Men's Basketball Battles Hard, But Falls to Vermont in America East Tournament

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Maine men's basketball team battled hard, but fell to second-seeded Vermont 50-40 on Saturday night in the America East Tournament Quarterfinals. Maine finishes its season 12-17 while Vermont goes to 21-11.

Maine took a quick 13-6 lead courtesy of six points from Alasdair Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland) and a Justin Edwards (Whitby, Ontario) layup and foul.

The Catamounts closed it to 13-12, but Fraser responded with a turnaround jumper and Mike Allison (Lynden, Ontario) kept it that way as he had a pair of blocks on the ensuing Catamount possession.

Maine proceeded to go on a 7-to-2 run to end the half courtesy of an Allison layup and foul, a Fraser jumper and a Xavier Pollard (Bronx, N.Y.) layup where he grabbed the ball right out of the hands of a Vermont player before going straight up for a layup.

Fraser led Maine in the first half with eight points and four rebounds while Pollard added six points and four rebounds. Allison had three points and three blocks.

Maine shot 33 percent while Vermont shot 24 percent.

Vermont closed the gap to 26-24 with just over 14 minutes left, but Raheem Singleton (Boston, Mass.) answered with a pull up jumper and Rogers stole a pass and raced ahead for a layup.

Vermont tied the game at 30 with just over eight minutes remaining, but Kilian Cato (Espoo, Finland) drove the lane for a layup.

The Catamounts went on an 8-to-nothing run and took a six-point lead, but Edwards stopped the run with a drive through a pair of defenders for a layup and a foul. The free throw made it 38-35 with 4:24 left.

Allison converted a pair of free throws to bring Maine back within one with just over four minutes left, but Vermont would take a 43-38 lead with just under two minutes remaining on a three-pointer.

Singleton answered with a mid-range jumper, but the Catamounts were able to convert a layup, taking a 45-40 lead with 59 seconds left.

Singleton tried to bring Maine back again, but was called for a tough offensive foul.

Vermont would make free throws to push the lead just out of reach of the Black Bears.

Fraser finished with 10 points and seven rebounds while Allison added seven points, eight rebounds and four blocks.