamming him and that meant there was no support on the other side of a lot of those down-screen handoffs,” Becker said of Vermont’s defensive game plan. “That’s something we don’t normally do and we put it in this game. I thought it worked pretty well. But we gave Fox, Celiscar … with a head of steam to get downhill and score 2s.”
Becker blames himself on Vermont basketball’s late turnover
After Hurley drove for two to cut the deficit to 73-71, Vermont’s defense forced a errant Yale 3-point attempt with under a minute to play. That set up Vermont to potentially regain the lead in the closing seconds.
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Becker said he dialed up an end-of-game call that’s been in his playbook during his entire tenure at Vermont. The design called for different screening actions for Long and Hurley, Becker said. Blake got the ball to Long on the baseline, but Yale doubled, forcing a reset at the top of the key.
Blake opted to drive and his over-the-shoulder pass into the paint was broken up by Samson Aletan. Yale then sealed the win at the line.
“(Blake’s) never run that play in a game … that’s all on me to run something that he’s more familiar with,” Becker said. “As a coach, you don’t get a shot up and it’s a turnover in a two-point game. … that’s hard to swallow.”
Who’s next for Vermont basketball?
The Catamounts hit the road for a pair of games on the west coast. They play at Oregon State on Wednesday, Dec. 3 before a matchup at Pepperdine on Saturday, Dec. 6.
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Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont basketball vs Yale final score, nonconference game
