Catamounts slip past UM Bears

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ORONO – The University of Vermont was resilient. The University of Maine was not.

As a result, the Catamounts pulled off a miraculous comeback over the last 3:50 of Thurday night’s North Atlantic Conference basketball game, outscoring Maine 24-4 to pull out an 89-85 win at Alfond Arena.

Eddie Benton’s 23 second-half points powered the rally. Benton finished with a game-high 32 points for 11-3 Vermont (4-0 in the NAC). He also had five assists.

Jeremy McCool had 17 points, including 14 in the second half, and grabbed eight rebounds. Berlie Cieplicki had 11 of his 14 points in the second half and George Roberson finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and three steals.

Scott Reed had 11 points before leaving with a groin pull with 16:03 left.

Casey Arena and Matt Moore had 18 apiece for Maine (4-9, 0-4) and Greg Logan scored 15 in his Black Bear debut. Kenny Barnes added 15 more. Logan also grabbed 12 rebounds, Barnes and Arena pulled down eight rebounds apiece, and Arena handed out seven assists and made four steals.

Maine led 81-66 with 3:50 remaining when Vermont began its dramatic run.

Three-pointers by McCool and Cieplicki triggered the flurry before Benton hit an 8-foot jump shot and McCool nailed another `3′ to make it 81-77 with 2:10 left.

Arena’s two free throws made it 83-77, but the Cats scored the next 11 points beginning with two Roberson free throws.

Benton had six free throws during the spree and passed to Cieplicki for a `3′ that put them ahead to stay at 84-83 with 45.9 seconds left.

That represented Vermont’s first lead since it was 10-8. The Cats trailed by 18 at the half.

With Vermont leading 84-83, Arena’s lob pass intended for Barnes was intercepted by Roberson, and Barnes fouled Benton, who converted both free throws with 29 seconds left.

Arena then stepped on the base line on a drive, and Benton eventually hit two foul shots with 15.1 seconds left to make it 88-83.

Moore hit two free throws with 10.6 seconds left, but Roberson clinched it with a free throw.

“This was very special,” said Benton. “We were down by 20, but we never gave up. We kept fighting and fighting. Bernie made a big three to put us up and all we had to do from there was be strong with the ball and hit our free throws.”

Junior guard Benton added that when the Catamounts started hitting their 3’s in the second half after a 6-for-16 performance from three-point land in the first half, he started believing they could rally.

“When we cut it to 10, our confidence was really there and we never turned our heads after that,” said Benton.

Vermont hit nine of its 16 3-pointers in the second half.

“We always think we can come back,” said Cieplicki. “We’re that type of team. We always believe in each other. We haven’t lost a close game all year and tonight was another great gutcheck.

“Everything was clicking in the second half,” added Cieplicki.

“When he (Arena) stepped on the base line, that was a big turnover,” said Benton, who went 10-for-10 from the foul line in the second half. “You can’t luck out any more than that.”

Arena said he was trying to “make contact” and draw the foul on the play.

“We played too much not to lose in the second half,” said Bear captain Barnes. “They knocked down some threes and kept getting closer and closer. We failed to execute some plays, and we took too many outside shots.”

“We ran out of gas,” said Arena. “They shot unbelievable. Even when they were down by 12, they’re never out of the game with their shooters.”

Maine played one of its best halves of the season in the first half in building a 47-29 lead.

The Bears effectively pressed the Catamounts, forcing 13 turnovers that resulted in 14 points off those give-aways.

Maine also outrebounded Vermont 27-18 and that enabled the Bears to get a bunch of second-chance points. Maine had an 11-4 edge in offensive boards.

The Bears’ rebounding edge resulted in Maine getting 39 field goal attempts to Vermont’s 30.

Six-foot-six, 240-pound center Logan gave the Bears a significant lift with his aggressive rebounding.

Moore and Barnes had 10 points apiece in the first half and Bangor’s Brett Soucy, who had scored only eight points in 11 games, matched that total including a pair of three-pointers.

Arena, Ramone Jones and Logan had six points each.

Maine went 18-for-39 from the floor compared to Vermont’s 11-for-30.

Benton, a preseason All-NAC choice, had nine points for Vermont and Reed had seven as did Roberson.

Catamounts 89, Black Bears 85

Maine men Vermont

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Soucy 3 8 0 0 8 Benton 9 22 10 11 32

Arena 6 18 5 10 18 Falkenbush 0 1 0 0 0

Keeling 0 0 0 0 0 Grey 0 0 2 2 2

Moore 5 12 6 6 18 McDonough 0 2 1 2 1

Thompson 0 0 3 6 3 Reed 4 5 1 2 11

Jones 4 8 0 0 8 Roberson 4 8 4 6 12

Barnes 5 13 5 6 15 McCool 6 9 0 0 12

Smith 0 2 0 0 0 Nelson 0 1 0 0 0

Logan 5 12 5 10 15 Cieplick 5 11 0 0 14

Nunnery 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 28 73 24 38 85 Totals 28 60 18 23 89

Maine 47 85

Vermont 29 89

3-pt. goals: Maine (5-15): Soucy (2-4), Arena (1-4), Moore (2-4), Jones (0-2), Barnes (0-1); Vermont (15-32): Benton (4-11), McDonough (0-1), Reed (2-3), Roberson (0-1), McCool (5-8), Cieplick (4-8)