Senior Evan Fjeld broke the 1,000-point milestone as the Catamounts routed Stony Brook 65-42 on Feb. 6 in front of the home crowd at Patrick Gym. Sophomore Brendan Bald added a game-high 19 points to push the team’s record just shy of the 20-game mark at 19-5 and atop America East.
Stony Brook looked competitive early, and through the first 10 minutes the Catamounts held a one-point lead, 12-11. At the 10:10 mark of the first half, Fjeld blocked a Stony Brook shot, recovered the ball and finished the possession, sinking a 15-footer.
This propelled the team to a 12-2 run in the next eight and a half minutes and went to the locker room at halftime holding 32-15. First-year standout Brian Voelkel had a team-high three rebounds and three assists.
The one scare of the half was Bald going to the locker room early with team trainers. He already had 10 points and was two of three from beyond the arc.
Stellar defense obscured 13 first-half turnovers, and the Catamounts held all but one Stony Brook player to one basket or less and a team shooting percentage of 31.6 percent.
Although Stony Brook opened the second half with a small run, Vermont kept a 10 plus-point lead. With a tip-in followed by a slam, off a behind-the-back assist from Voelkel, just under six minutes into the second half, Evan Fjeld became the 30th member of Vermont’s 1,000-point club.
“I knew. They told me at halftime I needed two,” Fjeld said. “I told [sophomore] Matt [Glass] I was gonna get it on a dunk so I was one basket off.”
Head coach Mike Lonergan was excited about the win, admitting he did not see a 19-5 start initially for the team but now feels supremely confident in them each time out.
“We just never allowed them to make a run,” Lonergan said. “And we wore them out with our depth.” In response to Evan’s milestone, “Really happy for Evan,” Lonergran added. “Scoring 1,000 points, it’s a nice milestone to happen at home.”
The Catamounts forced Stony Brook into 24 turnovers and a game shooting percentage of 38.6 percent. It pushed their record to 11-1 at home and set a new season mark for opponents points allowed.
