Freshman Shine But Men’s Basketball Can’t Keep Up With Vermont, Live Blog- Men’s Basketball vs. Vermont (AEC Tournament)

UMBC was never really in the game, they fell behind by 10 points very early and they were trying too hard and forcing everything. By the time they finally calmed down they were down by over 20 points in the second half.

Adrian Satchell and Shawn Grant both give UMBC a lot of hope for the future and played great but Chauncey Gilliam and Chris De La Rosa just could not get things going, and without those two getting hot from the floor UMBC usually struggles.

It has certainly been a very disappointing season for UMBC but they never gave up at any point. With so much youth and inexperience, and a lack of size, the team struggled and their streak of first round wins in the tournament ends with a 76-59 loss to Vermont.

Pregame:
It’s tournament time and anything can happen. Both teams records are out the window and nothing during the regular season matters, though you should keep in mind that Vermont did beat UMBC twice during the season. Both times the two teams met UMBC just doubled Marqus Blakely with Matt Spadafora and Robbie Jackson or Adrian Satchell, that double team opened up shots on the outside and Garvey Young and Maurice Joseph made UMBC pay for it.

But the last time UMBC played on this floor they had no problem doing well. Chauncey Gilliam scored a career high 26 points while Chris De La Rosa had 22 points and five assists.

If we’ve learned anything about these two teams the last few years it is this: Vermont falls apart at tournament time while UMBC overachieves. Last season UMBC was not supposed to even contend in the first round yet made it to the championship game while Vermont was in some views the favorite to win yet fell apart in the first round and lost.

It will be an interesting game but that’s why these are played, anybody can win, and anybody can lose by 40 in any tournament game.

Starters:

Vermont:
F- Marqus Blakely
F- Evan Fjeld
G- Maurice Joseph
G- Garvey Young
G- Nick Vier

UMBC:
C- Robbie Jackson
G- Adrian Satchell
G- Matt Spadafora
G- Chauncey Gilliam
G- Chris De La Rosa

First Half:

16:27- 9-2 Vermont

Randy Monroe was just issued a technical foul. His guys are trying too hard and it is not working out for them. They are forcing stuff. Chauncey Gilliam tired to dunk in a crowd when the layup was a better option which caused a loss of a possession, They are trying to force fast break opportunities, and they are over pursuing on defense.

15:53- 13-2 Vermont

Being down this much this early is not a good sign, luckily there is plenty of time to make for the terrible start.

11:46- 18-8 Vermont

UMBC has to settle down if they want to have any chance of making a comeback. They are starting to do that a little bit but are still setting for the first shots rather than passing around a little more and getting open shots.

9:30- 28-10 Vermont

The Retrievers are simple put- playing bad basketball. They are making bad passes, rushing shots, not setting their feet on defense, and playing overly aggressive. They still have enough time to comeback but Randy Monroe has to find a way to settle them down for them to do that.

6:48- 31-16 Vermont

After that timeout UMBC seemed to settle down and that resulted in three straight trips down the court of an easy layup, all of which were by Adrian Satchell who grew up 10 minutes away from University of Hartford.

5:35- 33-18 Vermont

Adrian Satchell came up with another easy layup inside after a steal by Brian Neller. He currently leads the team with 10 points.

3:58- 33-21 Vermont

Brian Neller came down the floor after a solid defensive effort on the opposite end of the floor and nailed an open three pointer. Just before the timeout through Chris De La Rosa went to the basket and was rejected by Marqus Blakely, which fired up the crowd with mostly Vermont fans.

Halftime: 40-26 Vermont

Outside of a short span in the middle of the half UMBC could not have played much worse. A lot of time teams give it 110% and get a win, but in this case UMBC gave it 200% and was on overload. They just really forced shots and passed. They turned the ball over five times and were outrebounded 26-16.

Stats:

Vermont:
Maurice Joseph- 14 points, 4 rebounds
Marqus Blakely- 9 points, 10 rebounds
Garvey Young- 6 points, 1 assist
Pat Bergman- 4 points, 3 rebounds
Evan Fjeld- 3 points, 2 rebounds
Joey Accaoui0- 3 points
Nick Vier- 1 point, 2 rebounds

UMBC:
Adrian Satchell- 12 points, 6 rebounds
Shawn Grant- 7 points, 4 rebounds
Brian Neller- 3 points, 1 rebound
Robbie Jackson- 2 points
Chris De La Rosa- 2 points, 3 assist

Second Half:

18:38- 44-26 Vermont

Vermont came out and made two quick baskets, this may be an early exit for UMBC unless they can somehow get on a BIG run.

18:19- 44-26 Vermont

Chauncey Gilliam charge with a technical foul, to be honest with the way he’s been playing, very, very sloppy, too aggressive, and not smart, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the bench the rest of the game.

15:04- 51-28 Vermont

Vermont has started the half on an 11-2 run. Robbie Jackson picked up his fourth foul just after the lst timeout and may be out of the game for a while. Right now they are going all guards and that is killing them in the rebounding battle.

11:28- 57-38 Vermont

UMBC is actually starting to play their game but it may be a case of too little too late. Shawn Grant has started heating up and now has 12 points while fellow freshman Adrian Satchell still leads the team with 14 points.

7:29- 65-44 Vermont

I just got up close and personal with Maurice Joseph who dove over the press table right next to me to save a ball going out of bounce (crazy!). But UMBC is just not playing well this game, miracles happen but this game was probably over in the first half.

3:47- 71-50 Vermont

Barring a miracle this is going to be my last update before the half. UMBC knows they are out of it at this point but are still working hard. Shots just are not falling though you have to be impressed with the freshman duo of Adrian Satchell (14 points, 12 rebounds_ and Shawn Grant (15 points, 3 threes)

Final Stats:

Vermont:
Maurice Joseph- 19 points, 5 rebounds
Marqus Blakely- 18 points, 12 rebounds
Evan Fjeld- 10 points, 10 rebounds,
Garvey Young- 6 points
Brendan Bald- 6 points, 3 rebounds
Joey Accoui- 5 points
Pat Bergmann- 4 points, 5 rebounds
Nick Vier- 3 points, 2 assists
Simeon Marsalis- 3 points
Garrett Kissel- 2 points, 1 rebound

UMBC:
Shawn Grant- 17 points, 5 rebounds
Adrian Satchell- 14 points, 12 rebounds
Chris De La Rosa- 10 points, 6 assists
Chauncey Gilliam- 9 points, 3 rebounds
Brian Neller- 3 points, 2 steals
Bakari Smith- 2 points, 5 rebounds
Nick Groce- 2 points, 1 rebound
Robbie Jackson- 2 points, 2 rebound