Leissner Notches 28 points, 10 boards but Men’s Hoops Fell to Vermont, 63-56, in AE Semis

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Sophomore Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds as the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team fell to the University of Vermont, 63-56, in the America East Playoffs semifinals, Monday night at Patrick Gymnasium.

The Wildcats' season ends with an overall record of 19-12, matching the program's single season wins record, and a conference record of 11-5. Vermont moves on to the title game against Stony Brook University next weekend. The Wildcats played in the semifinals in back-to-back seasons.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Leissner totaled his sixth double-double of the season on 12 of 25 shooting.
• Junior Jaleen Smith (Freeport, Texas) finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
• Leissner scored 22 in the final frame on 9 of 14 shooting from the field.

HOW IT HAPPENED
In the second frame, Leissner began the scoring with the first seven points for UNH to reduce the
Catamount lead to seven points, 35-28, with 17:51 to go. Bell-Haynes hit 1 of 2 free throws before Dion nailed his first shot of the game, a trey, to reduce the deficit to 31-36, the smallest Catamount lead since 10:01 in the first half. Vermont increased its lead to 11, 48-37, on Duncan's third 3-pointer of the game.

Vermont held its largest lead of the game, 58-39, with 7:45 to play. UNH began a comeback with six straight points in just over three minutes to reduce the deficit to 13 points. Steidl hit a layup while two Leissner free throws and a layup brought the score to 60-51 with 2:51 to go. Bell-Haynes connected on two huge free throws but Jordan drilled his first three of the game to reduce the lead to eight, 62-54. Leissner's 27^th and 28^th points on a layup closed the gap to six but Steidl nailed a free throw to seal the deal.

Bramanti kicked off the first-half Wildcat scoring with a three followed by seven straight points by Smith to take a four-point lead, 10-6, with 15:53 to play in the first.

Vermont went on a 17-2 run to take a 23-12 lead with 9:15 to go. Steidl drilled a 3-pointer to kick off the scoring and Ernie Duncan nailed two straight treys followed by a layup to score eight of the final 10 points during the stretch.

Vermont led by as much as 14 points with 1:36 to go but Smith tallied his second three of the game to bring the halftime score to 32-21.

-POSTGAME NOTES-
UNH STARTERS (SEASON/CAREER STARTS)
Jr. G Jaleen Smith (27/71)
So. F Iba Camara (28/36)
So. F Tanner Leissner (27/54)
Sr. G Ronnel Jordan (27/29)
Jr. G Joe Bramanti (25/44)

GROUPS RECORD: 11-4

SERIES INFO

• The Wildcats fell to 0-6 against the Catamounts during playoff basketball.

ATTENDANCE: 2840

TEAM NOTES

• UNH defeated UVM on the glass 39-36.
• The Wildcats outscored the Catamounts in the paint 26-24.
• Vermont held a 6-1 block advantage in the game.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Tanner Leissner: 28 points / 10 rebounds / 12-25 FGs
Jaleen Smith: 14 points / 7 rebounds / 7 assists / 5-8 FGs
Joe Bramanti: 6 points / 5 rebounds / 1 assist

Ethan O'Day: 19 points / 7 rebounds / 7-12 FGs
Kurt Steidl: 13 points / 6 rebounds / 1 assist / 4-11 FGs
Ernie Duncan: 11 points / 5 rebounds / 4-5 FGs

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