(Photo Credit: Brian Jenkins)
FINAL SCORE: Vermont 76, UMBC 42 | Box Score
Postgame | Photos

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Junior Maurice Joseph (Montreal, Quebec) scored a career-high 19 points and classmate Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J.) added 17 points and 16 rebounds as the University of Vermont men's basketball team cruised to a 76-42 victory over UMBC on Monday night at Patrick Gym. The Catamounts have now won three straight as they improve to 12-6 overall and 3-2 in America East action.

Joseph hit six three's on the night and added four rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes off the bench. The 34-point margin of victory was the most for the Cats since they defeated Hartford 89-45 on January 2, 2005.

"It was a good win for us, I'm glad our guys stayed confident after the two-game losing streak, stuck together and got back to playing some good Vermont defense. It is nice to see Mojo and Joey continue to help us off the bench, their three-point shooting has really opened things up for us," said Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan.

Vermont used the long ball in the first half to take a 36-19 lead into halftime. Five of the Catamounts' first six made baskets were three-pointers as they jumped out to a 17-9 lead. Vermont led 24-17 after a lay-up by UMBC's Chauncey Gilliam with 6:28 to go in the frame and the Cats would end the half with a 12-2 run. The Retrievers (8-9, 2-3 America East) lone bucket over the stretch came with 1.3 second left.

A bucket by UMBC�s Darryl Proctor would cut Vermont�s lead to 37-23 just 2:08 into the second half, but that would be as close as the Retrievers would get. Vermont would answer with a 9-1 run over the next 2:32 that was capped off by a three from Joseph to put the Cats on top 46-24.

The Catamounts would go on to lead by as many as 36 in the contest. Blakely finished 7-for-8 from the floor, as he earned his sixth double-double of the season and first since December 27 against George Washington. Senior Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass.) was the only other Catamount in double figures with 10 points and he added seven rebounds.

Vermont held a 50-29 edge on the glass for the game and connected on a season-high 12 three-pointers. The 42 points were the fewest the Catamounts have given up since they defeated Harvard 48-42 on December 14, 2003.

Proctor led all scorers with 22 points, while Gilliam added 15 for the Retrievers, who only dressed seven players due to injuries.

Vermont is next in action on Thursday when the Cats travel to face Hartford at 7:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised on the New England Sports Network (NESN). NESN is channel 39 for Comcast subscribers throughout Vermont. NESN is also located on channel 434 on DISH Network and channel 628 on DirecTV.

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.


NOTES: Vermont holds a 10-4 edge in the all-time series � UMBC won all three meetings last year � Vermont benefited from a 34-0 edge in bench scoring � Sophomore Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I.) handed out a career-high five assists � The two teams last met in the America East Semifinals last year � UMBC was without all-conference selection Jay Greene on Monday, as he missed the game due to injury � Monday�s game was televised on Comcast Sports Net New England, as Vermont will play a minimum of 12 TV games this year � Joseph and UMBC�s Proctor were named the America East Players of the Game.