Knights Upended by College of St. Joseph
Vermont Tech travelled to Rutland on Thursday night to take on Sunrise Conference rival The College of St. Joseph. The game had been postponed due to Wednesday’s snow storm. The Knights encountered a storm of a different kind. In spite of the winter weather outside, the Fighting Saints were hotter than Hades on the basketball court. St. Joe’s singed Vermont Tech, 99-90, to draw even in the race for a Sunrise Conference Final Four playoff berth and to avenge the Knights 90-79 victory two weeks earlier.
The Knights played a solid first half and headed into the locker room at halftime with a 45-37 lead. “I tell our guys that the first three minutes of the second half is often the most important part of a basketball game. If you have a decent lead, you seek to make it a dominant lead. If you are behind, you establish the pace of your comeback. In the second half today, it was all St. Joe’s. They were truly impressive.”
The Saints shot 70% from the field and 86% from the foul line in the second half. More importantly, they outrebounded the Knights 43-30. Time and again the Saints crashed the boards for second chance baskets. The Knights gave up 21 offensive rebounds.
Kevin Carr led Vermont Tech in scoring with 32 points. Nick Simpson added 19. John Robinson and Josh Lindsey both had 11 points and Trent Roleau had 10.
Six Saints scored in double figures, led by sharp shooter Brendan Rios with 19 points. Evan Jobst scored 16; Raheim Smalls and James Rajda both had 15; K.J. Jackson and Antonio Wilburn had 10 each.
Vermont Tech is now 19-4 on the season and 5-4 in the Sunrise Conference.
