Articles

Apfeld's Perfect Night Leads Vermont Men's Basketball Over Towson

Details: Created on Saturday, 24 December 2011 03:21; Written by George Commo

Sophomore goes 11-for-11 from the floor for a career-high 24 in 65-49

Courtesy Vermont Sports Information

TOWSON, Md. – Sophomore Luke Apfeld went 11-for-11 from the floor for a career-high 24 points to help the Vermont men's basketball team earn a 65-49 win over Towson on the road on Friday night. The Catamounts led by as many as 23 in the game, as they pick up their second straight victory and improve to 6-7 on the year.

Apfeld's previous career-high for points was 19 against Marist earlier this season, while his 11-for-11 shooting marked the best single-game performance without missing a shot in school history. The 11 field goals were also most in a game for a Catamount since Evan Fjeld '11 made 10 in a win over NJIT on November 27, 2010.

“It was nice to get a pair of wins on the road going into Christmas break,” said Vermont head coach John Becker. “We came out and shot the ball really well in the first half and Luke had a great night. The team will now get a few well deserved days off and then we will bounce right back and get ready to face Northeastern before conference play opens.”

Junior Brendan Bald added 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while sophomore Brian Voelkel led the Catamounts with eight rebounds and a new career-best 11 assists. Vermont shot 50.9 percent from the floor for the game and gave up a season-low 49 points to the Tigers (0-12).

For the third straight game the Catamounts raced out to an early lead after a Josh Elbaum layup made it 19-5, 6:01 in to the contest. Vermont started by making nine of its first 13 attempts from the floor, as Apfeld led the Cats early by netting 14 of UVM's first 30 points. A Bald jumper would extend the lead to 37-17, with Vermont connecting on 15-for-23 to open the contest.

The Catamounts ended the half by scoring the final five points with sophomore Sandro Carissimo making his second 3-pointer of the frame and classmate Clancy Rugg adding a pair of free throws that helped Vermont go in to the break up 42-19. Apfeld led all scorers with 14, while Bald added 11 as UVM shot 53.3 percent from the floor and added six 3-pointers. Towson made only six of 21 attempts from the floor in the stanza.

Towson opened the second half with a 13-4 run that cut it to 46-31 with 12:44 to go, but the Catamounts responded with eight of the next nine points to push their lead back to 22. The Tigers used one last 10-2 spurt that made it 56-42 with 4:56 on the clock, but that would be as close as they would get.

Carissimo added eight points, while junior Ben Crenca pulled down six rebounds as Vermont controlled the boards 32-30. Deon Jones led Towson with 11 points and Marcus Damas added 10, as the Tigers shot only 37.8 percent from the floor for the game.

Vermont returns to action on Friday when it returns home to host Northeastern at a special start time of 4:30 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: Vermont now leads the all-time series against its former America East foe 9-8 … The Cats have won 12 of their last 13 games against teams from Maryland … Friday marked the second win over a CAA team this season for UVM, as it also defeated Old Dominion … Towson has lost 31 straight games dating back to last season … Friday marked the fifth straight game that Apfeld has reached double figures and fourth straight for Bald … The 23-point lead in the first half marked the largest of the season for the Cats … Rugg pulled down five rebounds for a second straight contest … Voelkel's 11 assists passed his previous best of 10, which he handed out in a win over Stony Brook on February 6 of last season … Apfeld was named the America East Player of the Game.