Knights 2-0 Over Weekend
November 11, 2012

Knights 2-0 Over Weekend

Defeat Eastern Maine and Unity

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Randolph Center, VT - After dropping their last contest, the VTC Men's Basketball team bounced back by winning two in a row over the weekend. On Saturday, they defeated a fierce opponent in Eastern Maine in a tough defensive battle by the final of 67-55. On Sunday they took care of a scrappy Unity College 98-73.

The Golden Eagles of Eastern Maine were ready to play the game, as they quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Freshman Andrew Scott (Melbourne, FL) was able to connect on a jumper to get the Knights on the scoreboard. EM was up almost the entirety of the first half, leading by as much as 8, but Senior Alex Tyrrell (Sydeny, Australia) kept the Knights in the game scoring 10 of his 21 total points in the first half, while Freshman Kyle Kissenberth (Winter Park, FL) crashed the boards hard, garnering all 10 of his rebounds in the first period. For EM, Cote Card led the team in scoring with 11 in the first 20 minutes, which was on the way to leading the team in scoring for the game with 17. Chris Lewis Jr. match Kissenberth in rebounding, also grabbing all 10 of his in the first period. The half came to a close with the Knights down 1, 29-28.

The second half began with Kissenberth connecting on a jumper to put the home team up 1. For the first five minutes the game was back and forth until the Knights strung together baskets by Senior Josh Lindsey (Palm Bay, FL), Tyrrell and Sam Marler (Fr./Sydney, Australia) to make their lead 7. After that scoring streak, the Knights led the remainder of the game, at one point making the margin as large as 15. The game came to a close with VTC winning by 12. 

Marler again played all 40 minutes of the game, dishing out 6 assists. Lindsey pitched in 13 points for the Knights in the win. Nick Sherwood finished with 10 points for EM.

Key to the victory was capitalization on mistakes. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 21 times, leading to a conversion of 19 points for Vermont Tech. That was in comparison to just 12 points off turnovers for the visitors.

After their victory Saturday, the guys were flying high and ready for the early 1pm start Sunday against Unity. The game began with the Knights going on a 23-4 run, keyed Scott hitting the first five points and Lindsey scoring 10 of his eventual 19. The Rams of Unity, however, were not about to give up as they fought and clawed throughout the half. Eddie Kopacz scored 12 of his 25 to lead the Rams in keeping the game within shouting distance. At the half the Knights were up 12, 47-35.

In the second half the Rams kept fighting but much like Saturday's game, the Knights capitalized time and time again on turnovers, finishing with 31 points generated from the 22 turnovers of Unity. On the other side, Vermont Tech did a masterful job controlling the ball, as they only turned it over 8 times. Kissenberth finished with a game-high 24 points, and all five VTC staters were in double figures, including Scott with 17 and Tyrrell with 10. Marler was close to a triple-double, hitting 10 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds.

For Unity Jared Straight scored 14 and John Crowe 11, to go along with the game-high score of Kopacz.

The men are now 3-1, 3-0, and will next travel to New York City the week of Thanksgiving. The Knights play NCAA Division III Medgar Evers of Brooklyn, NY on Monday, Nov. 19 and then take on fellow USCAA member, and the school that knocked them out of the national tournament last year, Berkeley College (NY) on Tuesday, Nov. 20.