Binghamton took advantage of cold Vermont shooting as they topped the Catamounts, 61-50, in America East men’s basketball at West Gym last Sunday. UVM shot a season-low 27% from the floor in the defeat. Both teams struggled on offense in the early going until the Bearcats’ Anthony Green hit a pair of three-pointers in the last 1:20 to give Binghamton a 26-20 lead at the break. After a three-point play by Taylor Coppenrath to open the second half, six points by Green fueled a 13-6 run to give the Bearcats a 39-29 advantage. An 8-0 burst by the Cats brought them within one, 45-44, with five minutes to play. But the Catamounts could manage just one field goal the rest of the way to seal the defeat. Coppenrath finished with 16 points on just five-for-16 from the floor. Corry Sullivan came off the bench for Vermont to add 11 points and a career-high seven rebounds. For the game, UVM out-rebounded Binghamton, 42-40, and had 11 turnovers compared to 15 for the winners but it could not offset their poor shooting performance. With the loss, Vermont fell to 12-9 overall and 6-3 in the conference. The Cats then hosted Middlebury on Tuesday at 7:00pm in their final non-conference game of the season. Middlebury did not fare so well against a hotter Catamount team. Grant Anderson scored 19 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the Cats past the Panthers, 111-75, setting a new Patrick Gym record of 111 points. With his team-high fifth double-double of the season, Anderson (nine-for-12) was one of six Catamounts to tally in double-figures in the team’s most recent win at Patrick Gym. Vermont (13-9) had their way against their Division III state rivals shooting 62% from the floor and out-rebounding the Panthers, 52-29. The Catamounts jumped on Middlebury early, scoring the game’s first ten points. Behind three-pointers by Corey Sullivan and Mike Goia, and a pair of lay-ups by Anderson, they widened their lead to 26-6 seven minutes into the contest. At the break, Anderson had 17 points and 11 boards as UVM took a 58-30 lead to the locker room. The scrappy Panthers, led by Hinesburg, Vt.-native Nate Anderson, never challenged their Division I opponents but hit eight-for-18 from beyond the arc to score 45 points in the second half. Coppenrath added 17 points and eight boards for the Catamounts and Sullivan delivered 15 points going 3-for-4 from three point range. Center Matt Sheftic tallied 13 points while Scotty Jones (four blocked shots) and Goia each scored 11. Goia also hauled down a career-high 11 rebounds, while Germain Njila had a career-best six assists. Nine of the ten Catamounts scored at least seven points with reserve Jack Phelan scoring three. For the Panthers (13-7), Nate Anderson, the reigning NESCAC player of the week had a team-high 17 points and five rebounds. Guard Steve Sinoway added 12 points as he, along with Rutland-native Mike Keenan, was perfect from three-point range. Sinoway made four straight while Keenan went 3-for-3. The game was a homecoming for Middlebury coach Jeff Brown, a standout guard for Vermont who graduated in 1982. Brown also was an assistant coach for the Catamounts for nine seasons. Vermont returns to America East play on Saturday traveling to Stony Brook. They then return home, where they play four of the last six regular season games, on Wednesday, February 12th taking on Binghamton. -SportsInfo