Jan. 14, 2004

Box Score

BURLINGTON, Vt. - Taylor Coppenrath scored 30 points as Vermont held off Stony Brook, 77-70, in men's college basketball at Patrick Gym Wednesday night.

The nation's fifth leading scorer, Coppenrath went seven-for-nine from the floor and 15-for-18 from the free throw line. He scored 17 in the second half as the Catamounts improved to 5-0 in the America East and 8-5 overall.

In front of 2,332 fans who braved winter conditions that included 20 below zero temperature, Vermont won for the eighth time in the last nine games. UVM also won at home for the ninth straight time (4-0 this season) where they have won 20 of their last 21 games.

"We were never on all cylinders tonight but we never got rattled and we never let them get ahead," noted UVM coach Tom Brennan. "This team does not need a lot of pep talk and the effort was always there, especially in the second half when Germain's (Njila) play became a major reason why we were able to win."

Brennan referred to junior Germain Njila who tallied a career-high 15 points, 12 in the deciding second half. Both teams traded the lead six times in the first half before UVM settled into a 33-31 lead at the break. Njila scored eight early points after intermission as the Catamounts took control of the lead.

Several times the Seawolves, led by Cory Spencer and D.J. Munir, answered with runs but never came closer than 62-61 with 3:33 to play. But the Catamounts, behind six straight free throws by Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine, quickly bounced back and won for the sixth time in six meetings with Stony Brook.

In addition to Coppenrath (also five rebounds and three steals) and Njila, Sorrentine added 22 points and five assists while Scotty Jones had a team-high eight rebounds. The Catamounts outrebounded SBU, 30-27 for the game, 17-11 in the second half. Also in the second half, Vermont went 19-for-25 (76%) from the line including 15 of their last 17 down the stretch.

Munir led Stony Brook (5-9, 2-3 America East) with 19 points going five-for-seven from three-point range. Spencer tallied 16 as did Mike Konopka, who was a perfect seven-for-seven from the floor. Stony Brook shot 55% from the field for the game and backed by Munir, 56% from beyond the arc.