Nov. 20, 2007

Box Score

NEWARK, NJ - Hot-shooting Vermont made nearly 60 percent of its shots from the floor en route to a 91-71 men's basketball win over NJIT Tuesday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.

The visiting Catamounts, a 25-win team last season as regular season champion of the America East Conference, shot 30-for-51 from the field, including 7-for-14 on three-point shots, along with 24-for-34 at the foul line.

No one shot better than Vermont's junior guard Mike Trimboli, who scored a game-high 22 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the floor. Trimboli made all three of his three-pointers, but, considering his deadly shooting with people attempting to guard him, was a surprising 1-for-4 at the foul line. He came in a perfect 8-for-8 at the line in three previous games.

Trimboli's senior backcourt mate Kyle Cieplicki finished with 16 points.

UVM's sophomore forward Marqus Blakely, a resident of Metuchen and AAU teammate of NJIT's starting center Dan Stonkus, made a triumphant return to his home state, scoring 14 points, pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds and barely missing a triple-double, with eight assists.

Junior forward Colin McIntosh rounded out the double-figure scorer for the visitors, tallying 12 points, as four of the five UVM starters scored at least 12 points apiece.

NJIT, which scored a team season-high 71 points and outscored the visitors in the second half, 44-41, got a team-best 16 points from senior forward Kraig Peters.

Freshman guard Jheryl Wilson came off the bench for a career-best 14 points and junior forward Nesho Milosevic added 10 for the Highlanders.

Stonkus had five rebounds to lead the Highlanders on the boards.

Vermont, which never trailed, took a 20-2 lead in the first 6:50. The Catamounts scored the first four points, gave up a dunk to Milosevic at the 17:46 mark and then ran off 16 unanswered points. Trimboli scored nine points and assisted on another bucket in his team's 16-0 run.

The Highlanders trailed, 47-13, before outscoring the visitors, 14-3, over the last 2:45 of the first half for a 50-27 deficit at the break.

Vermont's starting backcourt of Trimboli and Cieplicki combined for 26 points--16 for Trimboli-in the opening 20 minutes. Trimboli was 7-for-7 from the field, including two three-pointers in the first half.

NJIT's halftime scoring leader was the freshman guard Wilson, who scored eight points. He was 5-for-6 at the foul line and also made an off-balance three-pointer on the Highlanders' last possession of the half.

Two keys to `winning' the second half for NJIT were a marked improvement in shooting and much better control of its possessions.

The Highlanders made 45 percent (13-29) of their second-half shots after a 7-for-23 first half. And they committed only six second-half turnovers after committing 14 miscues in the first half.

Turnovers doomed NJIT in its slow start, as the Highlanders managed to get off just two shots in the opening 4:15, owing to six turnovers in that span. That, combined with Vermont's deadly shooting, helped fuel the visitors' fast start.

NJIT, which racked up 14 turnovers in the first 14:35, tightened up the loose ends considerably and made just six more errors over the last 25:25. Not surprisingly, the cleaner ballhandling showed on the scoreboard, as the Highlanders outscored Vermont, 59-51, over the last 25 and a half minutes.

NJIT will be back home on Saturday afternoon, hosting American in a 2 pm game in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.