PHILADELPHIA, PA–On Sunday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled out to the Daskalaskis Athletic Center on the campus of Drexel University in the Center City section of Philadelphia to see action from the final day of the Legends Classic. The event was a three day event at Drexel, which was one of the subregions involved in the tournament. The Championship Bracket, which involved Rutgers, UMass, Florida, and Michigan State, was held over in Atlantic City.
The subregional bracket held at Drexel saw both the Dragons and Big Red of Cornell go 2-0 over the first two days. Drexel defeated Vermont on Friday (74-61), and then downed Toledo on Saturday (69-59). Cornell beat Toledo on Friday (78-60) and then defeated Vermont (67-59). On Sunday, Vermont, led by two time America East Player of the Year, and former Metuchen High School standout, Marqus Blakely, was in action in the 12:00 PM against Toledo while Drexel and Cornell followed up at 2:30 PM. It was only the second time ever that Vermont and Toledo played each other. The last time these two teams met was in the 1983-84 season when the Rockets won.
On this day though, it would be all Vermont. The Catamounts, which defeated Rutgers in the preliminary round at the RAC on November 22nd (77-71), was looking to end a three game losing streak, and it did in grand fashion. Maurice Joseph, a Quebec native, led Vermont with a game high 21 points on 7 of 15 shooting from the floor including a 5 of 12 effort from beyond the arc while Blakely chipped in with 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting from the floor, and 3 of 4 from the line while also picking up a season high 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals. Jordan Dressler led Toledo with a team high 11 points along with 6 rebounds.
For the game, Vermont shot 32 of 63 from the floor for 50.8 percent including a 7 of 22 effort from beyond the arc for 32 percent. At the foul line, the Catamounts went 11 of 18 for 61 percent. Meanwhile, Toledo was limited to 22 of 59 shooting from the floor for 37.3 percent including a paltry 2 of 15 showing from downtown for 13.3 percent. At the line, the Rockets only made eight attempts, and shot 37.5 percent. In other statistical areas, Vermont had a 39-34 edge on the boards including a 14-12 advantage on the offensive glass. In addition, the Catamounts held edges in assists (22-10), turnovers (11-15), and steals (6-4) while Toledo held the edge in blocks (4-3).
Vermont dominated from start to finish with a 19-6 spurt over the first 8:37 to open the game. During that key opening stretch, the Catamounts made 7 of its first 11 shots. The America East school maintained and even increased that lead with a 22-17 showing over the final 12:23 of the period as Blakely got 7 of his points in the first half. GMC Hoops arrived with a couple minutes to go in the first half, and saw Vermont already ahead by a 39-21 margin. Toledo then got a basket from Justin Anyijong with 48 seconds left to pull within 39-23. Then, Vermont’s Simeon Marsalis ended the first half scoring with a floater off the glass on the left side as time expired for the 41-23 lead at the break. In the second half, the Catamounts picked up right where they left off.
With Joseph and Blakely leading the way, Vermont began the final period of play with a 17-7 spurt over the first 5:45 for a 58-30 lead with a bit over 14 minutes left. Evan Fjeld got things going for the Catamounts in the second half when he took a pass from Blakely, who was being triple teamed on the left side, and took a shot, but missed. Fjeld (6 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist) then got his own offensive rebound, and put it back in for a 43-23 lead with 19:32 left. After a three pointer by Toledo, Nick Vier (7 points, 5 assists, 4 steals, and 2 rebounds) passed down low to Blakely for a short hook for a 45-26 lead at the 18:31 mark. Following another Toledo score, Joseph drove into the key for a layin at the 17:14 mark for a 47-28 lead. About 45 seconds later, Joseph added a three pointer from the right wing after another Rockets score for a 50-30 advantage.
A little more than 20 seconds later, Vermont forced a turnover, and got the ball in the hands of Blakely, who came down the court for an easy two handed slam, and a 52-30 lead with 16:05 to go. The Catamounts kept the pressure on by forcing another turnover. Vier tried to get Blakely for an alleyoop, but the Metuchen native couldn’t get it to go in as he drew a foul on the play. Netting two free throws, Blakely put Vermont up by a 54-30 count with 15:47 to go. Garrett Kissel (8 points and 10 rebounds) took a pass from Vier, and scored a layup for a 56-30 lead at the 15:15 mark, and then Joseph closed out the run with a jumper from the left wing off a pass from Vier to make the score 58-30 with 14:15 left.
From there, Vermont was never threatened as it outscored Toledo by a 24-19 margin the rest of the way including another two handed jam by Blakely off an assist from Joey Accaoui at the 13:43 mark to round out the day. Vermont was just too much for Toledo, which dropped to 0-6. In all fairness though, Toledo has one of the youngest teams in the nation. A member of the MAC, Toledo has a squad that includes nine freshmen, four sophomores, and no seniors. In contrast, Vermont had three seniors (including Blakely) along with two juniors in its starting lineup. With the victory, Vermont ended a three game losing streak that included losses over the first two days of the Legends Classic at Drexel while Toledo remained winless at 0-6. In the second game of the Sunday Doubleheader, Cornell defeated Drexel by the score of 61-54 to win all three of its games during the extended weekend.
Overall, I was impressed with the way Blakely played. He still has the athleticism and has put on some muscle. Most importantly though, he played very unselfishly with seven assists, and didn’t try to force things, or do too much. He played with a poise and a confidence that is good reason why he has been the America East Conference Player of the Year over the past two seasons. Whenever he was double teamed or triple-teamed, he calmly passed out to teammates. He still has an issue with turnovers (5 of the team’s 11 on the game), but that was just about the only flaw in his effort on Sunday. He was one of only two players from New Jersey playing in the game with the other being Vier (played at Bergen Catholic).
There will be a more detailed article forthcoming. In the meantime, check out the entry in the blog on my trip to Center City, Philadelphia on Sunday.