FINAL SCORE: Vermont 84, Iona 79 | Box Score
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Senior
Joey Accaoui netted a career-high 23 points as the Vermont men's basketball team held off a late Iona charge to earn an 84-79 victory on the road on Wednesday night. The Cats also got a career-best 17 from sophomore
Brendan Bald, while senior
Evan Fjeld earned his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds as they improve to 8-3 on the season.
Vermont led by as many as 21 in the second half before Iona cut it to 80-79 with just over 16 seconds left. Playing in his hometown, sophomore
Simeon Marsalis was fouled and stepped to the line, making both with 16.2 seconds left to stretch it back to a three-point lead. Kyle Smyth missed a three on the other end and Accaoui was then fouled with 2.7 ticks on the clock, as he hit both to seal the victory for the Cats.
“I am happy that we came away with a win and I thought we played a terrific first half. I knew they would come back in the second half; they are a very talented team,” said Vermont head coach
Mike Lonergan. “To get a road win after a tough loss at Fairfield going into Christmas, I couldn't be happier, especially for the local guys.”
Accaoui had the hot hand in the first half, as he made four 3-pointers to help the Catamounts take a 44-30 lead into the break. Vermont led 13-9 early as freshman
Brian Voelkel scored seven and Fjeld added the other six. With UVM on top 22-21 with 7:33 left in the frame, the Cats used an 8-0 run after a three and lay up in transition from Bald and a three from Accaoui to make it 30-21.
Vermont extended its lead to as many as 18 as freshman
Luke Apfeld hit a jumper and Accaoui hit three straight 3-pointers to cap off an 11-0 spurt and make it 44-26 with 2:09 left in the half. Voelkel scored seven first half points to go with nine rebounds and six assists as the Cats dominated the glass in the opening 20 minutes with a 29-15 advantage.
A lay up from Fjeld with 10:42 to go gave the Cats their biggest lead of the game at 67-46. Iona (7-5) fought back with a 20-3 run over the next 5:10 to pull within four at 70-66. Accaoui increased Vermont's lead back to nine with five straight on a floater in the lane a pull up three on the next two possessions.
With the Cats on top 80-72, the Gaels scored seven straight to cut it to a one-point game after a lay up from Scott Machado. As they have all season in close games, the Cats closed out the win at the line with four straight made free throws.
After starting the last two games, Accaoui came off the bench to shoot 5-for-9 from three and added four assists. Bald reached a new career-high for the second straight game behind 5-for-9 shooting from the floor and 3-for-5 from three. Voelkel flirted with a triple-double for the second time this season with seven points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.
Five Gaels reached double digits led by Machado's 17 and Mike Glover's 14 points and 13 rebounds. Vermont held a 48-38 edge on the glass and made a season-high nine 3-pointers as a team.
The Cats return to action on Wednesday, December 29 when they return home to host Mount St. Mary's starting at 7 p.m. The game 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: Accaoui surpassed his career-high of 21, which he scored against Dartmouth earlier this season … Bald has now reached double figures in five straight games, as he is averaging 14.6 over that stretch … Voelkel matched a career-best for assists in the contest … Wednesday's game was a homecoming for Marsalis, while freshmen Voelkel and
Sandro Carissimo played their high school basketball at Iona Prep … Iona was the fifth team from the MAAC that the Catamounts have played this season, as they went 4-1 … Apfeld made his first career start in the game, as Vermont used its third different starting line-up … The Cats held the nations assist leader, Machado, to four assists which were less than half of his average of 8.5 per game … Vermont is now 6-0 this year when scoring 75 or more and has won 63 of its last 66 when topping 80 points ... Iona was coming off an 83-77 loss to No. 5 Syracuse in its last time out.