The 3-time American East champion Catamounts did not look like a champion caliber team this Saturday. Coming off a huge (69-62) win at Maine, the Hawks of Hartford came to a sold out Patrick Gymnasium ready to play. Led by seniors Kenny Adeleke and Aaron Cook (coming off a career-high 40 point game), Hartford was able to knock off the Cats 75-66.
The game was ugly-turnovers, lose balls and fouls made it hard for either team to get into much of a rhythm. The first half was dominated by Hartford’s 6’9″ center Kenny Adeleke, who tallied 19 out of his 23 points and 11 of his 16 rebounds in the first twenty minutes of play.
Vermont, who won their first meeting with Hartford this season, was coming off a solid road win at New Hampshire. The Cats, who led the conference in FG% coming into the game shot only 40% while being outrebounded 41-34. Martin Klimes led the Cats with 14 points. Freshman stand out Mike Trimboli dropped 13, while center Chris Holm had 11 with 9 boards.
The game was close all the way through, with leads changing constantly. But, as Martin Klimes said after the game, “every time it came too close they made plays and big shots.” The Cats looked ready to take control with about 6:00 minutes remaining in the game with a huge diving play by sophomore Chad Powlovich leading to a jam by Klimes to tie the game. But, Hartford was able to answer again and again. “Although we are not the most talented team in the conference, we’ve got the best players”, Hartford head coach Larry Harrison said in the postgame. “It’s gonna be one hell of a tournament”.
The Cat’s have a bright future in front of them. Tied for the least experienced team in the nation, they will return every player next season. As Brennan mentioned, “One era is over, and another is beginning.” We just need to give this young time some time to grow.
With the loss, the Cats fall to 9-11 overall, 5-5 in conference play. With the win, Hartford has moved up to 5-5 in American East, and now shares 3rd place with the Cats. The Cats next game is this Wednesday at 7pm, here at Patrick Gym. They will be playing host to Stony Brook (2-8; 4-16).
