FINAL SCORE: Vermont 79, Quinnipiac 75 | Box Score
HAMDEN, Conn. – Senior
Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C.) netted a game-high 23 points, as the Vermont men's basketball team held off a late charge to defeat Quinnipiac on the road on Saturday afternoon, 79-75. The Cats led by as many as 18 in the second half, as they improve to 2-1 overall on the season.
Fjeld completed a three-point play with 10:02 left in the contest to put UVM up 57-39, but the Bobcats chipped away and a three by Dominique Langston cut it to 77-75 with 22 ticks left in the game. On the ensuing possession senior
Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I.) was fouled and calmly stepped to the line and made both to make it a four-point game.
Fjeld scored 21 of his 23 in the second half, as he finished 10-for-13 from the floor for the game and added four blocks. Accaoui came off the bench to add 16 points, as the Cats shot a season-best 54.9 percent from the floor for the game.
“I thought in the first half our bench played pretty well and
Garrett Kissel gave us some good minutes along with Luke (Apfeld). And then Evan really got going in the second half,” said Vermont head coach
Mike Lonergan. “Careless turnovers hurt us again, but I really like our team and that was a good road win against a quality opponent.”
Quinnipiac (2-1) opened the game by scoring the first five points of the contest, but the Catamounts answered with nine of the next 11 to take an early 9-7 lead. Vermont struggled from the line in the first half, missing its first four attempts and only hitting 3-for-10 overall. In a back and forth affair, there were seven lead changes and four ties in the first 20 minutes of play.
Deontay Twyman converted a lay-up with exactly six minutes left to put the home team up 24-20, but the Catamounts would hold the Bobcats to only two points for the remainder of the frame as they used an 12-2 run to close out the half. Accaoui started the run with a three-point play, while sophomore
Brendan Bald (Millersville, Md.) capped it off with a pull-up three with five seconds left on the game clock to make it 32-26 Vermont at the half.
Vermont opened the second half on a 10-4 run, as Fjeld scored eight of the 10 to push it to a 42-30 advantage. Carrying over from the first half the Catamounts scored 22 of 28 points during the stretch after trailing 24-20. Quinnipiac hung around using a 13-3 push that made it 60-52 with 7:45 remaining.
With the Catamounts on top 75-68 after a Fjeld lay-up with 2:21 to go, the Bobcats scored seven of the next nine to make it a two-point game, before Accaoui gave the Cats some breathing room with his two free throws.
Junior
Matt Glass (Underhill Center, Vt.) added 11 points for the Catamounts, while Bald added eight points and five assists. Freshman
Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y.) had another solid game with six points, nine rebounds and five assists.
Justin Rutty led Quinnipiac with 19 points, while James Johnson added 18, Langston chipped in with 14 and Twyman finished with 13. The Bobcats held a 45-37 edge on the glass and turned 23 offensive boards into 26 second-chance points.
The Cats are back in action on Wednesday when they will play their home opener at Patrick Gym against Loyola (Md.) starting at 7 p.m. Prior to the game Vermont will be honored for winning the America East Championship last season and advancing to the NCAA Tournament with a banner presentation. The game will be televised on WCAXtra, will be streamed online via CatamounTV on a pay-per-view basis of $4.99, 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: Vermont is now 5-0 all-time against Quinnipiac, as the two teams have met in each of the last five seasons … UVM has won 15 straight against Northeast Conference teams and is 31-12 all-time against the league … The Catamounts are averaging 84.8 points in the five wins … Saturday's game was televised on NESN, as eight of UVM's first nine games will be on TV … The Cats have now won 15 of the last 18 they have played on NESN … Saturday marked the second time that Vermont has played a game in the state of Connecticut in the last four days, after falling to UConn this past Wednesday … Quinnipiac was the unanimous pick to win the NEC this year according to the league's preseason poll … The Cats have won 37 of their last 47 against teams from the state of Connecticut.