Fjeld scores 17 points, Vermont pulls away late for 77-67 victory over Fairfield

Fjeld leads Vermont over Fairfield 77-67

BURLINGTON, Vt. — Evan Fjeld scored 17 points to lead Vermont to a 77-67 victory over Fairfield on Saturday.

Nick Vier, Maurice Joseph and Marqus Blakley added 14 apiece for the Catamounts (21-8), who won their seventh in a row.

Vier hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the first 1:19 of the second half, when Vermont increased a 33-26 halftime lead to 42-28.

After the Stags (18-9) got within a point, 58-57, on a three-point play by Colin Nickerson with 4:49 remaining, the Catamounts went on an 11-0 run. A dunk by Blakley made it 69-57 with 2:16 left.

Vermont, of the America East Conference, was 6-for-10 on 3-pointers and shot 48.1 percent (26-for-54) overall, while the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Stags shot 37.3 percent (22-for-59) and were just 6-for-22 behind the arc.

Nickerson scored 20 points and Derek Needham 15 for Fairfield.