FINAL SCORE: Vermont 80, Siena 76 | Box Score | Highlights/Postgame | AExtra Postgame
ALBANY, N.Y. – Seniors
Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C.) and
Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I.) led four Catamounts in double figures with 19 points apiece as the Vermont men's basketball team opened the 2010-11 season with an 80-76 victory over Siena on Saturday night in Albany, N.Y. The wins snaps the Saints' 38-game home court winning streak, which was the second longest in the nation entering the game.
Vermont led by as many as 15 in the second half and had to withstand a late Siena run, as the Saints cut it to two at 78-76 with 12.3 seconds left. Accaoui iced the game for the Cats though on the other end, making a pair of free throws with five ticks on the clock.
Fjeld and Accaoui each went 7-for-11 from the floor, as Accaoui's 19 were a career high. Freshman
Sandro Carissimo (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) scored 13 on three-for-three shooting from beyond the arc and classmate
Luke Apfeld (Wolfeboro, N.H.) added 10. Freshman
Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y.) just missed only the seventh triple-double in school history with nine points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
“I am happy we came away with a win,” said Vermont head coach
Mike Lonergan. “We kind of survived a surge from Siena and it was definitely an ugly win, but we found a way to make enough free throws and get enough stops to get the win. I give credit to our guys, they really hung in there. It is nice to win in a building like that with a great crowd for the first game of the year and to be playing a team that is a mid-major power.”
In the first half the Catamounts' first 10 points all came from newcomers, while a three-pointer and a three-point play on back-to-back possessions by Accaoui gave UVM a 16-15 lead. Siena answered with an 8-0 run to go on top 23-18, but UVM countered with seven straight all by Fjeld to retake a 25-23 edge.
Trailing 26-25 with 6:07 left in the frame, the Catamounts used a 10-2 spurt to take the lead for the remainder of the game. Vermont held a 35-31 lead at the break behind nine points from Fjeld and four points, five rebounds and five assists from Voelkel. The Cats also shot 52 percent from the floor in the first half, including hitting 11 of their last 19, but were hindered by 13 turnovers.
Fjeld netted the first five in the second half to stretch the Catamount lead to 40-31. In a game of runs, Siena scored seven in a row to cut it to 40-38 just 4:03 into the half. Vermont responded with the next 11 straight, including seven by Accaoui, to extend its lead back to 51-38. UVM would lead by as many as 15 at 62-47 with 7:30 remaining.
Apfeld hit a jumper with 4:28 left to make it 71-57, but Vermont would not record another point until Voelkel hit a pair of free throws with 1:22 left as Siena scored 10 in a row to make it 71-67.
The Saints (0-1) would cut it to three on two occasions and a jumper by OD Anosike with 12.3 seconds left got them to within two, but that would be as close as the home team would get.
The Cats held a 44-30 edge on the glass and shot 47.3 percent from the floor for the game. Vermont also used a 45-16 edge in bench scoring and went 22-for-27 (81.5 percent) from the line.
Ryan Rossiter led all scorers with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while Clarence Jackson (14) and Anosike (11) also reached double figures. The last time Siena lost at home came against Loyola (Md.), 83-76 in overtime on February 16, 2008.
The Cats return to action on Wednesday when they travel to face Connecticut starting at 7 p.m. in a game that will be played at the XL Center in downtown Hartford, Conn. The game will be televised on SNY and can be heard live on Champ 101.3 FM, The Zone 960 AM and on the internet at www.UVMathletics.com with the audio stream provided by SportsJuice.com.
NOTES: Siena's home winning streak was second longest in the nation, trailing only Kansas' 60-game streak at Allen Fieldhouse … Saturday's game was televised on Time Warner Cable Sports in New York state, marking the first of at least 11 TV appearances for the Catamounts this season … Siena is the first of five teams from the MAAC that Vermont will play this season … Freshman
Brian Voelkel made his first career start for the Cats on Saturday … The last time the two teams met came in the 2005-06 season, Lonergan's first at Vermont … Six Catamounts made their UVM debut in the game … Vermont has now won 16 of its last 23 season openers, but it was the first since 2006-07 when it defeated New Orleans … Siena has made the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three years … The Cats have won seven of their last eight played on Saturday.