FINAL SCORE: Vermont 84, Colorado 59
BOX SCORE

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Senior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn.) scored a game-high 24 points to lead the University of Vermont men’s basketball team to an 84-59 victory over Colorado in the third-place game of the Rainbow Classic on Tuesday afternoon at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Cats improve to 8-4 with their first win in school history over a Big 12 Conference opponent.

Trimboli, who was named to the all-tournament team, was nearly perfect on the afternoon as he hit 8-for-9 from the floor, was 4-for-4 from three and had a game-high five assists with no turnovers. The Catamounts shot 56.9 percent from the floor and got 16 from junior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J.) and 12 from senior Colin McIntosh.

The Catamounts opened the game up in the second half, as they extended an 11-point lead to 20 with 10-1 run that made it 67-48 with 9:09 left in the contest. Vermont would lead by as many as 28 in a game that saw 10 different Catamounts score.

In the first half the Catamounts started out slow, connecting on only three of their first nine but would end the frame making 12 of their final 17 as they took a 42-33 lead into the locker room. Vermont shot 57.7 percent from the floor and hit 6-of-7 from three.

Trailing 12-11, Vermont used a 7-1 burst to take the lead for the remainder of the half. Sophomore Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I.) hit a three to open the run, while Blakely and sophomore Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C.) added buckets to follow. A pair of free throws from Fjeld gave Vermont a 37-27 lead with 2:56 to go.

Vermont finished the game with a season-low six turnovers, its fewest total since exactly one year ago when the Cats only had six in an 84-63 win over Central Connecticut State. Corey Higgins led Colorado (7-5, 0-0 Big 12) with 18, while Nate Tomlison added 11.

Vermont returns to action on Saturday, January 3 when it plays host to the New Jersey Institute of Technology at 1 p.m. Tickets still remain for the contest. The game can be heard live on DOT 96.7 FM and WEAV 960 AM, and on the internet at www.UVMathletics.com with the audio stream provided by www.SportsJuice.com. The game will also be broadcast live on the Internet via B2 Networks on a pay-per-view basis of $7.


NOTES: Tuesday marked the first meeting between the two schools in men’s basketball … Freshman Garvey Young (Washington, D.C.) made his first career start for the Cats on Tuesday … Vermont had only played one team from the state of Colorado in team history (Air Force in 1990) before playing a pair in back-to-back days … Vermont was 0-5 all-time against teams currently in the Big 12 Conference before Tuesday … The Cats are now 8-0 this year when leading at the half and have won 51 of its last 52 when scoring 80 or more … The Catamounts journey marks the longest trip by a Division I men’s basketball team this season, over 5,000 miles … This year is the 45th and final edition of the Rainbow Classic, as it ends its run as the longest running eight-team tournament in the country … Some former Rainbow Classic All-Tournament team members include Pete Maravich (LSU), Isiah Thomas (Indiana), Michael Jordan (North Carolina), Chris Webber (Michigan) and Paul Pierce (Kansas).