How a turnover sealed Vermont men's basketball team's win over Maine in league opener

The University of Vermont men's basketball team committed just six turnovers on Saturday afternoon.

And the last one turned into the game's pivotal sequence — in a good way for the home crowd.

With two minutes to play and Vermont clinging to a five-point lead, sophomore guard TJ Hurley fell on a drive and flipped the ball toward halfcourt, where Maine's Kellen Tynes picked it up and raced the other way for what appeared to be an uncontested layup. But Vermont's Ileri Ayo-Faleye chased down Tynes and stood his ground in the paint, forcing Tynes to rethink a shot attempt before throwing possession away.

On Vermont's ensuing offensive trip, Nick Fiorillo dropped a floater, and coach John Becker and the Catamounts exhaled.

"That stop by (Ayo-Faleye) was probably the play of the game," Becker said.

The junior forward also had the offensive game to match his defensive acumen, collecting a career-high 14 points to go with six rebounds, two steals and two blocks to power the Catamounts to a 65-58 victory over Maine in the America East Conference opener in front of 2,704 at Patrick Gym.

It's Vermont's 27th straight victory in the series vs. Maine, a streak that dates back to the 2012-2013 season, Becker's first as Catamount bench boss.

"Good, hard-fought win (Saturday) to open up league play against a really tough Maine team," Becker said. "Our defense bailed us out. I thought (Ayo-Faleye) was terrific. That’s two games in a row he was assertive offensively and he seems to be gaining some confidence."

Fiorillo (13 points) and Matt Veretto (12 points) joined Ayo-Faleye in double figures while TJ Long added nine points and reserve Jace Roquemore tossed in seven points in 23 minutes for Vermont (11-5, 1-0), which shot 51.9% in the second half and totaled 44 points in the paint to offset a dismal 3 of 17 effort beyond the arc.

"We’ll take the win but, obviously, have stuff to work on. Our defense stood up," Becker said.

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With junior transfer guard Shamir Bogues back in the starting lineup after missing the previous three games with a lower body injury, Vermont started strong from the opening tip, racing out to leads of 11-2 and 24-14. But Maine (8-8, 0-1) found a groove in the final 7:09 of the opening 20 minutes.

Tynes, who had 15 of his game-high 19 points in the first half, ignited a closing run of 16-2 to send the Black Bears into the break with a 30-26 advantage. To highlight the spurt, Tynes converted a steal into a breakaway layup and Ja'Shonte Wright-Mcleish followed with a transition 3-pointer on back-to-back Vermont turnovers.

Maine built a 35-28 margin before Ayo-Faleye took more of an initiative on the offensive end. Isolated on one defender, and with Maine concerned with limiting Vermont's 3-point shooters, Ayo-Faleye took advantage with driving finishes to spark a 25-7 run over 12-plus minutes.

"I kind of let things come to me throughout the game and ... I was ready for it," the soft-spoken Ayo-Faleye said.

Fiorillo drained a 3-pointer, via a Ayo-Faleye pass on the wing, and Roquemore, in his most minutes as a Catamount against a Division I opponent, drove for a smooth layup to close out the extended run and push the hosts' lead to 53-42 with 5:59 to go.

"We know how to win in this conference," said Becker, who moves to 163-30 in America East play over his 12-plus seasons at Vermont.

Still, Maine, led by former Becker assistant coach Chris Markwood, made another run and got to within 56-51 with two minutes to play before that Hurley turnover went from potentially game-altering to fortuitous from Vermont's perspective with Ayo-Faleye's heads-up play.

"We relish those big moments. I call it winning time down the stretch," Ayo-Faleye said.

After playing 10 minutes in the first half, Bogues was ruled out for the second half due to his injury. With or without Bogues, Becker said he's harped on his players to be more consistent. Roquemore's play Saturday was a promising development, but Becker said he needs to see more from his starters.

"We are going into these games really not knowing what we are going to get from our guys, which is not a great feeling," Becker said. "I’m really just trying to determine who has it, who doesn’t that night and roll with those guys.

"We have to be better with that. We’re an older team. It’s getting to that point of the year where we have to start to figure some stuff out and depend on guys."

After Tynes' 19 points on 9 of 17 shooting, Peter Filipovity scored 11 points and Jaden Clayton added 10 points for the Black Bears.

Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.

This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont men's basketball pulls away from Maine in America East opener