The Vermont Catamounts used a 30-6 run over the last 8:50 of the first half and stretched early into the second half, in rolling past the Maine Black Bears 66-45 in America East men’s basketball action at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington, Vermont. The loss for Maine is their eighth in a row, and 24th consecutive defeat including playoffs to Vermont.
Maine (6-12, 0-5 America East) took advantage of a cold start by Vermont to take an early 8-3 lead on a layup by Gedi Juozapaitis 6:05 into the first half. The Catamounts shots started to fall though, as they used a 14-4 run to take a 17-12 advantage. Back to back three-pointers off the bench by Lechaun Duhart gave the Black Bears their final lead of the night 18-17. The final 8:50 was dominated by the hosts, scoring 19 of the final 21 points capped off by a last second three-pointer from Matt Veretto to take a 36-20 lead to the halftime break.
A three-pointer by Aaron Deloney continued that run by Vermont in the second half (30-6 spurt overall) as they built their advantage to 23 at 47-24 with 13:57 to play. Maine never got closer than 17 the rest of the way, and trailed by as many as 24 late in staying winless in conference play so far.
Juozapaitis led Maine in the loss with 13 points and four rebounds. DuHart had 11 points on 3-4 shooting from the three-point line. Kellen Tynes chipped in nine points and seven rebounds, and Kristians Feierbergs contributed six points. Finn Sullivan and TJ Hurley both had 13 points and five rebounds in the win for Vermont. Veretto, Deloney, Robin Duncan, and Illeri Ayo-Faleye all scored seven points each. Duncan also grabbed 12 rebounds, as the Catamounts improve to 9-10 and 3-2 in America East. The last win for the Black Bears over Vermont was back on January 22, 2013. Maine is back at home on Sunday when they welcome in Binghamton to the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor for a 2 p.m. tip.
Recap by Chris Lessner
UME (6-12, 0-5) 20 25- 45
VER (9-10, 3-2) 36 30- 66
Rebounds- Maine 28, Vermont 34
Free throws- Maine 3-4, Vermont 9-12
Three-point goals- Maine: Juozapaitis 3, DuHart 3/ Vermont: Sullivan 2, Hurley 2, Veretto, Deloney, Ayo-Faleye
