The Kennedy Family Athletic Center has been a house of horrors for opposing men’s basketball teams since the start of the 2022-23 season.

Vermont has been the exception. The Catamounts have made themselves right at home and they continued to soar in the Mill City with a 77-68 victory over UMass Lowell during an America East clash on Thursday night.

UML is now 46-8 at the Kennedy for the last three-plus seasons, but the River Hawks (8-12, 3-2 AE) haven’t defeated Vermont at their home gym since an 80-65 victory on Jan. 11, 2022.

The River Hawks trailed 40-29 at halftime, but made several runs in the second half only to have Vermont (12-8, 4-1 AE) answer each time.

Angel Montas Jr. continued his fine play for UML with a team-high 18 points. He added eight rebounds and dished out four assists. Xavier Spencer made 3-of-6 3-pointers and finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

Dracut native Darrel Yepdo also shot well from distance, going 4-for-9 on 3-point attempts to end with 12 points and five assists. Austin Green chipped in 10 points and hauled down six rebounds. Coming up a point short of joining his four teammates in double figures was JJ Massaquoi.

The difference in the game was Vermont’s TJ Hurley. The sharpshooter was 5-for-11 on 3-point attempts and pocketed a game-high 30 points. Hurley was 5-for-5 from the free throw line.

Women fall

UMass Lowell dropped an 82–46 America East decision to Vermont on Thursday afternoon at Roy L. Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vt.

Vermont (16-5, 5-1 AE) seized control immediately, opening the game on a 17–3 run behind multiple second-chance threes and early interior finishes. Senior guard Jaini Edmonds (Worcester) briefly answered with back-to-back triples to cut the deficit to 10–3, but the Catamounts continued to build momentum, closing the first quarter ahead 27–13.

Edmonds led the River Hawks (6-13, 0-6 AE) with 16 points, connecting on 4-of-6 from three-point range, while adding three assists. Freshman guard Tyanna Medina (Lawrence) contributed nine points, and forwards Adna Halilbasic (Recklinghausen, Germany) and Anabel Latorre Ciria (Zaragoza, Spain) pulled down six rebounds apiece.

“They jumped on us from the first possession, and we had no answer,” UML head coach Jon Plefka said. “It’s very disappointing with the game plan we had in place, but our overall lack of execution, toughness and defensive effort throughout led to the result. At least our third quarter was much better than it has been, which is a positive sign going forward. Saturday will be another battle, and we look forward to the opportunity to play at home again.”