Senior Demetrius Young leads the Seawolves with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Burlington, Vt. - Marqus Blakely scored the go-ahead basket with 56.4 seconds left in overtime to lead the Vermont Catamounts to a thrilling 69-64 victory over the Stony Brook University men's basketball team on Sunday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium. Senior Demetrius Young (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded a double-double (20 points, 10 rebounds) to lead the Seawolves. Stony Brook falls to 14-12 overall and 6-7 in the America East with the loss while Vermont improves to 20-7 and 11-3.
"What a tremendous basketball game," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. "I'm really proud of the way our guys battled and competed today. Give Vermont credit though, they're an excellent basketball team and they made the plays they had to make down the stretch to win the game.
The America East Player of the Game for the Seawolves, Young went 10-for-14 from the field and pulled down eight of his game-high 10 rebounds on the offensive end. Junior Muhammad El-Amin (Lansing, Mich.) added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Seawolves, who out-rebounded UVM 43-35. Mike Trimboli scored a game-high 25 points for Vermont, while Blakely added 18 points and eight rebounds.
Vermont trailed by four with 4:22 left in regulation but Blakely scored four straight points to tie the game at 51 with 3:08 left. He then knocked down both of his two free throws with 2:05 remaining to put UVM up by two.
Trimboli hit one of two free throws with 37.6 seconds to go to push the UVM lead to three before freshman Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) knocked down two freebies with 19.8 seconds left to draw Stony Brook within one. Nick Vier hit one of two free throws with 15 seconds left to put UVM up two but Dougher followed with an off-balance jumper from the free throw line with 5.7 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
The teams traded hoops over the first minute of overtime before Young put the Seawolves on top with an inside hoop. Blakely tied it on UVM's ensuing possession before an Evan Fjeld basket gave Vermont the lead back.
Dougher nailed a three with 1:20 left to give SBU a 62-61 lead but Blakely answered with an inside hoop before scoring on a breakaway dunk to give the Catamounts a three-point lead with 38.6 seconds remaining in overtime. El-Amin answered with a jumper but Trimboli followed with two free throws to put the Catamounts up three. The Catamounts then forced a Stony Brook miss on the Seawolves ensuing possession to seal the game.
Vermont jumped to an early 7-0 lead as the Catamounts held SBU scoreless for the first five and a half minutes of the game. Sophomore Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) drilled a three for the Seawolves first points, starting an 8-2 run that brought Stony Brook within one with 13:18 remaining in the first half.
The Seawolves would eventually tie the score at 14 on a three from Young with 10:14 to go before taking the lead a possession later on another Martin three-pointer. An inside hoop from freshman Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) pushed the Seawolves lead to five before Blakely got free for a lay-in to trim the Stony Brook advantage to three.
But Young followed with his second three-pointer of the game to spark a 7-2 Seawolves spurt that gave SBU a 26-18 lead with 4:25 remaining in the first period. The Catamounts scored the final seven points of the half though as the Seawolves went into the break with a 26-25 lead. Stony Brook scored eight of the first 10 points of the second half to build its lead back to seven but the Catamounts answered with five straight points to close to within two, 34-32, with 14:51 to go in the game. Back-to-back hoops from Young would push the SBU lead back to six before Trimboli knocked down a three from the left corner to cut the Stony Brook advantage to three, 38-35.
Vermont would tie the game on a Fjeld three-point play with 12:16 left and then took the lead seconds later on a Trimboli fast-break hoop. But freshman Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) answered with four straight points to give Stony Brook a 42-40 lead with 10:55 remaining.
A Trimboli three would give UVM the lead back before Dougher hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 43 with 10:10 left. The contest would remain tied until a thunderous follow dunk from Joyner with 8:22 left put the Seawolves back on top. Vermont would tie the game at 45 on two Trimboli free throws with 6:34 remaining.
But Dougher then answered with a three from the right wing to put SBU up 48-45 with 5:23 left. Two more Trimboli free throws cut the SBU lead to one but Young followed with a tip-in and El-Amin added a free throw to give the Seawolves a 51-47 advantage with 4:22 to go.
The Seawolves return to action on Wednesday, hosting Boston University on Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7 p.m. The Seawolves will honor their four seniors- Marques Cox (Jamaica, N.Y.), Michal Zylinski (Monki, Poland), Young and Michael Tyree (Somerset, N.J.)- prior to the game.
