Articles

Bald and Bergmann Lead Vermont Men's Hoops Over Dartmouth 65-53

Details: Created on Thursday, 17 November 2011 02:54; Written by George Commo

Cats Get 21 points from Bald and the first career double-double for Bergmann

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

HANOVER, N.H. – Behind career-high 21 points from junior Brendan Bald and the first career double-double for Pat Bergmann (14 points/11 rebounds) the Vermont men's basketball team used a strong second half to earn its first win of the season, topping Dartmouth 65-53 on Wednesday night. The Catamounts outscored the Big Green 43-24 in the deciding second half.

Vermont trailed by seven after a sluggish first 20 minutes of play, but scored 29 of the first 39 points in the second to pull away. Bald netted 19 of his game-high 21 in the deciding frame to help head coach John Becker earn his first career win at Vermont.

“It was a little nervous in the first half, but we came out in the second and showed energy in that first possession when we got three or four offensive rebounds,” said Becker. “In the second half we kind of simplified our offense and just tried to get some movement and look inside. This is a great win and I am happy for the guys.”

In the first half turnovers really hindered the Catamounts, as Dartmouth took a 29-22 lead into the break. The Big Green turned 13 Vermont turnovers into 15 points in the opening 20 minutes of play. Five straight points, capped off by a 3-pointer from senior Matt Glass, gave the Catamounts an early 11-8 lead.

Dartmouth (0-2) scored nine straight to start a 13-1 run that gave the home squad a 28-18 advantage. During the Big Green run, Vermont went 5:44 without a made basket as freshman Four McGlynn broke the drought with a jumper with 52 seconds left in the stanza. Glass led UVM at the half with seven points.

In the second half UVM turned it over on its first possession, but then collected five straight offensive rebounds the second time it had the ball and junior Ben Crenca finished it off with a layup that sparked the Cats. A 3-pointer from Bald 3:46 in gave UVM a 36-33 lead, its first since it was 17-15, as he and his classmate Crenca combined to tally 12 of Vermont's first 14 points of the frame.

After scoring only 22 points in the first half, the Catamounts topped that in the first 8:17 of the second after a Bald jumper made it 45-37. A pair of free throws from sophomore Luke Apfeld with 9:38 left put Vermont up 12, but the Cats would go scoreless for the next 4:10. Bald would answer and put the game away by connecting on three straight 3-pointers over the next 1:09. A layup from Bergmann capped off an 11-0 run and gave the Cats their biggest lead of the game at 62-47 with 3:07 on the clock.

Bald finished 7-for-15 from the floor and 5-for-8 from 3-point range, as after starting off only 2-for-8 he made five straight shots to lift the Catamounts. Bergmann went 6-for-7 from the floor and his 11 rebounds were a career-best. Crenca also added 10 points and five rebounds, while sophomore Brian Voelkel pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Vermont shot 46.9 percent from the floor, while holding Dartmouth to only 34.6 percent and dominated the boards (42-22). Matt LaBove led the Big Green with 10 points.

The Catamounts return to action this weekend when they travel to Uncasville, Conn. to take part in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Vermont will face Marist on Saturday at 6 p.m. and then play either Long Island or Radford on Sunday at 5:30/7:30 p.m.

NOTES: Wednesday was the 97^th career meeting between the two teams … Vermont has now won 12 of its last 13 against Dartmouth, 10 of its last 11 against teams from New Hampshire and eight of its last nine against Ivy League teams … Bald's previous career best was 20 points in a win at Albany on January 29 of last season … The 11 rebounds were three more than Bergmann's previous best, which he earned at Cleveland State in the season finale last year … Dartmouth has now been outrebounded in its two losses by a combined margin of 79-45 … Bald was named the America East Player of the Game.