MANHATTAN, Kan. ? Second-seeded Kansas State came from behind, scoring the final nine points of the contest, to defeat the University of Vermont men’s basketball team 59-57 in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum. The Catamounts led 57-50 with 5:07 left, but went scoreless down the stretch as they end the season 25-8. Senior Martin Klimes (Prague, Czech Rep.) led Vermont with a season-high 16 points.
“I am proud of our team and how well they competed,” said Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan. “I credit Kansas State, their press was the story of the game. I thought we did a lot of great things and we got a lot of great looks tonight, but just didn’t make them. This experience will help us going into next year.”
KSU’s (23-11) Blake Young made a pair of free throws with 2:15 left to tie the score at 57-57 and with 33.6 ticks on the clock, David Hoskins gave the Wildcats the lead for good with a lay-up.
Vermont had two chances down the stretch as sophomore Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass.) missed a jumper in the lane with 10 seconds left and after a missed free throw by Jermaine Maybank, Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn.) had one more chance for the Cats but his three-point attempt was off the mark.
Kansas State led by as many as nine in the first half and the Wildcats were up 28-20 after a three by Cartier Martin with 3:40 to go before the break. The Catamounts would score the final six points of the stanza though, as senior Chris Holm (Henderson, Nev.), Klimes and McIntosh each hit jumpers to make it 28-26.
Trailing 35-30 early in the second half, Vermont used a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the day.The Catamounts tied the score for the first time in the contest 3:26 into the second half on a three by junior Kyle Cieplicki (Shelburne, Vt.) and then went on top 38-35 with a three by Trimboli.
After K-State cut it to 42-39, UVM used a 9-0 spurt to go on top by 12, at 51-39. Four different players scored in the run that was capped off by a lay-up by Holm. Holm added a jumper with 5:07 left that put Vermont on top 57-50, but that would be the Catamounts last points of the contest.
Vermont shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and out-rebounded the Wildcats 37-33 for the game, including a 22-11 advantage after intermission. Klimes went 8-for-11 from the floor, while Holm picked up his 17th double-double of the year with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Trimboli added a game-high 11 assists and Cieplicki hit a trio of threes for nine points.
Martin led all scorers with 19 points, 13 of which came in the first half. Hoskins added 13 and Akeem Wright chipped in with 12.
Vermont ends the season with a 25-8 mark, tying the school record for wins. It was also the final contest for UVM seniors Klimes and Holm.