BURLINGTON, Vt. – Vermont’s Craig Peper scored 20 points and teammate Erik Nelson added 16 points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots as the Catamount men’s basketball team defeated Maine, 90-64, Saturday in the America East opener for both Division I squads.

Vermont, 3-1 overall, has now won three straight at home. The Cats opened the season at Providence, losing by four points, before running off home wins against Marist, Central Connecticut (by 32) and Maine.

The Cats led 39-29 at the half, thanks to four-of-nine shooting from three point range and some smothering defense that limited Maine to 25 percent shooting (8-for-32). Tobe Carberry’s 11 points led the way in the first half, while Peper, Nelson, freshman standout Tony Orciari and Matt Chotkowski each added six in the opening 20 minutes.

In the second half, Vermont got Peper going early and often. The 6-foot-8 junior from Castleton, NY scored 14 points in the second half on six-of-nine shooting in the second half. An alley-oop dunk from David Roach (six assists) to Nelson made it 62-49 Vermont, and the lead grew from there as Vermont scored at will inside.

Nelson also contributed three assists and two steals to his effort. Carberry finished with 16 points, three blocked shots and three steals, while Orciari – who has hit double figures in each of his four collegiate games – added 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 23 minutes.

Maine leads the all-time series, 57-36. The 26-point margin is the largest for the Catamounts against Maine since a 101-83 win at home in 1987.

Maine, 2-2 overall and 0-1 in the league, was led by Fred Meeks 24 points. Colin Haynes, a freshman, added 14 points, 15 rebounds, five steals and two blocks. Marcus Wills added 11 points and Allen Ledbetter chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.

Catamounts 90, Black Bears 64

Maine men (2-2) Vermont (3-1)

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

Wills 3 17 3 6 11 Carberry 6 14 2 3 16

Meeks 6 15 9 12 24 Roach 1 7 2 2 5

Ledbetter 5 13 0 1 10 Nelson 7 10 2 4 16

Faison 0 5 0 0 0 Peper 8 15 4 6 20

Haynes 3 9 5 6 14 Eisenmger 0 0 2 2 2

Thibodeau 0 4 0 0 0 Orciari 4 9 0 2 11

Tibbets 1 6 3 4 5 Murphy 2 5 0 0 5

St. Pierre 0 1 0 0 0 Steele 1 3 2 2 4

Chotkowski 3 3 0 2 6

deJong 0 0 0 0 0

Forck 1 1 0 0 2

Nemitz 1 1 0 0 3

Rainey 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 18 70 20 29 64 Totals 34 68 14 23 90

Maine 29 35 64

Vermont 39 51 90

3-pt. goals: Maine (8-30): Haynes 3-7, Meeks 3-6, Wills 2-7, Tibbetts 0-4, Thibodeau 0-4, Faison 0-2; Vermont (8-18): Orciari 3-8, Carberry 2-3, Roach 1-3, Murphy 1-3, Nemitz 1-1

Attendance: 1,563