Burlington, VT - The UMBC men's basketball team concluded the
2011-2012 regular season with a 80-49 loss to Vermont at Patrick
Gym Saturday.
Junior guard Brian Neller (Red
Bank, N.J./Christian Bros. Academy) made five 3-pointers
to finish the game with a team-high 15 points while fellow junior
Ryan Cook
(Laurel, Md./Pallotti) finished with 12 points, nine of which
came in the first half.
UMBC shot well at the start of the game, jumping out to 14-10
lead with just under five minutes having run off the
clock. Vermont took the lead a few minutes later after
going on a 10-2 run but a 3-pointer by Cook cut the deficit to just
one at 20-19 with 11:27 remaining in the stanza. However, the
Retrievers failed to score another point for nearly the next six
minutes. Chase Plummer
(Plainview, N.J./St. Patrick) ended UMBC's 5:52 scoring drought
with a free throw, which also ended Vermont 13-point run, making it
a 33-20 game with 5:35 remaining in the first half.
The Retrievers were able to end the first half on a 7-3 run,
sending them into the break trailing by only nine points,
36-27. Neller hit three treys in the first half.
Vermont (20-11, 13-3 America East) scored the first seven
points of the second half to take a 43-27 lead. UMBC
responded with four quick points but 10 consecutive made free
throws by the Catamounts helped extended their lead to 24,
68-44. They did this while UMBC suffered through another
scoring drought, not scoring for nearly four minutes between layups
from Chandler
Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral), who ended the game with
six points.
Plummer finished the game with eight points and a team-high six
rebounds, but his streak of scoring in double figures was halted at
11.
Vermont senior Matt Glass led the Catamounts with 18
points.
UMBC (4-25, 3-13 AE) shot just 33.9 percent for the game,
hitting 20-of-59 shots from the floor. They converted only three
free throws in six attempts, while Vermont made 22 in 30
chances. The Catamounts outrebounded UMBC, 49-26.
The eighth-seeded Retrievers face No. 9 Binghamton in the first
round of the America East Tournament in West
Hartford, Conn. on Thurs., March 2.
