Northeastern led much of the way, but Vermont closed the game with an 18-8 run to come away with a 72-64 win Saturday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd at Patrick Gym.
After Martin Klimes made a layup to put Vermont up 11-7, Northeastern went on a 13-0 run to take a 20-11 lead. Junior guard Jose Juan Barea and junior guard Aaron Davis each hit three-pointers and scored five points in the spurt.
The Huskies (13-8, 9-3 America East) went scoreless over the next 3:20 as the Catamounts pulled within four, 20-16, before Barea ended the Husky drought with 10:22 left in the half. That was the first of three straight baskets Barea made for Northeastern, all of which came on pull-up jumpers.
Vermont (17-3, 12-0) tied it at 30-30 on a Coppenrath putback with 3:17 remaining, but sophomore forward Bennet Davis sunk two free throws and sophomore guard Bobby Kelly picked off a pass and went in for a two-handed slam to give NU a 34-30 cushion.
The Catamounts took their first lead since early in the game when Germain Mopa Njila rebounded a miss and put back a layup to make it 39-38 less than two minutes into the second half.
With the score tied 43-43, Barea and Vermont's Alex Jensen played a little game of dueling threes. Jensen started it with a three-pointer on the break, but Barea answered back. Jensen then drilled another shot from long range, which Barea followed with a three-point bomb of his own on the other end.
Kelly and UVM's T.J. Sorrentine then joined the fun, nailing three-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 52-52. In all, the two teams hit three three-pointers apiece in a span of 2:15.
Josh Duell's three-pointer with 7:46 remaining gave Vermont the lead for good, 57-56.
After Kelly's trey, the Huskies went 5:45 without a field goal. They managed only four points in that stretch, all on foul shots. Senior guard Marcus Barnes ended the drought with a breakaway layup that cut the deficit to one, 59-58.
David Hehn came up with the backbreaker, a three from the corner with 2:41 to play, which gave Vermont a 64-60 advantage.
After a Barea miss, Hehn took another three-pointer on the Catamounts' next possession, but it was off. Coppenrath, however, corralled the offensive rebound and stuck it back in to put his team up 66-60 with just over a minute left.
The loss is the Huskies' fourth straight overall to Vermont and their eight in a row to the Catamounts on their home floor.
Barea led all scorers with 28 points. UVM was paced by Coppenrath, who had 27 to go along with 10 rebounds. Mopa Njila also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.
Northeastern returns home to play Hartford on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Vermont
02/05/05 1:05pm at Burlington, Vt. (Patrick Gym)
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VISITORS: Northeastern 13-8, 9-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 Davis, Bennet....... f 2-6 0-1 2-4 2 3 5 5 6 3 2 0 0 33
21 James, Shawn........ f 2-2 0-0 1-2 1 6 7 1 5 1 2 5 0 25
03 Barnes, Marcus...... g 3-8 1-3 0-0 1 2 3 5 7 0 1 0 0 23
05 Berea, Jose Juan.... g 11-26 4-11 2-2 0 5 5 2 28 3 5 0 2 37
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 3-4 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 0 7 1 0 1 1 22
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
12 Davis, Aaron........ 1-7 1-6 4-4 1 1 2 0 7 0 1 0 2 31
33 Cole, Janon......... 0-2 0-0 2-2 2 1 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 18
50 Washington, Mark.... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 1 3 4 1
Totals.............. 23-57 7-24 11-14 8 26 34 18 64 8 12 6 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-30 46.7% 2nd Half: 9-27 33.3% Game: 40.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 4-14 28.6% Game: 29.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 78.6% 2
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HOME TEAM: Vermont 17-3, 12-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
22 Coppenrath, Taylor.. f 11-26 1-3 4-8 6 4 10 4 27 2 2 0 3 38
32 Mopa Njila, Germain. f 4-7 0-1 2-2 3 9 12 1 10 1 2 0 1 32
20 Klimes, Martin...... c 2-6 0-0 0-0 3 0 3 2 4 1 1 0 0 16
11 Sorrentine, T.J..... g 4-13 2-7 4-4 0 4 4 2 14 7 6 0 0 37
24 Hehn, David......... g 2-7 2-5 0-0 0 2 2 1 6 2 0 0 2 35
35 Jensen, Alex........ 2-2 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 0 0 0 0 8
44 Schneider, Ryan..... 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 3 3 0 2 0 0 1 0 8
50 Duell, Josh......... 1-3 1-3 0-0 2 3 5 2 3 3 0 0 0 26
TEAM................ 3 1 4
Totals.............. 27-67 8-22 10-14 17 27 44 12 72 16 11 1 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-36 38.9% 2nd Half: 13-31 41.9% Game: 40.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 6-12 50.0% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 71.4% 1
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Officials: Tim O'Brien, Rich Antonelli and Gary Pucino
Technical fouls: Northeastern-Barnes, Marcus. Vermont-None.
Attendance: 3266
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 36 28 - 64
Vermont....................... 34 38 - 72
11th straight sellout at Patrick Gym and 9th straight this season ...
school record 14th straight win for Vermont (3rd longest in nation)
