Nov. 21, 2008
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) -With 17 seconds left, Maryland huddled together to come with a play that would produce the 3-pointer to force overtime and prevent Vermont from pulling off an upset.
Eric Hayes and Jin Soo Kim were possible options, but Greivis Vasquez made it clear he was going to be the one to let it fly.
"I said, 'They're either going to love me or they're really going to hate me,'" Vasquez said. "I'm taking the shot. If I miss it, it's on me."
Vasquez nailed the 3-pointer from the right side with 6 seconds left, and Maryland presented coach Gary Williams his 400th victory at the school with a harrowing 89-74 win Friday night.
After rallying from 5 points down in the last two minutes of regulation, the Terrapins (3-0) scored the first 17 points in overtime. But the final score doesn't show how close Maryland was to being upset on its home floor, where it has won 56 of the last 60 non-conference games.
"In any good season, there's a win like that somewhere along the line, where it seems there's no chance to win," said Williams, now 400-216 in 20 seasons at Maryland. "It kind of cements the idea that if you work hard enough, good things happen. And we had to work really hard, because things weren't going real well for us."
The Catamounts led 71-66 before David Neal, the only senior on the Maryland squad, hit a 3-pointer with 1:38 left in regulation. The score remained 71-69 until Vermont's Marqus Blakely made one of two free throws after being intentionally fouled with 16.7 seconds remaining.
Vasquez then forced overtime with his clutch shot.
"Greivis made a great shot, but we executed that play pretty well, too," Williams said.
In the extra session, Adrian Bowie made a follow-shot and Vasquez sank a 3-pointer to start the Terrapins on their way. Vermont's only points in the extra session came on a layup by Blakely with 22 seconds left.
Once the Terps forced overtime, the Catamounts were done.
"You could feel it. They got the crowd behind them all the momentum," Vermont coach Mike Lonergan said. "I would have liked to see our guys get more touches in overtime, but we kind of panicked."
Vasquez finished with 26 points, Landon Milbourne had 13 and three other Terrapins reached double figures.
Blakely had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Catamounts (1-2), and Mike Trimboli scored 17.
Lonergan, a former assistant under Williams at Maryland, said, "I love Coach Williams. I was happy to see him get his 400th win at Maryland. Obviously I would have liked to keep him at 399, but it was great coming back."
A layup by Joey Accaoi, a Maryland turnover and a 3-pointer by Trimboli gave Vermont a 47-43 lead with 12:42 left. The Terrapins then got two free throws from Bowie before the Catamounts went on a 8-2 spree to make it 55-47.
Maryland used six straight foul shots and a jumper by Vasquez to pull even, but baskets by Maurice Joseph and Blakely sparked a 6-1 surge that made it 61-56 with 6:29 remaining.
But it wasn't enough.
Maryland led 37-35 at halftime despite committing 10 turnovers and getting outrebounded 18-15.
After missing their first eight shots in the opener against Bucknell and opening 0-for-6 against Youngstown State, the Terrapins used 7-for-8 shooting to grab an 18-11 lead. But Maryland had seven turnovers in the opening 10 minutes, several of which fueled a 15-5 spurt than enabled Vermont to go up 26-23.
The Terrapins then used a 14-2 run to move back in front. Hayes hit a pair of 3-pointers, Milbourne contributed two baskets and Maryland's defense held the Catamounts without a field goal for more than seven minutes.
