FINAL SCORE: Vermont 82, Yale 78 | Box Score | Photos | Highlights | Postgame Reaction
BURLINGTON, Vt. – Four Catamounts reached double figures led by 18 points and 10 rebounds from senior
Evan Fjeld as the Vermont men's basketball team defeated Yale 82-78 on Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gym. The Catamounts improve to 6-1 overall for the first time since the 1956-57 season with the win.
A 3-pointer from senior
Joey Accaoui with 6:42 left put Vermont on top 62-59, as the Catamounts would lead for the remainder of the contest. Yale (3-4) would make it a two-point game at 80-78 after three straight free throws from Austin Morgan, but Accaoui was fouled with 3.2 second left and hit both to ice the win.
After a scoreless first half, Accaoui netted 17 in the second, while sophomore
Brendan Bald and junior
Matt Glass each added 14 points apiece for the Catamounts. Vermont shot a blistering 65.2 percent from the floor after halftime to win their fifth straight overall.
“That was a good game for us, kind of like what I expected, a close, hard-fought win,” said Vermont head coach
Mike Lonergan. “I am happy we won and hopefully those end of game situations will help us in the future, but it was nice to win at home in front of our best crowd this year.”
Vermont jumped out to an early 9-3 lead to open the game, but Yale went on a 15-2 run to go on top 18-11 with 11:44 left in the first half. The Bulldogs started out hot from three, making their first five attempts from long range. With the visitors leading 26-20, the Catamounts countered with eight in a row as freshman
Brian Voelkel assisted on three of the four hoops to make it 28-26 UVM with 4:13 remaining.
A layup from Glass and a steal and layup from freshman
Sandro Carissimo gave UVM a 32-30 lead with 20 ticks on the clock, before Yale's Morgan hit a long jumper just beating the clock to make it 32-32 at the half. Glass led the Cats with 11 at the half, while Voelkel grabbed eight boards and handed out six assists in the frame.
The Cats opened the second half on a 9-3 run to take a 41-35 lead early on. Yale answered with six in a row to tie it at 41-41 with 14:48 left, as neither team would lead by more than six the remainder of the way.
Trailing 51-50, Carissimo stole the ball and sent it ahead to Accaoui for a layup and after a Yale miss, Accaoui hit a floater in the lane on the next possession to give UVM a 54-51 lead with 9:29 left.
After struggling from the line early, making only one of their first five, the Catamounts hit their final eight free throws in the final 24 seconds to hold off a Yale comeback bid.
Voelkel finished the game with 10 rebounds, eight assists, four points and two blocks for Vermont, while freshman
Luke Apfeld added six points off the bench. The Cats shot 55.6 percent overall for the game, owned a 48-20 scoring edge in the paint and held a 36-28 rebounding edge.
Yale was led by Morgan's game-high 25 points, while Greg Mangano (14) and Porter Braswell (12) each reached double figures. The Bulldogs were hot from three, finishing the game 10-for-16 from long distance.
The Cats are next on the road as they travel to Glens Falls, N.Y. on Wednesday for a neutral site game against No. 21 BYU starting at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on CBS College Sports 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 12-10 all-time against Yale, which includes winning the last three meetings … Bald's 14 points were a new career-high, surpassing his old mark of 12 that he scored at Providence last year … Fjeld added four blocks and is now tied for fifth all-time at Vermont in the category with 93 for his career … Fjeld's double-double was the first of the season for a Catamount and third of his career … Four of Vermont's six wins this year have been decided by four points or less … Saturday wrapped up a four-game homestand for the Cats … UVM is 2-0 this season when four players reach double figures (Siena) … Vermont has won 62 of its last 65 games when scoring 80 or more points … At halftime of Saturday's game Vermont was honored for winning the 2010 America East Academic Cup … UVM has now won 28 of its last 33 at home … Accaoui was named the America East Player of the Game … The men's basketball team hosted an alumni game prior to Saturday's game … Check out www.UVMAthletics.com later tonight for highlights and the postgame press conference.