Courtesy: Vermont Athletic Communications
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- C
With the game tied 70-70 after a lay-up by Rutgers Hamady Ndiaye, the
Catamounts scored seven of the final eight points of the game to earn the win.
Joseph knocked down four straight free throws and Blakely hit three of four
during the stretch.
“We are very happy to come out of here with a win. I
felt we played pretty hard even though it wasn’t a pretty game,” said Vermont
head coach Mike Lonergan. “I am just happy for our guys because we challenged
them with a tough schedule and 10 in a row on the road and it’s not easy. Happy
for Marqus playing well with him being from New Jersey and proud of our guys
overall to get a win over a Big East team.”
In the first half the Scarlet
Knights opened the game by taking a 7-2 lead. The Catamounts would answer with
the next 10 straight, as sophomore Garvey Young (Washington, D.C.) scored
a pair of buckets and Blakely added two steals that led to two dunks to give
Vermont a 12-7 advantage. With UVM leading 25-24 after a pair of free throws
from senior Nick Vier (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), Rutgers scored the next six
as part of a 12-3 run that gave the home team a 36-28 lead with 4:23 left in the
stanza.
Rutgers (2-1) shot 51.7 percent from the floor in the opening
half and were led by 11 points from Mike Rosario as it took a 38-32 lead into
the half.
Vermont opened the second half with six straight to tie the
score at 38-38. The Scarlet Knights pushed their lead back to seven with a 9-2
push that made it 47-40 just 3:31 in. Gregory Echenique converted a lay-up with
11:12 left to give Rutgers a 55-49 lead, but the Catamounts would not go away
and bounced back with an 11-0 run over the next 3:50 to take a 60-55 lead, as
they would not trail again. Young opened the run with a two-handed dunk, Blakely
added a lay-up and Fjeld scored the final seven, which included his first career
three-pointer.
Following Ndiaye’s lay-up that tied it at 70-70, Blakely
got fouled on the other end and made the first, but Young came up with a huge
rebound after the second was missed to keep possession and Joseph was later
fouled.
Fjeld went 8-for-12 for the game, added five rebounds and a
career-high four steals. Blakely finished one rebound shy of his second straight
double-double and added five blocks and four steals. After being held scoreless
in the first two games of the season, Young erupted for 10 points. Rosario, a
Big East All-Rookie selection last year, led all scorers with 22, while Jonathan
Mitchell added 15 and Mike Coburn chipped in with 13.
The Catamounts
out-rebounded a bigger Big East team, 37-32 and held a 42-36 scoring edge in the
paint. Vermont hit 15-of-16 free throws in the second half and 18-of-22 (81.8
percent) for the game.