FINAL SCORE: Vermont 83, Maine 62
BURLINGTON, Vt. – UVM senior
Drew Urquhart poured in a career-high 21 points as the Catamounts secured their 25th consecutive victory over an America East opponent with an 82-63 win against Maine on Monday night.
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Vermont improves to 14-5 overall and remains unbeaten in conference play at 4-0. Maine falls to 4-16 on the year and 1-4 in the league standings. The Cats also extended their season winning streak to seven games, reached the win column for the 12th straight time against the Black Bears, and tallied their 19th consecutive victory at Patrick Gym.
UVM had three out of five starters reach double figures. Urquhart's career night came on 8-of-12 shooting and the 6-8 big man grabbed five rebounds.
Trae Bell-Haynes followed with 18 points, five boards, and handed out five assists.
Payton Henson added 16 points and made all seven trips at the charity stripe.
Cam Ward rounded out the scoring attack with 10 points, including a pair from beyond the arc.
Maine's Aaron Calixte scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and hit a trio from long range. Ilker Er posted 18 points off the bench with four rebounds.
The two conference foes got off to a slow start offensively as the score was deadlocked at 4-4 by the first media timeout. The Catamounts started to gain some breathing room with a 7-0 run but the Black Bears answered with a run of their own as UVM held a small 16-15 lead with 9:35 left in the period.
Maine and Vermont traded baskets for the next two minutes but the Green and Gold broke free late in the frame. UVM produced a 16-5 run over the final seven and a half minutes for a 37-25 advantage at the recess after Duncan drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer from the top of the arc.
In the second half, the Cats extended their lead 47-31 after putting together a 10-6 run to begin the half. UVM's defense preserved the double-digit cushion for the rest of the period, but Maine managed to trim the deficit to 69-59 with under four minutes left to play. The Green and Gold iced the game with a 14-3 run in the final three minutes.
With the win, the Cats Win, Community Wins campaign and Vermont Mutual have donated another $100 to the Boys and Girls Club of Burlington, bringing this year's total to 71 wins and $7,100 donated.
Vermont will head to twin state rival New Hampshire on Thursday (Jan. 18). The opening tip is set for 7 p.m. in Durham. Tickets are available for purchase at
UNHWildcats.com. Fans can watch the America East matchup on
ESPN3 and the watchESPN app by logging in with your television provider. All Vermont regular season games can be heard on 101.3 ESPN FM and online at
1013ESPN.com with Sam Hyman on the call.
Canon Solutions America is the presenting sponsor of the 2017-18 Vermont men's basketball season