BURLINGTON, VT ? The University of Hartford men's basketball team couldn't hold on in the second half in a 90-73 loss to the University of Vermont on Sunday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium.
Vermont (23-6 overall, 15-1 America East) picked up its 11th-straight victory and will be the top seed in the upcoming America East Championship in Boston, MA. Hartford (12-17 overall, 6-10 America East) will be the eighth seed at the championship and will face ninth-seeded Stony Brook in Friday's first round game at 7 p.m.
Hartford held a 50-44 lead at the half but was outscored 46-23 in the second stanza. The Catamounts took control behind a 19-3 run that turned a three-point lead into 19 with six minutes to go. Hartford shot just 30 percent in the second half while Vermont checked in at 52 percent.
Mike Trimboli scored all 12 of his points in the second half. Kyle Cieplicki led all scorers with a career-high 26 points and shot 5-of-6 from three-point range for the game. Freshman Joe Zeglinski scored 19 of his career-high 24 points in the first half to pace the Hawks. Cieplicki and Zeglinski were each named America East Players of the Game.
Things looked bleak for the Hawks in the first 10 minutes of the game. Senior Bo Taylor, the team's leading scorer, picked up a pair of fouls in the first four minutes and sat the rest of the half. Cieplicki hit his first five shots as the Catamounts raced out to a 28-14 lead with 10:57 remaining.
Hartford got back into the game with a 17-3 run over the next four minutes, tying the game at 31-31 on an Alex Zimnickas basket with 7:04 to play. The Hawks would later take the lead on a Brian Glowiak three-pointer and took their biggest lead of the game into the locker room at half. The 50 first-half points were the most scored by Hartford this season.
The biggest difference in the second half was rebounding, as the Catamounts hit the glass for a 30-9 edge. Vermont, one of the top rebounding teams in the country, held a 46-23 advantage in the category for the game.
Zeglinski also finished with five rebounds and five steals. Sophomore Jaret Von Rosenberg scored 18 points while Zimnickas added 16.
