The University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams were back in action on Wednesday night in doubleheader action against Vermont. The men were at home trying to build off some recent success and coming off a 35 point win over UMBC, while the women were on the road trying to bounce back after their second conference defeat of the season to the Retrievers in Baltimore.
In the men’s game at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor- After a 90 minute delayed start due to the court being put down incorrectly, Finn Sullivan scored 21 points as Vermont never trailed in defeating Maine 74-65. The Black Bears stayed in it for a majority of the first half as they battled back from a 14-7 deficit about eight minutes in by going on a 9-2 run to tie it on a layup from Adefolalrin Adetogun. They tied it twice before back to back three-pointers by TJ Hurley and Matt Veretto put the Catamounts back in control as they opened up a 12 point lead, and held a 10 point halftime advantage 36-26. Vermont outscored Maine by seven over the first 3:53 of the second half to open up their biggest advantage of the night 50-33. The hosts would cut it to seven twice in the last 15 seconds, but ran out of time as Dylan Penn would ice it as he hit 8-8 from the foul line over the last 40 seconds of the game. Gedi Juozapaitis led the Black Bears in the loss with 16 points. Ata Turgut had 14 points, while Kellen Tynes and Peter Filipovity both added 13 points. Filipovity contributed eight rebounds, and Tynes had four boards, four assists, and two steals. Sullivan had a double double in the victory for Vermont adding 10 rebounds and also three assists and three steals to his game high point total. Veretto finished with 16 points (four 3-pointers), Penn had 14, and Aaron Deloney chipped in 11 points. The Catamounts are now 14-10, 8-2 in America East and have won six straight games.
In the women’s game at Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington- Vermont built a 17 point second quarter lead, only to see Maine come back to tie it twice in the fourth quarter but a late run gave the Catamounts the regular season sweep with a 68-60 victory. Just as the men never led, the lady Black Bears never held a lead in this contest either as the Catamounts roared out to a 19-7 advantage after the opening 10 minutes. Six straight points from Emma Utterback, including a three-pointer with 2:44 left in the half increased the advantage to 31-14. Maine came to life right before the break as they scored 10 straight, helped by seven from Adrianna Smith to slice the deficit to 31-24 at halftime. The guests got within three points twice in third quarter, once on a three-pointer from Olivia Rockwood and the second time on another Smith basket. Vermont was able to use another run of 10-2 to push it back to 11, and they led 46-38 headed to the fourth. In that fourth quarter, a pair of 2-2 efforts from the foul line by Caroline Bornemann and Sera Hodgson part of a 10-2 spurt knotted things up at 48-48. Carla Celaya then scored for the Catamounts, but it was Smith with another big bucket to even it again 50-50 with 5:01 to play. The hosts put it away though with a 12-5 run over the next three minutes, including a three point play by Utterback for a seven point lead with 2:01 to go and the Black Bears never got closer than four after that in losing their second consecutive conference game for the first time this season. Smith got her 13th double double of the campaign, finishing with a game high 29 points and 11 rebounds. Paula Gallego was the only other player in double figures in the loss with 13 points (3 three-pointers) and four rebounds. Vermont had four players hit double figures in the victory, which is their ninth straight win. Utterback had 17 points, Catherine Gilwee and Anna Olson with 11, and Delaney Richason with 10 points. Olson also had eight rebounds and Richason seven. The Catamounts are now 17-6, 9-2 in America East.
The Maine women’s team (12-11, 8-3 America East) returns home on Saturday to play host to the NJIT Highlanders at 1 p.m. in the Pit at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono. The men’s team (10-14, 4-7) will be on the road in New Jersey to battle the Highlanders also on Saturday with a 4 p.m. tipoff time.
Recaps/Photos by Chris Lessner
Photos taken in games earlier in the season at the Pit in Memorial Gymnasium
Men’s Box Score
UVM (14-10, 8-2) 36 38- 74
UME (10-14, 4-7) 26 39- 65
Rebounds- Vermont 37, Maine 30
Free throws- Vermont 16-23, Maine 9-11
Turnovers- Vermont 3, Maine 9
Three-pointers- Vermont: Veretto 4, Sullivan 3, Gibson, Deloney, Hurley/ Maine: Juozapaitis 2, Turgut 2, Tynes, Wright-McLeish
Women’s Box Score
UME (12-11, 8-3) 7 17 14 22- 60
UVM (17-6, 9-2) 19 12 15 22- 68
Rebounds- Maine 29, Vermont 31
Free throws- Maine 14-16, Vermont 15-18
Turnovers- Maine 9, Vermont 10
Three-pointers- Maine: Gallego 3, Rockwood/ Vermont: Utterback, Myklebust, Celaya
