FINAL SCORE: Fairfield 67, Vermont 59 | Box Score
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The University of Vermont men's basketball team dropped a 67-59 decision on the road to Fairfield on Monday night at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Sophomore
Brendan Bald led the Catamounts with a career-high 16 points, as they fall to 7-3 on the year.
After trailing by as many as 10 in the second half, a 3-pointer from senior
Joey Accaoui cut Fairfield's lead to 63-59 with 1:13 remaining, but the Cats would not score again as the Stags won their seventh straight overall to improve to 8-3. Ryan Olander, Derek Needham and Warren Edney each netted 15 apiece to lead Fairfield, the preseason favorite to win the MAAC.
“I give Fairfield credit, they are a good team and they were tougher than us tonight, that's for sure,” said Vermont head coach
Mike Lonergan. “Hopefully this game will help us. We have to learn from it and hopefully get tougher in a lot of areas. It's disappointing because I thought we fought back in the second half and got back in the game.”
In the first half the Cats had trouble containing Needham, who led all scorers at the break with 13 points. With the game tied 25-25, the Stags hit back-to-back 3-pointers to build a 31-25 lead with 1:10 remaining. An Olander lay-up with five seconds left helped the home team take a 33-26 advantage into halftime, as they scored eight of the final nine points in the frame.
Vermont struggled from the free throw line in the first half, missing its first six attempts and finishing 1-for-7, while Fairfield went 7-for-8 and that proved to be the difference in the margin at the half.
In the second half the Stags extended their lead to 40-30 with 16:34 to go. With Fairfield on top 47-38, Vermont tallied seven in a row on a lay up from senior
Evan Fjeld and five straight from Bald that cut it to a two-point game.
The home team was up nine again at 63-54 with 1:59 left in the contest, but Accaoui hit a floater and a three on back-to-back possessions to get it within four. Fairfield held off the Catamount charge by making four free throws in the final 22 seconds of the game.
Bald went 4-for-6 from three, while Accaoui finished with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor. Fjeld was the only other Catamount in double figures with 10 points, as Vermont shot 46.3 percent from the floor for the game.
The Cats return to action on Wednesday when they play their fifth and final MAAC team of the year, as they are at Iona starting at 7:30 p.m. The game 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: Fairfield came into the game limiting its opponents to only 55.4 points per game, while Vermont averaged 71.9 per contest … Bald has now reached double figures in each of the last four games, as he is averaging 14 points over that stretch … Sophomore
Ben Crenca made his first appearance of the season for the Catamounts on Monday night, entering with 12:06 left in the first half, marking the first time he has played since February 5 of last season at UMBC.