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Catamounts Hold Off Albany in Men's Hoops 73-69

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Created on Friday, 20 January 2012 04:18

Written by George Commo

Four Catamounts in double figures ... UVM 11-10 overall and 5-2 in America East

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

BURLINGTON  – Senior Matt Glass hit a 3-pointer that broke open a one-point game with 31 seconds to go and helped the Vermont men's basketball team earn a 73-69 victory over Albany in America East action at Patrick Gym on Thursday night. Glass led the Catamounts with 16 points as they improve to 11-10 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

Following an Albany (12-9, 4-3 America East) turnover and with Vermont on top 68-67, the Cats worked the ball around and sophomore Brian Voelkel found Glass on the wing for a 3-pointer that extended UVM's lead to four. Freshman Four McGlynn would add a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to ice it for the Cats.

Glass led four Catamounts in double figures, as junior Brendan Bald added 12, sophomore Clancy Rugg tallied 11 off the bench and sophomore Luke Apfeld chipped in with 10. Vermont shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half and used a 24-9 bench scoring advantage for the game.

“That was a good, old-fashioned America East battle and I am glad that we came out on top,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “Matt Glass came up big for us again and hit a big shot late, which was great to see. Overall another really good team effort. Our defense fell apart in the second half for a stretch and Albany really got it going. The last four possessions I thought we played really good defense and were able to close it out. Really tough game, Albany is a very talented.”

Vermont opened the game with an early 6-2 lead after a pair of Bald 3-pointers. Albany used an 11-2 run to take a 13-8 lead, but the Cats responded with the next six on a Voelkel 3-pointer and three straight points from Rugg to regain the one-point lead.

The Catamounts would stretch their lead to five after a 3-pointer from sophomore Sandro Carissimo that made it 24-19 and they would go on to take a 32-26 advantage after four straight from Glass.  Albany scored five of the last seven points of the frame, as UVM carried a 34-31 advantage into halftime. Bald paced the Cats in the first half with eight points.

In a back-and-forth second half that saw 12 lead changes and five ties, Albany came out on a 7-2 run to take a 38-36 lead. Trailing 44-43, Vermont used an 11-3 spurt to take a seven-point lead with 11:27 remaining. Rugg netted the first four, junior Ben Crenca had a put back, Bald took a steal the other way and turned it into a dunk and McGlynn wrapped it up with a 3-pointer. 

Albany's Logan Aronhalt hit a 3-pointer with 4:06 to go to give the Great Danes their final lead of the night at 67-66. Neither team could score over the next 2:19, before Apfeld hit a pair of free throws to put the Cats back on top at 68-67 with 1:47 left on the clock.

Glass finished the game 6-for-11 from the floor and added five rebounds, as 10 of his 16 points came in the second half. Rugg was a perfect 4-for-4 off the bench, as UVM's reserves outscored Albany's 14-2 in the deciding second half. The Catamounts had four players with two made 3-pointers, while McGlynn just missed out on reaching double figures with nine points.

Gerardo Suero led Albany with 16 points, while Mike Black added 14 and Aronhalt finished with 12. The Great Danes shot 55.2 percent from the floor in the second half and an even 50 percent for the game.

Vermont returns to action on Sunday when it travels to face UMBC starting at 1 p.m.


NOTES: Vermont remains perfect at home in America East play, as it is now 4-0 … The Catamounts have won six of the last seven meetings against Albany and hold a 22-8 lead overall in the series … UVM has won 14 of its last 18 against teams from the state of New York … Voelkel made a pair of 3-pointers, marking the first time in his career that he has hit more than one in a game … UVM has only committed 10 combined turnovers in the second half of its last three games … Apfeld earned his second straight start … Nine of the 10 Catamounts that played also scored … Vermont has now won its last four at home by an average of 13 a game and are shooting 49.0 percent from the floor during that stretch … Glass has reached double figures in scoring in each of the last six games … Thursday's game was shown on ESPN3 … Glass and Albany's Aronhalt were named the America East Players of the Game …