BURLINGTON, Vt. – Patrick Gym was filled to capacity, as it should be, with two of New England's top programs facing off, and Yale and Vermont put on quite a show for the big crowd. In a wild finish, TJ Long's four-point play with three-tenths of a second left lifted the Catamounts to a stunning 66-65 victory.
 
Bez Mbeng's two free throws with 3.8 seconds left put the Bulldogs in front 65-60 and seemed to secure a very impressive road victory. Aaron Deloney, though, quickly raced up court and scored on a layup with six-tenths of a second remaining. Yale was then whistled for an offensive foul before the ball was inbounded, setting up Long's heroics.
 
Deloney inbounded the ball on the wing to Long, who threw up an off-balance, desperation three-pointer that deflected off the backboard and in. The Bulldogs were called for a foul on the play, and after a lengthy video replay and a Yale timeout, Long sank the free throw to complete the UVM comeback.
 
YALE COMEBACK
 
Vermont (7-2) raced out to a 10-point lead after seven minutes. The Bulldogs slowly chipped away and cut the deficit to two, 28-26, at halftime. The game was nip and tuck the remainder of the way. Danny Wolf's layup on a fast break off a feed from Mbeng gave Yale its first lead of the game, 61-60, with 54 seconds left. Two free throws from both August Mahoney and Mbeng increased the advantage to five.
 
BIG NIGHT FOR WOLF
 
Wolf was immense for the Bulldogs, finishing with 15 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, two blocks and a handful of other altered shots. He was 6-of-14 from the field.
 
OTHER STATISTICAL LEADERS
 
Mbeng paced Yale with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Mahoney and Matt Knowling, who returned to the lineup after missing two games with an injury, both added 10 points. Nick Townsend contributed seven points and five rebounds off the bench.
 
Long finished with 23 points and was 6-of-10 from three-point range to pace the Catamounts.
 
KEY STAT
 
UVM was 10 of 28 from beyond the arc, while the Bulldogs were 4 of 16.
 
NOTES
 
• Matt Veretto, who started at forward for UVM, and Knowling were high school teammates at East Catholic High in Manchester, Conn.
 
• Both the Bulldogs and Catamounts came into the game ranked in the College Insider mid major top 25. Yale was No. 13 while Vermont came in at No. 19.
 
• The Catamounts were the America East preseason favorite.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
 
The Bulldogs play their next two games in the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater. The first comes on Wednesday when Fairfield visits and then Colby-Sawyer comes to town on Friday. Both games are 7 p.m. tips.