Hoop dream ends for Cats
By John A Fantino | BURLINGTON FREE PRESS (3/26/06)

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Now the Catamounts know what it's like on the other side of the rainbow.

Five minutes past 2 on Saturday afternoon, a sea of purple and gold flooded the Recreation and Convocation Center court in celebration, and the University of Vermont released its grip on the America East Conference men's basketball trophy.

The University at Albany slashed Vermont's string of three consecutive conference titles with a swift and efficient 80-67 win at the raucous RACC, dashing UVM's hopes of a fourth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. Albany bolted to an 18-4 advantage in the opening 6 1/2 minutes and led 44-26 at intermission. The second half was little more than a victory lap for the Great Danes. "They weren't going to be denied today," UVM coach Mike Lonergan said. "They saw blood and they just buried us. We didn't have an answer."

It will be top-seeded Albany attending its first Big Dance after a magical run from also-ran to champion.

Vermont knows that feeling. The program took 102 years to win a league title, then captured two more in a rags-to-riches story that gained national attention. Last March, the dream went a step further when UVM shocked nationally ranked Syracuse in the NCAA's opening round.

This is a different bunch of Catamounts. Gone are Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine and two other starters. No longer at the helm is legendary coach Tom Brennan. What's left is the youngest Division I team in the country -- no seniors, two juniors, five sophomores, seven freshmen.

The inexperienced group worked hard, meshed late in the regular season and caught fire in the playoffs. The sixth-seeded Cats upset No. 3 Boston University in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Binghamton in the semifinals before running into an Albany buzz saw armed with Jamar Wilson, the America East Player of the Year and tournament most valuable player.

"I'd like to give our players and our assistant coaches and our fans all the credit in the world for getting us to this game," said Lonergan, who finished his first season at Vermont with a 13-17 record. "I really am proud of them."

Junior and co-captain Martin Klimes volunteered the sentiment of the players.

"You can argue that with our record and situation we overachieved, but we weren't just happy to be in this game; we wanted to win," said Klimes, a member of all three of the Catamounts' championship teams. "We improved a lot. It's important for our team and program that we made it back to the championship game.

"But I don't think we got everything out of our players that we could have. There's huge potential for improvement. There's a lot of talent on this team that is yet to be used, so I'm really excited for next season."