Rugg, Voelkel shine in exhibition game

UVM faced off against the St. Michael’s Purple Knights in an exhibition game this past Saturday. The Catamounts topped the Purple Knights 79-72.  

Vermont spread out the scoring in this game with six players tallying double-digit points.  The game was eventually won in free throw attempts.  

After maintaining a large lead for much of the game, UVM began missing free throws and started turning the ball over, giving St. Mike’s a chance to come back.

Near the end of the game it seemed plausible that St. Michaels’s could win the game.  

The senior Burlington native Clancy Rugg led the team in scoring with 13 points and added 5 rebounds.  Rugg was able to get to the line 10 times and made 7 of his free throws.  

Senior forward Brian Voelkel had 10 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists.  Sophomore Ethan O’Day and junior Hector Harold provided very valuable minutes off the bench.  O’Day had 12 points and Harold had 10 points and six rebounds.  

The two players combined for 22 points on 50 percent shooting.  First-year Dre Wills played solid defense, protecting the rim by blocking three shots in his brief 15 minutes of play.  

Vermont scored 23 points from the line out of 31 attempts.  St. Mike’s was only 12-19 from the line.

UVM gave away the ball 14 times, resulting in 11 points off turnovers.

St. Michaels  attempted multiple three-point shots compared to the Catamounts’ more conventional offensive approach. 

The Purple Knight’s infatuation with the 3-pointer is evident based on their points in the paint total.  

Only 14 of their 72 points came in the paint compared to Vermont’s 34.   

The Purple Knights launched 30 3-pointers, making about half of them compared to UVM’s 10 attempts.  

Dom Ditlefsen was hot from 3-point range, hitting 4-6 to add to his 14 point total.  

St. Michaels’ leading scorer, junior James Cambronne was extremely active in this game.  He had 17 points, 4 3-pointers made, and five blocked shots.  

St. Michael’s weakness was in securing the boards-Vermont outrebounded them by 15, resulting in 17 second-chance points.

St. Michaels was able to come back because of Vermont’s second half shooting woes.  

After making 58.62 percent of their shots in the first half, Vermont’s offense struggled to convert points in the second half when they shot 34.6 percent.  

Vermont had a 17-point lead four minutes into the second half before St. Michaels mounted their unsuccessful comeback attempt.

With 3 minutes to go and Vermont leading 76-60, the Catamounts would allow St. Michaels to go on a 12-3 run.  

Purple Knights’ Mike Holton Jr. hit a 3-pointer after a timeout, giving St. Michaels some much-needed energy.  

Later, a UVM turnover led to another Purple Knights 3-pointer.  The Catamounts turned it over yet again, and St. Michaels hit another 3-pointer bringing the score to 76-60 with 1:45 to go.  

Voelkel then missed 2 free throws, giving the Purple Knights a chance to come back.  

Purple Knight Mike Thompson missed his 2 free throws as well but they managed to get an offensive rebound and a layup to bring the score to 76-62.  

Rugg then hit two free throws to put the game out of reach for St. Mikes, securing the win for Vermont.

UVM plays its last preseason game of the year on November 3 against Concordia.  

The regular season begins November 9. UVM was picked to finish first in the America East Preseason poll with a projected total of 62 points.