Vermont rolls past Maine, 75-56

Staff And Wire Report
BANGOR, Maine — Ryan Davis had 16 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes of play as Vermont defeated Maine 75-56 on Tuesday night.

Aaron Deloney, Ben Shungu and Nick Fiorillo each had 14 points for Vermont (25-5, 17-1 America East Conference), which earned its fifth straight win to close out the regular season. The Catamounts earned 17 conference wins for the first time in program history.

“To go 17-1 in league is just an incredible feat by our team – and to do it the way we’ve done it all year,” UVM coach John Becker said. “I’m really happy that we finished it off the right way and on a long road trip in snowy Maine. It was also great for Nick Fiorillo, who had a lot of family here. For him to play really well meant a lot to all of us. It was a great team win and we’re looking forward to the postseason.”

Vukasin Masic had 10 rebounds for the Black Bears (6-23, 3-15). The Catamounts improve to 2-0 against the Black Bears for the season. Vermont defeated Maine 81-68 on Jan. 29.

An 8-0 game-opening run kick-started the offense for the Cats, who built an 18-5 lead 8:33 into the game. Davis led the early attack with six points as Vermont made 7 of 14 attempts to start the game. Fiorillo and Shungu each scored five early points.

Vermont maintained its double-digit lead, which stretched to as large as 18 points on a Shungu layup with 2:21 left in the first half. The Black Bears brought the lead down to 12 points with 11 seconds remaining, but Kam Gibson answered with a last-second layup to give UVM a 38-24 lead at the break.

The Catamounts began the second half on an 11-5 run to take a 20-point lead for the first time in the contest. Deloney made a free throw to put Vermont up 49-29 with 13:14 remaining.

UVM’s largest lead of the night came with 2:25 left in the contest. Fiorillo sank a 3-pointer to put the Catamounts up 71-48. Georges Lefebvre checked in and provided four points in the final minute for Vermont.

Davis finished 5 o 11 from the field and made all six of his foul shot. Fiorillo made 6 of 12 attempts from the field and also grabbed seven boards. Shungu hit 2 of 6 attempts from long range and dished out two assists.

The top-seeded Catamounts will host the No. 8 seed in the America East Quarterfinals at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Vermont 75, Maine 56

Vermont (25-5)

Davis 5-11 6-6 16, Powell 1-3 0-0 2, Gibson 2-9 1-2 6, Shungu 6-11 0-0 14, Sullivan 1-3 1-2 3, Duncan 1-2 0-0 2, Deloney 5-8 2-4 14, Fiorillo 6-12 0-0 14, Patella 0-3 0-0 0, Lefebvre 1-1 2-3 4. Totals 28-63 12-17 75.

Maine (6-23)

Ingo 1-2 2-2 4, Efretuei 0-1 0-0 0, Kalnjscek 3-12 0-0 6, Masic 1-5 2-2 5, Wright-McLeish 2-8 0-0 5, Filipovity 4-8 1-2 9, Ireland 2-5 3-5 7, Adetogun 2-4 2-2 6, Ihekwoaba 2-5 0-0 4, Turgut 0-3 2-2 2, Nenadic 2-5 0-0 5, Feierbergs 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 20-59 13-17 56. Halftime—Vermont 38-24. 3-Point Goals—Vermont 7-25 (Deloney 2-4, Fiorillo 2-5, Shungu 2-6, Gibson 1-5, Patella 0-1, Davis 0-2, Sullivan 0-2), Maine 3-18 (Masic 1-3, Nenadic 1-3, Wright-McLeish 1-4, Ihekwoaba 0-1, Turgut 0-1, Ireland 0-2, Kalnjscek 0-4). Fouled Out—Adetogun. Rebounds—Vermont 42 (Davis, Fiorillo 7), Maine 31 (Masic 10). Assists—Vermont 17 (Powell, Sullivan, Duncan 3), Maine 9 (Masic 5). Total Fouls—Vermont 13, Maine 19. A—697 (5,800).