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ALBANY, N.Y. - The Vermont men's basketball team faces league-leading Albany in the regular season finale at SEFCU Arena on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game can be seen online via ESPN3. A.J. Kanell will also have the call on ESPN 101.3 FM (online: 1013ESPN.com).
The Catamounts clinched the No. 2 seed in the America East Playoffs on Wednesday night with a 64-49 win over New Hampshire at Patrick Gymnasium. UVM stands at 17-11 overall and 12-3 in America East. Albany clinched the America East Regular Season Title with a 67-49 win at UMBC on Wednesday. The Great Danes are 20-8 overall and 14-1 in league play.
REALATED LINKS
Game Coverage - Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video
Game Notes (.pdf)
CatamounTV Highlights - New Hampshire
CatamounTV Highlights - Albany (1/28/15)
Cam Ward: Size doesn't matter - OneBidWonders.com
LAST TIME OUT - Vermont 64, New Hampshire 49
Trae Bell-Haynes scored a career-high 21 points and Vermont used a stifling defensive effort in the second half to post a 64-49 win over New Hampshire. Bell-Haynes, who scored 13 of his 21 points in the second stanza, went 11-for-15 from the foul line and 4-for-6 from the floor. Dre Wills chipped in 16 points, 10 after halftime, on 8-for-11 shooting and Cam Ward added 11 points and a team-high five rebounds off the bench. Vermont led 31-23 at the break, but UNH opened the second half with a 17-6 spurt to take a 40-37 lead with 14:57 left in the game. Jacoby Armstrong's layup at the 14:57 mark to cap the run was the last field goal the Wildcats would make the rest of the way. Vermont limited New Hampshire to 12 free throws over the final 13 minutes and the Wildcats missed their next 17 field goals, finishing the stanza shooting 28 percent from the floor (7-fo-25). While UVM was shutting down the Wildcats on defense, the Catamounts put together a 14-0 run to open up an 11-point lead and cruised the rest of the way to the win.
ABOUT ALBANY
Albany captured the 2015 America East Regular Season Title with a 67-49 win at UMBC on Wednesday ... The Great Danes stand at 20-8 overall and are 14-1 in league play ... Albany has won 15 of their last 16 games ... Sam Rowley leads the team in scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg) and is shooting a team-high 52.7 percent from the floor ... Peter Hooley, who missed four weeks of action to be with his mother who was battling cancer, ranks second on the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game ... Evan Singletary, who hit the game winning shot against UVM in the first meeting this year, rounds out Albany's double digit scorers at 12.9 points per game ... He leads the Great Danes in assists (3.0 apg) and 3-pointers (52) ... Albany is averaging 65.1 points per game, while giving up 60.0 to opponents ... The Great Danes are shooting 43.9 percent from the floor, 35.6 percent from 3-point range and 75.5 percent from the foul line ... Albany is out rebounding opponents 33.6 to 28.7 on the year.
THE SERIES
Saturday marks the 34th meeting between the two schools ... Vermont owns a 22-11 advantage against Albany in the series ... The Catamounts are 6-3 under John Becker against the Great Danes over the last two years.
LAST TIME OUT - Albany 47, Vermont 44
Evan Singletary drained a 3-pointer with two seconds left to break a 44-44 tie and lift the Albany Great Danes to a 47-44 win over Vermont in a battle for first place in America East at Patrick Gymnasium on Wednesday ... Albany led by seven, 43-36, with 2:08 left in the game ... UVM freshman Trae Bell-Haynes answered with a 3-pointer to slice the lead to four and Kurt Steidl made a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left to bring UVM within two, 43-41 ... UVM's full-court press forced an Albany turnover with 33 seconds left ... Bell-Haynes was fouled on a drive to the hoop and made one of two free throws with 30 seconds left to cut Albany's lead to one, 43-42 ... Singletary was fouled after the miss at the line by Bell-Haynes and made one of two free throws to give Albany a two-point cushion with 28 seconds left ... Following an Albany timeout, Dre Wills cut to the basket, got a feed from Ethan O'Day and dunked to tie the game up at 44 with 16 seconds left ... Albany came down the court, Singletary dribbled to the left win and drained the game-winning shot.
CONSISTENT CATS
For the 12th time in 14 years Vermont is a No. 2 seed or better in the America East Playoffs.
DEFENSE
Vermont ranks 12th in the country in field goal percentage defense (37.9%) and 12th in scoring defense (57.1 ppg) ... The Catamounts have held their last 14 opponents under 60 points ... UVM has held America East opponents under 60 points in 14 of 15 league games ... The Catamounts held UNH without a field goal for the final 14:57 of the game on Wednesday ... Under John Becker, UVM teams have not allowed opponents to average more than 60 points in a season.
10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF "FROM THE PARKING LOT
The 2014-15 marks the 10 year anniversary of arguably the biggest win in UVM men's basketball history, when the No. 13 Catamounts stunned No. 4 Syracuse in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. UVM defeated the Orange 60-57 in overtime. Germain Mopa-Njila scored a career-high 20 points. T.J. Sorrentine hit the famous long 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to help seal the win. He finished the game with 17 points and Taylor Coppenrath added 16 points. Sorrentine is now the Associate Head Men's Basketball Coach at Brown and Coppenrath is in his 10th season playing overseas in Spain.
America East and the Burlington Free Press have put together videos and longform articles looking back on that season:
VIDEO: America East - 2004-05 Vermont Men's Baskeball Reunion - Part 1 | Part 2
UVM's March Madness miracle, 10 years on - Alex Abrami, Burlington Free Press
VIDEO: Coach Brennan on the 2004-05 season - Burlington Free Press
Memories from UVM basketball's golden season - Austin Danforth, Burlington Free Press
Set your DVR: WCAX's Scott Fleishman is also working on a project for the 10 year anniversary of the Sryacuse game. That piece "From the Parking Lot: Ten Years Later" is a half hour special scheduled to air on WCAX on March 15 at 11:30 a.m.
WHO'S NEXT
Vermont, the No. 2 seed in the America East Playoffs, will host the No. 7 seed (either Maine or UMBC depending on Saturday's results) on Wednedsay (March 4) at 7 p.m. in the America East Quarterfinal round at Patrick Gymnasium.
QUARTERFINAL TICKET INFORMATION
RESERVED SEAT SEASON TICKET HOLDERS AND SPONSORS:
Vermont reserved seat season ticket holders who chose not to pre-order their seats can purchase the seats they held during the regular season on Friday (February 27) and Monday (March 2). Tickets will be held in the season ticket holders name until close of business on Monday. The UVM Athletic Ticket Office in Patrick Gymnasium will be open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday and Monday.
Tickets need to be picked up in person. If you are unable to pick up your tickets in person and would like someone else to pick up for you, please notify the ticket office in advance via email at athletic.tickets@uvm.edu. Additional tickets will not be available for purchase during this period.
** If seats were pre-ordered, tickets can be picked up during the UVM Athletic Ticket Office hours (8 a.m.-6 p.m.) or at Will Call before the game.
VICTORY CLUB MEMBERS: Victory Club members at the Catamount level ($1000+) and above can request tickets Friday (February 27) and Monday (March 2) by contacting the Victory Club Office via phone: 802-656-0956 or email: victory.club@uvm.edu. All requests will be filled based on established Victory Club priority and availability.
UVM STUDENTS: A limited number of FREE student tickets will be made available to UVM students beginning on Friday (February 27) at 9 a.m. at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office in Patrick Gymnasium. Tickets are limited to one (1) ticket per UVM ID, students must present their own UVM ID at the ticket window, no other ID's will be accepted.
UVM FACULTY/STAFF: Faculty/Staff with valid UVM ID (or spouse with valid UVM spouse ID) may purchase up to four (4) tickets on Friday (February 27) and Monday (March 2) in person only at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office in Patrick Gymnasium. Tickets are for personal use only.
GENERAL PUBLIC: A public sale will begin on Tuesday (March 3) & Wednesday (March 4) in person at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office in Patrick Gymnasium or online at UVMathletics.com. There is a limit of four (4) tickets per person. Ticket office hours will be 8 a.m.–6 p.m.
TICKET PRICES (ALL SEATS ARE RESERVED):
$15 – reserved seats
Free - UVM students
QUARTERFINAL FAN FEST
UVM Athletics will sponsor a "Fan Fest" prior to the quarterfinal game on Wednesday ... The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in the west lobby of Patrick Gymnasium ... The first 500 fans will received FREE t-shirts compliments of America East ... The "Fan Fest" will feature free food from Leonardo's, Cabot Cheese and Sodexo along with face painting sponsored by the UVM Alumni Association and a poster making station for kids.
