Box Score
BURLINGTON, VT—Powerful Vermont fired in 46 first-half points and then cruised to a 73-47 men's basketball win over visiting NJIT Saturday afternoon.
NJIT's junior captain Gary Garris was the game leader in both points (17) and rebounds (11). Freshman guard Isaiah Wilkerson added a personal-best 16 points for the Highlanders.
Freshman Teddy Schickel, in his second start, made a game-best four steals for NJIT and Paulius Skema collected seven rebounds.
The victorious Catamounts (9-4), a leading contender to gain their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven years, were paced by reigning America East Conference Player of the Year Marqus Blakely's 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior all-conference guard Mike Trimboli was the only other double-figure scorer for Vermont, checking in with 10 points to go with a game-high four assists.
UVM, which came in averaging over 78 points per game and was coming off of an 84-59 win over Colorado in its previous game at the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, appeared on its way to at least that many points when it built a 46-22 halftime lead against the Highlanders.
The Catamounts shot 59 percent (16-27) from the field and also were awarded 17 free throw attempts, as NJIT was whistled for 16 fouls in the opening 20 minutes.
Blakely led all scorers at the break with 11 points, followed by sophomore guard Joey Accaoui, who had eight points, including a deep three-pointer from straight on as time expired to put an exclamation point on the home team's explosive first half.
Vermont extended its lead to 28 by scoring the first four points of the second half. But NJIT continued to compete and trimmed the deficit to 17 after Garris nailed a three with 8:36 remaining. For an 8:06 stretch from 16:42 until Garris' three-pointer, the Highlanders outscored Vermont, 18-7.
NJIT's strong run might have continued for a few more minutes, but the Highlanders couldn't cash in some good scoring chances and Vermont did, extending the lead from 17 back to 24 over the next two and a half minutes.
Getting stops in the opening moments, the Highlanders held 2-0 and 4-2 leads before Nick Vier put Vermont ahead for good, 5-4, on a traditional three-point play with 15:51. The play triggered a 14-0 burst by the Catamounts who had a 13-0 run later in the first half.
Vermont made 11 of its first 16 shots, while the Highlanders opened 1-for-9.
With regular starter Jheryl Wilson out of the lineup due to a concussion sustained in the previous game against Lehigh, the NJIT lineup was stretched even thinner when starters Dan Stonkus and Justin Garris were forced to the bench with two fouls each. They combined to play eight minutes in the half and Vermont, a good offensive team under any circumstances, pressed its advantage for the rest of the half.
NJIT returns home on Wednesday for its first game of the season in the downtown Newark Prudential Center, home of the National Hockey League New Jersey Devils. The Highlanders will host Yale in a 7 pm game.
