Catamounts Hand UNCW Fourth Straight Loss

BURLINGTON, VT. – Senior forward Colin McIntosh and junior guard Nick Vier poured in 20 points apiece to anchor a balanced scoring attack as Vermont built an early lead and withstood a late rally by visiting UNC Wilmington for an 89-68 men’s college basketball victory Sunday at Roy L. Patrick Memorial Gymnasium.

With high wind and chilly temperatures luring a large crowd to the cozy on-campus facility for an afternoon matinee, McIntosh and Vier helped the Catamounts improve to 5-3 in a rematch between two teams that met one year ago in an ESPN BracketBusters clash in Wilmington. The Seahawks, struggling with a series of injuries, suffered their fourth straight loss and seventh defeat in the last six outings to fall to 3-7 overall.

McIntosh, from Milton, Mass., went 9-for-16 from the field and added six rebounds, while Vier erupted for 15 of his 20 points in the second half. Senior guard Mike Trimboli added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and freshman guard Garvey Young had 11 points off the bench for the Catamounts, who shot a torrid 60.9 percent in the second half.

UNCW did hold junior forward Marqus Blakely, the reigning America East Conference Player-of-the-Year, to just eight points in 21 minutes. Blakely came into the contest with four double-doubles in his first seven outings this season, but battled four trouble most of the game and never really got untracked.

Sophomore guard Chad Tomko paced the Seahawks with 20 points by going 9-for-18 from the field. Sophomore forward Dominique Lacy had 14 points and six rebounds and junior guard Johnny Wolf scored 13 with six boards for UNCW, which shot 38.5 percent from the field.

Vermont cruised to a 40-25 lead at halftime after shooting 51.6 percent and capitalizing on UNCW’s cold shooting. The Seahawks managed just 36.7 percent from the field on 11-for-30 shooting in the opening 20 minutes and fell behind early.

But UNCW used a furious rally at the beginning of the second half to climb within a point of the Catamounts. Lacy provided the late spark, scoring 10 of the team’s first 13 points in the second period, and reserve guard Darion Jeralds connected from deep in the right corner to pull the Seahawks within 46-41 at 14:41. Jerel Stephenson then made the second of two free throws to pull UNCW within 46-45 at13:04.

But Vier was fouled by Tomko when attempting a 3-pointer and converted all three free throws and Maurice Joseph added a triple from the right wing to push the lead back to 52-45 at 11:59. That was the closet the Seahawks could get as the Catamounts regrouped the rest of the way a knock off UNCW for the second straight year and win for the fourth time in five appearances at home this season.

Vermont’s largest lead came with 43 seconds left to play on backup guard Joey Accauoui’s triple from the left side for an 89-66 cushion.

Tomko scored eight of UNCW’s first 15 points in the contest to get the Seahawks off to a quick start. The Charlotte product canned a jumper near the free throw line to give UNCW a 13-8 advantage with 12:52 remaining.

But the Catamounts, who made 16-of-31 shots in the first half, responded with a 21-5 spurt over the next 10 minutes to build a working margin. McIntosh started an 11-0 run with a layup at 11:46 and drained a turnaround jumper at the left elbow at 7:58 to finish off the 11-point spurt.

With both Blakely and Lacy relegated on the bench with two fouls midway through the period, the teams opted for a zone and the Catamounts went to work. Trimboli and Young wound up with 10 points apiece, hitting a variety of outside shots.

Vermont extended its margin to 14 points on a Vier free throw with three minutes left in the half before Young’s rainbow 3-pointer with three ticks left gave the Catamounts a 15-point advantage at intermission.

UNCW plays the second leg in a three-game winning streak on Friday with a 7 p.m. clash against the College of Charleston at theCarolina First Center in Charleston. Vermont travels to Quinnipiac next Sunday, Dec. 21, for a Noon clash. -Courtesy UNCW

-- Jesse Jones, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT