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Balanced Attack Leads Vermont Men's Hoops Over Maine 79-65

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Created on Tuesday, 17 January 2012 05:00

Written by George Commo

Four Catamounts in double figures led by 16 from Four McGlynn

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON  – Four Catamounts reached double figures led by 16 from freshman Four McGlynn as the Vermont men's basketball team earned a 79-65 victory over visiting Maine in America East action on Monday night. The Catamounts improve to 10-10 overall and 4-2 in league play.

Vermont used a 17-2 run midway through the first half and led by as many as 21 on its way to its third straight double-digit home victory. Senior Matt Glass added 14 points, while sophomore Luke Apfeld netted 13 and classmate Brian Voelkel chipped in with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

“Great win tonight for us against a very talented Maine team,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “We really had to get back to defending and rebounding after Saturday's game down in New Hampshire and I thought we had a good day of practice yesterday and our guys really responded. It was a great team defensive effort against a very talented offensive team in Maine. I am proud of the guys, we got contributions from everyone.”

Maine (8-8, 2-3 America East) took an early 6-0 lead and would stretch it to 15-8 with 12:43 left in the first half. The Catamounts responded with a 17-2 run, which included 12 straight at one point, as they would lead for the rest of the contest. McGlynn netted five straight and Apfeld followed with the final five on a put back and a 3-point play that made it 25-17 with 5:44 remaining.

Apfeld added a layup with 51 seconds left for the final basket of the half as Vermont took a 38-32 lead into intermission. The Cats shot 50 percent in the half and outrebounded Maine 21-12, as McGlynn led UVM with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Vermont scored the first six points of the second half and made six of its first seven attempts of the stanza. Leading 51-39, the Catamounts scored nine straight to push their lead to 60-39 with 11:19 to go. Voelkel started the run with a layup, while sophomore Clancy Rugg added three straight free throws, junior Brendan Bald hit two from the line and Glass capped it with a jumper.

Maine went on a 17-5 run to get within nine at 69-60 after a jumper from Gerald McLemore with 5:16 remaining, but the Cats responded with five straight on a pair of McGlynn free throws and a 3-pointer from Glass.

Vermont shot 49.1 percent from the floor as a team, as Voelkel finished 4-for-5, while both Glass and Apfeld went 6-for-11. McGlynn was a perfect 6-for-6 from the line and hit 4-for-8 from the floor. The Catamounts continued their trend since league play has started of finding their way to the free throw line, as they went 20-for-23.

Justin Edwards led Maine with a game-high 19 points, while McLemore added 14. Vermont held the top scoring team well under its average of 76 points per contest.

Vermont returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Albany starting at 7 p.m. in a game that will be shown on ESPN3. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at www.UVMathletics.com.


NOTES: Vermont has now won 10 of the last 12 meetings against Maine … Monday was UVM's third game in the last five days … Vermont has now won its last three at home by an average of 16 a game and are shooting 49.1 percent from the floor during that stretch … The first nine Catamounts off the bench all scored … Rugg set a new career-high with a team-best seven rebounds on the night, while classmate Sandro Carissimo matched his career-high with six boards … Glass has now reached double figures in scoring in each of the last five games … UVM's bench outscored Maine's 28-13 … Vermont converted eight Maine turnovers into 18 points … Monday's game was televised on WCAXtra … UVM has now shot 154 free throws in its six America East games, an average of 25.7 per contest … McGlynn and Maine's Edwards were named the America East Players of the Game