BURLINGTON, VT - Vermont's T.J. Sorrentine poured in a career-high 45 points to lead the Catamounts to a 102-87 victory over Northeastern at Patrick Gymnasium on Thursday night. The victory extended the Cats' school-record win streak to 12 games, courtesy of Sorrentine's unbelievable shooting. He was 13-20 from the field, 11-16 from three-point land and 8-8 from the line.
Sorrentine's 11 three-pointers set a school record and are the most in an America East game since 1987 when Gary Bossert netted 12 for Niagara. His 45 points are second in UVM and America East history. The sophomore guard went to intermission with 26 points and remained in the zone in the second frame of action as he netted 19 more.
Despite five NU players in double-figures, the Huskies were unable to pull off the upset victory. Freshman Aaron Davis tallied a career-high 21 points, while sophomore walk-on Jesse Dunn also added a career-high of 17. Seniors Jean Bain (16), Tim West (16) and Ricky Cranford (12) were the others scoring in double figures for NU.
The Huskies trailed by seven, 49-42, at the half, but opened the second half on a 10-4 run to cut the Cats lead to one, 53-52, at 17:11. Vermont would respond with a 7-0 run to stretch its lead back to eight, 60-52, with 15:57 to go. NU would battle back to tie the game at 65 with 13:26 left, the first tie since the game was knotted at 12 with 14:46 to go in the first half.
Vermont would reel off another run, this time 13-4 to take a nine-point lead at 9:59. NU cut the Cats' lead to five, 81-76 with 6:14 to go, but would get no closer. UVM closed out the game from that point with a 21-11 run for the game's final 102-87 margin.
The Catamounts came out on fire behind the hot shooting of Sorrentine. The sophomore guard netted 26 points in the first half alone as UVM took a 49-42 lead to the lockerroom at intermission. Sorrentine was 8-11 from the field, 6-9 from three-point land, in 18 minutes played.
Northeastern stuck with the Cats as the two were tied at 12 with 14:46 to go in the first frame. UVM then scored 12 unanswered points in a 2:53 span to take a 24-12 lead at 11:53. Sorrentine accounted for 10 of the Cats' 12 points in their crucial run, including two three-pointers. NU Coach Ron Everhart was hit with a technical foul at 13:34 of the UVM run and Sorrentine made the two free throws for Vermont and followed it up with a three-pointer just 27 seconds later.
Vermont pushed its lead to a first half-high 14 points twice, the last time coming at 6:34, 38-24. Northeastern would respond, however, as they cut the Cats' lead to seven following a Bain three-pointer as time expired in the first half.
Leading the way for Northeastern at the break was West, who tallied a career-high 16 points, while Bain and Davis each added eight. Mike Goia was Vermont's other player in double-digits in the first half as he netted 12.
VISITORS: NORTHEASTERN 4-13; 2-4
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
03 NLANDU, Lunzaya f 0-4 0-0 3-4 4 2 6 3 3 1 0 0 0 14
04 WEST, Tim f 8-10 0-0 0-1 4 2 6 4 16 0 2 0 1 24
05 BAIN, Jean g 6-16 2-6 2-2 2 4 6 4 16 8 0 1 1 36
12 DAVIS, Aaron g 7-16 4-7 3-3 1 2 3 1 21 1 0 0 2 35
22 CRANFORD, Ricky g 6-12 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 2 12 3 1 0 1 25
01 HANCOCK, Jermaine 0-2 0-2 0-1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 6
14 BRITTAIN, Toby 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 1 3 1 0 3 0 1 0 16
20 WALKER, Jamaar 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 0 1 0 2 9
32 DUNN, Jesse 4-7 4-5 5-5 2 2 4 4 17 0 0 0 1 24
42 BURKE-BENNETT, Mesha 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 2 4 0 1 11
TEAM ........................................ 1 0 1
TOTALS 32-73 10-22 13-16 18 16 34 25 87 18 9 2 9 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 17-39 43.6% 2ndH: 15-34 44.1% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 43.8% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 6-12 50.0% 2ndH: 4-10 40.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 45.5% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 2-3 66.7% 2ndH: 11-13 84.6% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 81.3% 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: VERMONT 14-3; 7-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
No. N A M E FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 COPPENRATH, Taylor f 2-4 0-0 8-10 2 2 4 3 12 2 2 2 1 36
42 ANDERSON, Grant f 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 1 2 1 2 0 0 15
45 GAINES, Trevor c 8-11 0-0 2-2 7 7 14 4 18 1 5 0 0 25
11 SORRENTINE, T.J. g 13-20 11-16 8-8 0 2 2 2 45 5 3 0 0 37
15 ANDERSON, Andre g 1-5 0-1 2-2 0 6 6 0 4 2 0 0 0 32
12 PHELAN, Jack 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 GOIA, Mike 4-8 4-6 1-3 0 2 2 2 13 1 1 1 0 16
24 HEHN, David 2-6 0-2 4-4 0 5 5 2 8 6 1 0 1 31
50 MCLAUGHLIN, Corry 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 7
TEAM ........................................ 2 0 2
TOTALS 30-55 15-25 27-31 11 26 37 16 102 18 14 3 2 200
TOT-FG 1stH: 16-28 57.1% 2ndH: 14-27 51.9% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 54.5% Deadbl
3pt-FG 1stH: 10-16 62.5% 2ndH: 5-9 55.6% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 60.0% Rebs
FThrow 1stH: 7-8 87.5% 2ndH: 20-23 87.0% OT: 0-0 00.0% Game: 87.1% 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICIALS: Joe Mingle, Fran Connolly, Joe Pescitelli
TECHNICAL FOULS:
NORTHEASTERN - the bench(1)
VERMONT - none
ATTENDANCE: 3,228
SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT1 OT2 OT3 OT4 TOTAL
NORTHEASTERN 42 45 87
VERMONT 49 53 102
Vermont extends school record with 12 straight wins...Sorrentine 45 points,
second most in UVM and America East history.
