BURLINGTON, Vt. – Four Catamounts reached double figures led by 20 points apiece from senior Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass.) and junior Nick Vier (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) as the University of Vermont men’s basketball team topped visiting UNC-Wilmington 89-68 on Sunday afternoon at Patrick Gym. Senior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn.) added 19 points and game-highs of seven rebounds and seven assists as with the win the Cats improve to 5-3 on the year.

“We are really happy with that win, Wilmington is a very good program. They have a couple injuries right now, but they are going to be much better later in the year. I thought we lost our composure a couple times, but our defense was strong the last 10 minutes and we did a good job making the extra pass, and as a result we had 19 assists,” said Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan.

UNCW (3-7, 0-1 CAA) used a 20-4 run to open the second half as a three by Chad Tomko and a free throw by Jerel Stephenson would cut the Vermont lead to 46-45 with 13:04 left. Vermont would open the gap back up though as Vier would get fouled shooing a three, hit all three, then junior Maurice Joseph (Montreal, Quebec) hit a three to push it back to a 52-45 lead. The Joseph bucket was the first for the Cats in a span of 6:05.

The Seahawks would get it within five at 54-49, but Vermont scored the next seven as a Trimboli bucket would make it 61-49 with 8:58 left. The Catamounts put the game away as they stretched a eight-point lead to 16 with an 11-3 run that was capped off by back-to-back three’s by Vier and sophomore Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I.) to make it 72-56.

The first half was fast paced with both teams coming out pushing the ball up and down the court. Wilmington would lead by as many as five early on and a jumper by Marlo Davis with 12:56 remaining in the half gave them a 15-13 lead. Vermont would answer with an 11-0 run over the next 4:56 to take a 24-15 advantage and lead for the remainder of the game.

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