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Vermont Men's Hoop Outlasts Old Dominion in Overtime

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Created on Thursday, 24 November 2011 03:39

Written by George Commo

Apfeld 15 points ... Voelkel 14 rebounds in 65-63 win

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

NORFOLK, Va.  – Luke Apfeld scored 15 points to lead the Vermont men's basketball team to a 65-63 overtime victory on the road at Old Dominion on Wednesday night. The Catamounts outscored the Monarchs 5-3 in the extra session as they improve to 3-2 with the victory.

Old Dominion had won 31 of its last 34 and 47 of its last 53 overall at home prior to Wednesday night. The Cats also outrebounded a Monarch team that led the nation in rebounding margin last season, 48-37. Sophomore Brian Voelkel had a big game for the Cats, playing over 40 minutes and pulling down a game-high 14 rebounds to go with six points, five assists and two big steals late in overtime.  Senior Matt Glass added 14 points and junior Ben Crenca netted 10 for the Catamounts.

“That was a great win for our program, we have a lot of respect for Old Dominion and their coaching staff. I give our players a lot of credit, we battled after getting down 12 early in the second half and we were fortunate to make a couple shots late,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “We were coming off a weekend up in Connecticut where we didn't play defense or rebound up to our expectations and that is something that we have been preaching since Sunday, that we have to get better and knew we had a huge challenge in front of us with a big Old Dominion team that rebounds the ball well.”

Old Dominion scored six straight to break an early 4-4 tie and would lead for the remainder of the half. The Monarchs stretched their lead to as many as 10 at 18-8 with 11:50 left in the frame after connecting on back-to-back 3-pointers. The Catamounts struggled from the floor to start, making only five of their first 18 attempts and also turned the ball over 11 times in the first half.

The combination of Apfeld and Voelkel kept Vermont close, as Apfeld started an 11-3 UVM run with five straight points that cut it to 24-22 with 2:07 to go in the stanza. Voelkel scored five points in the half, but was dominate on the boards, pulling down nine in the frame. ODU scored six of the last eight points to take a 30-24 edge into the locker room. Of UVM's 24 points in the first half, 22 came in the paint and the other two were at the free throw line.

Old Dominion (3-3) came out and scored the first six points of the second half and led by as many as 12 at 36-24 with 16:30 remaining. A 3-pointer from Glass marked Vermont's first point of the night not in the paint or at the line, with 14:58 left in regulation.

The Catamounts cut into the Monarchs' lead with a 16-3 spurt over a span 6:37 to trimmed their deficit to 43-40 after a layup from Apfeld with 9:53 on the clock. A Glass jumper from the top of the key gave UVM a 46-45 lead, its first since it was 4-2.

The home team led 53-52 with 3:29 to go, when Vermont scored five straight to regain the lead. Glass started it with a jumper, Crenca added a block on the other end and then sophomore Sandro Carissimo hit a big 3-pointer that just beat the shot clock and put the Catamounts on top 57-53. Vermont led 60-58, but ODU's Nick Wright was fouled with 5.3 seconds left in regulation and made both. The Cats couldn't get a good look and the game went into overtime.

In the extra session junior Brendan Bald, who was 0-for-7 up to that point, gave UVM an early lead with a jumper in what would prove to be the Cats' only field goal in overtime. With ODU down one, Voelkel stole the ball with 19 seconds left and a pair of free throws from freshman Four McGlynn gave Vermont a 64-61. Wright connected on Old Dominion's only bucket and the home team was forced to foul again, as McGlynn went back to the line to make one of two.

Voelkel earned another steal on the next possession, but then went to the line and missed both, giving the Monarchs one last shot with 3.1 seconds left. ODU's Trian Iliadis lifted a shot from just over half court that was off the mark, as the Cats held on for the win.

Apfeld went 6-for-8 from the floor and added five rebounds, while Crenca was 4-for-5 and is now shooting 14-for-17 on the year. Carissimo added six points and new career-highs for both rebounds (6) and assists (6), and senior Pat Bergmann added six points and six rebounds off the bench as Vermont's reserves outscored ODU's 27-14.

The Cats shot 52.4 percent from the floor in the second half and limited Old Dominion to shoot only 33.8 percent from the floor for the contest. Wright led all scorers with 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Kent Bazemore tallied 14 on 4-for-18 shooting.

The Catamounts wrap up a five-game road swing to open the year and return to action on Saturday when they host Siena in their home opener starting at 1 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: ODU fell to the eventual runner up Butler in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season on a buzzer beater … Wednesday was only the second career meeting between the two teams, as the Monarchs won the first at home during the 1979-80 season … At least 10 different Catamounts have played in the first half of every game this year … UVM was 1-1 last year in overtime, as Wednesday marked the first time this year that the Cats have needed extra time … Voelkel was named the America East Player of the Game