Articles

Cats Cling to a 73-63 Victory Over Maine in Men's Hoops

Details: Created on Tuesday, 07 February 2012 13:21; Written by George Commo

Win is Seventh straight for Hoop Cats

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

ORONO, Maine – Behind 17 points from senior Matt Glass, the University of Vermont men's basketball team earned a 73-63 win at Maine on Monday night in America East action. The win is the seventh straight for the Catamounts who improve to 16-10 overall and 10-2 in league play. The victory sets up a first place showdown at Patrick Gym against Stony Brook on Sunday at 12 p.m.

Vermont led by as many as 16 in the second half and held off a late Black Bear rally to earn the season-sweep over Maine (11-11, 5-6 America East). Junior Brendan Bald and sophomore Luke Apfeld added 13 apiece for the Catamounts, while sophomore Brian Voelkel had nine points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

With the win Vermont's John Becker now has the most wins (16) by a first year head coach in Vermont men's basketball history, passing Thomas Keady who went 15-4 during his first season in 1921-22.

“Huge road win tonight up here in Maine,” said Becker. “I thought our defense carried us throughout the game and we struggled a little bit offensively. To their credit they played hard for 40 minutes and they have some talented players. We came up with stops when we needed them and anytime we can win on the road, in league, especially up here in Orono, we are very excited about that.”

Glass led the Catamounts from the opening tip, scoring nine of UVM's first 13 points as they took an early 13-7 lead. A 3-pointer from Bald made it 20-12 as Vermont started the game by hitting eight of its first 12 attempts from the floor. Another three from Bald would give the Catamounts their biggest lead of the frame at 34-19 with 4:33 to go.

Vermont would take a 37-25 lead into the break behind 11 from Bald and 10 from Glass. The Catamounts turned nine Maine miscues into 13 points and held the Black Bears to shoot only 36.7 percent from the floor.

The Cats would stretch their lead to 43-27 after a 3-pointer from Glass two minutes into the second half. Maine responded with a 14-2 run over the next 5:52 to cut it to 45-41, as Vermont opened the second half making only two of its first 11 attempts.

A layup from senior Pat Bergmann pushed UVM's lead back to 12 at 59-47 with 6:23 remaining. The Black Bears had one last run, scoring eight of the next 10 to make it 61-55 Vermont with 3:25 on the clock. The Catamounts responded with the next eight straight points, as sophomore Sandro Carissimo earned a steal and fed Bald for a layup, Carissimo added a fast break layup and Glass converted four straight free throws to make it 69-55.

Glass went 6-for-7 from the line and added four rebounds, while Bald was 3-for-3 from long range. The Catamounts went 18-for-23 from the line, which included making their last six straight, while matching a season-high with 12 steals for a second straight game.

Gerald McLemore led all scorers with 20 points, while Justin Edwards (15) and Mike Allison (10) also added double digits for the Black Bears. Maine turned the ball over 16 times and converted only 10-for-18 from the foul line.

Vermont returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Stony Brook at a new start time of 12 p.m. in a game that will be televised on the CBS Sports Network. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at www.UVMathletics.com.

NOTES: Vermont is averaging 77.4 points per game and allowing only 63.1 during its seven-game winning streak … The win is also the Catamounts' 10th in their last 11 games overall … UVM has defeated Maine 11 times in the last 13 meetings … Including today's game, Vermont has only trailed for a total of 3:45 over its last 133:02 played … The Cats have won 23 of their last 28 games in the month of February … Vermont won the first meeting of the season 79-65 on January 16 in Burlington … Voelkel and Maine's McLemore were named the America East Players of the Game.