Vermont beats Stony Brook, 65-42

Combine high turnovers with low shooting percentage and it's pretty tough to beat the first-place team - or even stay in the game for long.

Stony Brook shot 38.6 percent from the field and committed a season-high 24 turnovers in a 65-42 loss to America East Conference men's basketball leader Vermont Sunday afternoon at Patrick Gym in Burlington, Vt.

"We had too many turnovers today,'' Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said. "Give credit to Vermont. They're a good team and they played a good game, and when you play good teams, you can't give up so many possessions.''

Leonard Hayes had 12 points and Danny Carter eight for the Seawolves (9-14, 4-7).

Brendan Bald had 19 points and Evan Fjeld 14 for Vermont (19-5, 10-2), which shot 56.5 percent from the field and earned its seventh straight victory. Fjeld, a senior, surpassed the career 1,000-point mark. Freshman Brian Voelkel contributed a career-high 10 assists along with five rebounds and three steals.

Stony Brook was 17-for-44 from the field to Vermont's 26-for-46. The Catamounts, who had a season-high 14 steals and a 32-10 scoring edge in the paint, have won 20 of their last 22 at Patrick Gym.

"I thought we played great today, especially in the second half," Vermont coach Mike Lonergan said. "Our defense was incredible both halves, but offensively we really got it going in the second. We had 13 turnovers at halftime, which was disappointing, but we settled down in the second half and Brian had some great passes and we got a lot of easy buckets."

The Seawolves took an 11-10 lead on Dave Coley's free throw with 12:19 left in the first half, but Stony Brook managed only two field goals - jumpers by Anthony Jackson and Coley - the rest of the half. The Seawolves had scoreless droughts of 4:00 and 6:34, and Vermont's 22-4 run produced a 32-15 halftime lead.

Bald hit a three-pointer, Fjeld put in a layup and Matt Glass sank a three-pointer with three seconds left as the Catamounts closed the half with an 8-0 run. Vermont shot 61.9 percent from the field in the half (13-for-21).

Hayes hit a jumper and a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to move Stony Brook within 32-20, but Bald's three-pointer capped a 16-2 run that gave Vermont a 48-22 lead. The Catamounts' lead reached 27 at 60-33.