Trimboli, Duell, Solid Vermont Defense Closes Out UNH

By Bruce Bosley, UVM Athletic Communications Office

Saturday, January 28, 2006

DURHAM, N.H. -- Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn.) scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as Vermont held off New Hampshire, 64-56, in America East men's basketball Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gym.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for Vermont (9-10, 5-4 America East) as it concludes a stretch of five out of six games away from home. The Catamounts will play five of their final seven regular season conference games at Patrick Gym where they have won 14 straight against America East rivals.

Trimboli and Josh Duell (Scotia, N.Y.) led UVM's strong second half effort, especially in the final minutes. Duell had 10 of his 13 points in the deciding second stanza scoring six in the last six and a half minutes.

“We have really struggled on offense in the last few games on the road but today we hit some big shots down the stretch,” said Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan. “We did a great job all day on defense and on the boards in the second half. Our free throw shooting, which had been a problem, was solid in the second half.

UNH (7-13, 4-5) opened the game on a 9-0 run, but the Catamounts came back and took their first lead on a jumper by Kyle Cieplicki (Shelburne, Vt.) jumper with 16:49 left in the first half. Backed by eight points by Cieplicki and six by Trimboli, Vermont led 29-24 at the break.

After Trimboli opened the second half scoring with a three-pointer, New Hampshire had a 7-0 run to pull within 32-31 with 13:20 to go. Three minutes later, a runner by Tyrece Gibbs brought UNH even at 37-37. The teams traded the lead five times over the next four minutes before a bucket by Duell, off a spin move in the lane, pushed UVM ahead, 45-44, with 6:20 to go. The Catamounts would not trail again as Duell and Trimboli would combine to go 7-for-8 from the line in the last 43 seconds.

New Hampshire was paced by Jamaal Caterina who scored 13 points and Gibbs with 12. Both players, along with Blajov Janev, had a team-high six rebounds. The Wildcats top scorer heading into the game averaging 14 points per game, Janev was held to just one field goal in six attempts and seven points overall by UVM’s Martin Klimes (Prague, Czech Republic).

Klimes also chipped in with six points and seven rebounds while frontcourt mate Chris Holm (Henderson, Nev.) had a game-high eight rebounds. Vermont outrebounded UNH, 35-29, with a 21-10 edge in the second half. The Catamounts, who lead the America East in three-point field goal percentage defense also limited the Wildcats, one of the league’s better perimeter teams, to just 19 percent (3-for-19) from beyond the arc. UVM shot 43% overall for the game compared to 39 percent for New Hampshire, and commited only 11 turnovers while forcing 15 by UNH.

Vermont’s next game is on Saturday, February 4 when the Cats host Hartford at Patrick Gym (Radio: WXZO 96.7 FM, WEAV 960 AM and WCVR 102.1 FM; Internet: www.sportsjuice.com). General admission tickets are available for all Vermont regular season home games at the UVM Athletic Ticket Office at at 1-866-4-CAT-TIX or 802-656-4410, and they are also available on line at www.uvmathletics.com. Fans attending the Hartford game will receive a set of 2005-06 Vermont Basketball Trading Cards courtesy of L.Brown and Sons Printing.

Box Score: http://www.uvm.edu/athletics/mens_basketball/boxscores/012806.htm