WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Behind a combined 29 points from sophomore Garvey Young (Washington, D.C.) and junior Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C.) the Vermont men's basketball team defeated New Hampshire 57-38 in the America East Semifinals at Hartford on Sunday night. With the win the Cats advance to the championship game on Saturday, as they will host Boston University at noon on ESPN2 at Patrick Gym.
Vermont improves to 24-9 on the season and advances to the America East Championship Game for the sixth time in the last eight years. The Cats will host the Terriers who knocked off top seed Stony Brook in the first semifinal game, 70-63.
Young finished with a game-high 15 points and eight rebounds, while Fjeld added 14 and six. Vermont held a 33-18 scoring advantage in the second half, as they shot 56.5 percent from the floor after intermission.
"I would like to thank the people of Hartford for hosting this tournament, they did a great job. I want to give UNH a lot of credit, we split with them this year in two tough games. I am so happy for our players, especially our seniors and couldn't be happier to host this Saturday," said Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan.
New Hampshire opened the game with an early 8-2 lead, but just as they did against UMBC, the Cats responded with a big run to go on top for the rest of the contest. Vermont scored 17 straight to take a 19-8 advantage, as it limited UNH to shoot only 1-for-13 during the spurt. The Cats were hindered by poor free throw shooing in the half, as they made only two of their six attempts.
The Wildcats closed the Vermont gap to four at 22-18 by using a 10-3 run, as the Catamount offense went cold, only scoring five points over the final 8:01 of the frame. Fjeld led all scorers at the break with eight points, as Vermont led 24-20.
The Catamounts came out of halftime by scoring the first nine points of the second half. New Hampshire (13-17) cut it to 35-29, but Vermont scored the next six straight and would lead by double figures for the remainder of the contest. A three by senior Nick Vier (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) with 3:24 left would push UVM's lead to as many as 19 at 52-33.
The Cats stingy defense proved to be one of the top performances in conference tournament history. The 38 points and 13 field goals allowed were the second-fewest, while the 27.7 percent UNH shot was the fifth-lowest by a team in conference championship action.
Ferg Myrick led New Hampshire with 13 points, as the Wildcats hit only 2-for-18 from three and were out-rebounded 37-30. The Catamounts also held a 36-18 scoring edge in the paint.
The championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 this Saturday and can also be heard live on 96.7 DOT FM, The Zone 960 AM and WSTJ 1320 AM (Randolph), and on the internet at www.UVMathletics.com with the audio stream provided by SportsJuice.com.
Season ticket holders can purchase their seats on Monday and Tuesday. Victory Club members at the Catamount level and above can request tickets to purchase through the Victory Club Office (802-656-0956). UVM students with a valid ID will be able to buy tickets on Wednesday. Tickets are $30 for the public and $10 for UVM students. The Vermont Ticket Office will be open this week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and more ticket info on both championship games will follow on Monday morning.
NOTES: The two teams split the regular season series with the home team winning each. Vermont has won 10 of its last 11 overall. UVM is 8-1 all-time as the second seed and has won the conference championship twice in its previous three tries as the two seed. The Cats have won 16 of their last 20 games in the conference tournament. The Catamount senior class now has 89 career wins, which is tied for the most by a class all-time at Vermont as the senior class of '05 also recorded 89 victories. The last time a team scored less than 50 in a conference tournament game was in 2007 when Boston U recorded only 49 points in a semifinal loss. Vermont has now won 19 of its last 22 against UNH and is 3-0 all-time against the Wildcats in the conference tournament. The Cats have won their last nine games played at Hartford and are 14-3 when playing on a Sunday over the last two years. UVM hosted the championship game last in 2007.
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