Nov. 23, 2002

Box Score

Poughkeepsie, NY - The University of Vermont men's basketball team rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to defeat Pepsi-Marist Classic host Marist College 66-63 to earn the Classic Championship. Taylor Coppenrath scored 27 points in the championship game in earning Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.

The Red Foxes (1-1) took a 48-36 lead with 15:28 remaining the game on a David Bennett (Salt Lake City, UT) field goal, and led by the same margin, 50-038 with 14:11 left in the game, but could not hold off the Catamounts who outscored Marist 28-13 over the final 14 minutes of play.

Coppenrath was 8-17 to pace the Vermont (2-0) offense, which shot 43.8 percent from the floor for the game. Grant Anderson scored five points and had 10 boards for the Catamounts, while All-Tournament Team member Matt Sheftic finished with nine points and five boards.

Nick Eppehimer (Pottstown, PA) scored a career-high for the Red Foxes, finishing the game with 24 points, as he was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Brandon Ellerbee (Plano, TX) had his second double-digit effort, scoring 11 points in earning All-Tournament Team honors. Bennett had 12 points for Marist, while Dennis Young (Warrenton, GA) scored seven and had a team-high six boards for Marist.

Vermont out rebounded the Red Foxes 37-23 in a battle of defending league champions, Marist winning the 2002 MAAC Regular Season crown, and Vermont the America East Regular Season title.

Ryan Prillman scored 22 and had seven rebounds to pace the Eagles (1-1) to a win over Colgate in the Consolation game, and was named to the All-Tournament team as a result. Steve Pettyjohn scored eight points for the Eagles and had a game-high 12 rebounds in the game.

Dave Hardy earned All-Tournament Team honors for Colgate, scoring 14 points in the Consolation game for the 0-2 Raiders. Andrew Zidar scored 22 points in the losing effort for Colgate, who shot only 44.4 percent, 4-9, from the free throw line.