Taylor Coppenrath and Matt Sheftic combined for 43 points to lead a strong frontcourt assault as Vermont topped Albany, 63-53, in America East men’s basketball at the Recreation and Convocation Center on Wednesday night. Coppenrath scored a game-high 27 while Sheftic added 16 and 12 rebounds as the Catamounts (10-7, 4-1 America East) won for the seventh time in their last eight games. The strong efforts also were redemption from poor outings by both players. Last season in UVM’s loss at Albany, Coppenrath was held to a season-low two points and Sheftic, in the last game on Monday at Cornell, was held scoreless. Behind 12 early points by Sheftic, Vermont jumped out to an early 19-11 lead. Cold shooting for the Catamounts, who had one field goal in an eight-minute stretch, and a 14-6 run by the Great Danes, tied the game, 25-25, at the break. But Vermont opened the second half with a 12-3 run fueled by a pair of Coppenrath three-pointers to take over the game. Solid rebounding, strong defense and a 12-for-16 effort from the foul line closed out Albany down the stretch. Vermont outrebounded the Great Danes, 43-22, while limiting them to just 36% from the field. Also they held Albany, who came into the contest as the conference leader in 3-pt field goal percentage, to just six-for-27 (22%) from three-point range. Coppenrath finished with a career-high four three-pointers and Sheftic made seven of his 12 field goal attempts. David Hehn of Sarnia, Ontario (2-for-4 3-pt FG’s) added 10 points, all in the second half, and backcourt mate Germain Njila had five points and a career-high nine rebounds. ForwardGrant Anderson, who is second in the conference in rebounds, also had nine boards. Antoine Johnson led Albany with 15 points while Levi Levine tallied 14 and Jamar Wilson scored 12. With the loss, the Great Danes fall to 4-10 overall and 1-3 in the America East. Vermont takes a week off before they return to the court hosting Maine on Wednesday, January 22nd at 7:00pm. -SportsInfo