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Vermont Men's Basketball Downs Hartford 72-59

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Created on Monday, 09 January 2012 02:02
Written by George Commo

Catamounts go 30-for-36 from the free throw line

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.  – Senior Matt Glass scored a game-high 15 points and Vermont went 30-for-36 from the free throw line as a team to top Hartford on Sunday afternoon 72-59 in America East action on the road. The Catamounts earn their second straight win, improving to 8-9 overall and 2-1 in America East play.

Freshman Four McGlynn added 14 points and sophomore Sandro Carissimo chipped in with 10, while classmate Brian Voelkel added seven points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Catamounts. Vermont dominated the glass, outrebounding Hartford (1-14, 1-2 America East) 43-25 for the game.

“We are real excited about the win today against a very feisty, Hartford team. We knew it was going to be hard guarding their offense, but I think our guys did a pretty good job for the most part chasing them around,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “We took advantage on the glass and were able to knock some shots down, go inside-out and get to the free throw line. Overall I thought it was a great team effort and I am happy with the win today.”

The Catamounts came out cold from the floor to open the game, only making one of their first nine attempts as Hartford took an early 10-2 lead. Vermont responded with a 19-3 run, which included 12 straight at one point, to go up 21-13 after a layup from junior Ben Crenca with 6:15 left in the frame. After starting only 1-for-9 from the floor, the Catamounts made nine of their next 12 shots and would lead by as many as 12 when junior Brendan Bald hit a pair of free throws to make it 29-17 with 4:29 left.

Vermont took a 33-21 lead into halftime after outscoring Hartford 31-11 to end the stanza. Glass paced UVM in the first half with eight points. The taller Catamounts gave the Hawks problems as the frame went on, as Vermont outrebounded Hartford 18-13 and scored 16 points in the paint.

A Carissimo 3-pointer and a free throw from sophomore Clancy Rugg stretched UVM's lead to 42-27 just 3:58 into the second half. The Hawks were in foul trouble early on, as Vermont only made two of its first nine attempts from the floor after the break but shot 10 free throws in the first 5:05 of the second half.

Hartford cut its deficit to eight points on three occasions, including 62-54 with 5:44 to go, but could get no closer. The Catamounts went only 6-for-20 from the floor in the second half, but hit 25-for-31 from the free throw line.

Glass went 5-for-8 from the floor, while McGlynn added a career-best six rebounds for Vermont. Rugg recorded a new career-high with eight points, as all 10 Catamounts that played scored and each played at least 11 minutes. Vermont recorded 15 assists on 18 made baskets in the game.

“Our bench has really given us some good minutes over the last few games and we will keep going to them,” added Becker. “It gives us some depth and that will be important down the stretch run.”

Andres Torres, Yolonzo Moore II and Wes Cole each scored 11 points to lead Hartford, while Ryan Baker added 10. The Hawks shot 29 3-pointers in the contest compared to only 26 shots from inside the arc.

Vermont returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Binghamton at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at www.UVMathletics.com. Live video of the game is available for free via CatamounTV on www.UVMathletics.com.

NOTES: Vermont has now won 19 of its last 20 games against Hartford (12 straight), 18 of its last 24 in the state of Connecticut and 12 of its last 13 at Chase Arena (including America East Tournament games) … Sophomore Josh Elbaum added a career-high five rebounds … Rugg is averaging 7.3 points per game over the last three … Voelkel recorded double digits in rebounds for the seventh time this season and 23rd time for his career, as Vermont is now 17-6 when he accomplishes the feat … UVM is now 69-for-84 from the free throw line in its last three games … The 30 free throws made matched Vermont's season-high, as it also hit 30 in the win over Marist … Glass and Hartford's Torres were named the America East Players of the Game.