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BURLINGTON, Vt. – Dre Wills and
Cam Ward scored 14 points each to lead the Vermont Catamounts to a 68-49 victory over visiting Maine in America East men's basketball action at Patrick Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Vermont improves to 13-10 overall and 8-2 in America East, while Maine drops to 2-21 and 1-9 in league play.
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Photo Gallery Wills added five rebounds, four assists and three steals on the night.
Kurt Steidl chipped in 13 points, 11 in the first half, and
Ethan O'Day grabbed a team-high six rebounds along with eight points for Vermont.
Kevin Little led all scorers with 17 points, while Shawn Lawton chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds and added four steals for the Black Bears.
The Catamounts led 16-6 at the 12:02 mark of the first half and extended their lead to 17 on a 3-pointer by
Brandon Hatton with 9:33 remaining in the stanza.
Maine chipped away to climb back within 13, but a 9-2 spurt put the Catamounts in front 33-13 with over six minutes left in the half and UVM would take a 40-20 lead into the break.
Vemront held Maine to seven field goals and 28 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, while UVM shot 52 percent from the floor.
UVM's lead grew to 24 in the opening five minutes of the second half. However, Maine used a 12-2 run to trim the lead to 10, 54-44, with 9:14 remaining in the game. Vermont responded with 10 straight points to push its advantage back to 20, 64-44, with 4:41 left and cruised the rest of the way to earn its eighth win at Patrick Gymnasium this season.
Vermont travels to Stony Brook on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Island Federal Credit Union Arena. The game can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM (online:
1013ESPN.com) and will also be broadcast on
ESPN3.com.
NOTES: Vermont wore special shooting shirts during warm ups and the game to support the America East partnership with You Can Play Project … The team also inscribed
#JoshStrong on the shirts in support of incoming freshman Josh Speidel who was seriously injured in a car accident on Sunday in his hometown of Columbus, Indiana … Vermont improved to 10-2 when
Dre Wills scored 10+ points in his career … The Catamounts have held the last four opponents to 50 points or less … UVM out scored Maine 40-26 in the paint and the Vermont bench accounted for 30 of the 68 points.