AExtra: The Sixth Man Series: Vermont Men's and Women's Basketball

To kick off our coverage of conference play in America East basketball, the Sixth Man series will be running over the next few weeks. We reached out to the student media at each of our nine institutions for guest posts on men's and women's basketball. Today, we have Jake Bielecki, a sports writer for The Vermont Cynic, writing about Catamount men's and women's basketball. A big thanks to Jake for participating!

Brian Voelkel

As non-conference play came to a close the Vermont Catamounts' mens basketball team boasted a 8-5 record with hopes to build on the success that brought an America East title and NCAA tournament victory to Burlington last season. Coach John Becker is excited about the successes of all America East teams in non-conference play. He had this to say about this about non-conference play: “We are still learning to play together but I am happy with our play thus far,” citing road wins against Sienna, Northeastern Harvard and Quinnipiac.

Trying to repeat the success of last year's squad, the Catamounts are without their two leading scorers from last season, guard Four McGlynn and forward Matt Glass. McGlynn, the only player in the nation to lead his team in scoring without starting a game, transferred to Towson, while Glass graduated with a history degree. While Coach Becker has been pleased by his teams defensive play he feels the team, “needs to find it's rhythm offensively”.

So what's a team to do when they lose their two most prolific scorers? To quote Coach Carter: “Well, I guess we'll have new leading scorers this year”. Stepping up in that regard is junior forward Luke Apfeld, who leads the team with nearly 10.3 points per game and is second on the team in blocked shots. Another player to watch is transfer Candon Rusin, who Becker says, “has shown signs of the player he will be”. (Editor's note: It was recently announced that Apfeld will miss 3-6 weeks with an ankle injury).

Conference play for the Catamounts begins on January 2nd against rival New Hampshire in the hostile confines of Durham. Two players Becker must rely on in this environment, and throughout conference play as a whole, are forward Brian Voelkel and guard Sandro Carissimo. The former high-school tandem have led the Catamounts in minutes played each of the past two seasons. In addition, Voelkel led the team in rebounds, assists and steals both years. Carissimo, manning the role of floor general, routinely navigates the team into its offensive sets and keeps the game on an even keel. For Vermont to continue its success in the America East, both players must continue their high level of play. (Editor's note: Vermont is currently 3-1 in America East play).

As for the lady Catamounts, coach Lori Gear McBride said: “I am a little disappointed in our record so far, but not completely surprised. We knew it was going to take time to gel everyone”. McBride also added that they, “are starting to play the type of basketball that will enable us to compete in the America East”. The team finished non-conference play with a 3-10 record.

Niki Taylor

With four freshman firmly entrenched in the rotation, two of which are starting, the future is bright for the Lady Cats. “Our freshman continue to impress me in how quickly they are making an impact on our program,” said coach McBride. Kylie Atwood (Irasburg, Vt. Lake Region Union High-School) and Gracia Hutson (Wayzata, Minn. Hopkins High-School) are two freshman who cracked the starting lineup. Hutson leads the team with one block per contest and Atwood is second on the team with one three-pointer per game.

With a clean slate in conference play the young Lady Catamounts will continue to gain experience and mesh as a team. McBride says, “we need to continue to improve our offensive execution and reads,” but also states that she is, “pleased with our unselfishness and team play on offense”. With a talented young core and plenty of untapped potential this could be a team that will sneak up on the America East come tournament time.

Box Scores, Recaps and Highlights

Men's Basketball

at Stony Brook 75, Boston U. 48: Box/Recap/Highlights

Top Performer

Dave Coley (SBU): 21 points (8-12 FG; 3-4 3FG; 2-2 FT), 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block.

Big Stat

The game, which had been back and forth for most of the first half, turned on a 24-5 run by the Seawolves that started in the first half and finished in the second. As a part of that stretch, Boston U. went 12:45 without making a field goal.

X-Factor

He's hardly an "x-factor" at this point, but Jameel Warney put up another double-double tonight (12 points, 14 rebounds) and was a force in the paint. Tommy Brenton (12 points, 10 boards) was his usual self as well. For the Terriers, Dom Morris led with 11 points and five boards.