Vermont men's, women's basketball teams sweep Albany
The University of Vermont men's basketball team throttled Albany on Thursday night to maintain sole possession of first place in the America East Conference.
Meanwhile, the UVM women created a logjam atop their league standings.
The Catamount men (17-5, 7-0) roared to an 81-59 victory over the Great Danes in front of 2,338 at Patrick Gym, extending their nation-leading conference winning streak to 22 games.
The Catamount women (15-7, 7-1) halted Albany's 20-game home winning streak with a 64-59 road triumph to slide into a three-way tie with the Great Danes and Maine for first at the halfway point of the regular season.
Details on both games:
Vermont men 81, Albany 59
Vermont leaders: Nick Fiorillo 15 points, 4 assists. TJ Long 14 points, 7 rebounds. Aaron Deloney 13 points, 6 assists. Ileri Ayo-Faleye 12 points, 10 rebounds. TJ Hurley 8 points, 3 assists.
Albany leaders: Amar’e Marshall 20 points. Ny'Mire Little 12 points.
Note: Fiorillo tied a season-high with 15 points and Ayo-Faleye notched his second double-double in three games for Vermont, which begins league play 7-0 for the fourth time in coach John Becker's tenure.
Becker (via news release): "Another great team win tonight. I thought our defense was tremendous again. Shamir in his three games back, against really good point guards, has really dominated those matchups from a defensive standpoint. We generated good shots again, still not shooting as well as we know we can, but we just have to stick with it and hopefully it starts to come back, but again another really good defensive performance."
Up next: Saturday at home vs. Binghamton.
Vermont women 64, Albany 59
Vermont leaders: Anna Olson 14 points, 6 rebounds. Keira Hanson 13 points. Delaney Richason 11 points. Emma Utterback 9 points, 6 assists. Andjela Matic 9 points.
Albany leaders: Deja Evans 23 points, 6 rebounds. Kayla Cooper 17 points, 7 rebounds. Helene Haegerstrand 9 points.
Note: The visiting Catamounts started with an 8-2 spurt and didn't yield the lead the rest of the way while shooting 48% from the floor and gaining a 28-9 edge in bench points. Albany got to within three in the fourth quarter before Hanson's personal 8-0 spurt sealed the victory.
Vermont coach Alisa Kresge (via news release): "I thought we found a way to win with some really big tough plays. I was decently surprised with our offense just because Albany's defense is tremendous. Delaney hit some big shots early which was great and then our offense found a bit of a comfort zone which was very important. Keira has a been a huge spark for us off the bench offensively and defensively."
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @aabrami5.
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Vermont basketball: Catamounts sweep Albany in America East games
