Albany's Jason Siggers (Dallas, Texas/Skyline/New Mexico Junior College) earned the second America East Player of the Week award of his career, while Boston University's Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) and Maine's Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./Maine Central Institute) share America East Rookie of the Week accolades. The awards were announced Monday (November 13).
Siggers, a 6-4 swingman, kept his team in the game with 11 of his 17 points in the first half, as UAlbany rallied for a 55-49 victory over Bucknell. Siggers made his first career start as he tied a career-best with seven rebounds and played a career-high 37 minutes. He scored on the left baseline to tie the contest at 48 apiece with 2:47 remaining and sparked the Great Danes on both ends of the floor with impressive hustle plays.
Strong tallied 19 points in his first collegiate game, 10 in the final five minutes of the first half, including five in the final 15 seconds to cut a 14-point George Washington lead in half. The 6-3 guard sank back-to-back threes to cut GW's lead to five with 9:49 left in the game, the closest Boston University would get the rest of the way. Bernal had 18 points in his collegiate debut against Harvard. He went 6-for-9 from the floor and 6-for-9 from the free throw line. The 6-5 guard also added three assists, two rebounds and two steals, while calmly running the point for most of the game.
AMERICA EAST NOTEBOOK
Champs Fight Back for Big Win
The defending America East Champion Albany Great Danes dug themselves out of a big hole to grind out an impressive 55-49 victory over mid-major power Bucknell. After falling behind by as many as 15 points and with reigning America East Player of the Year Jamar Wilson (Bronx, N.Y./All Hallows/Our Savior New American School) battling leg cramps, Albany fed off the energy of the sell-out crowd and the play of Jason Siggers (Dallas, Texas/Skyline/New Mexico Junior College) and Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) to pull-off the come-from-behind upset. The Great Danes overcame the largest halftime deficit (12 points) in the program’s Division I history.
Banners Up
Prior to Albany's victory over Bucknell, the Great Danes honored their 2005-06 squad that earned the program's first America East Championship and subsequent berth to the NCAA Tournament. With WOFX's Rodger Wyland serving as Master of Ceremonies, the Great Danes unveiled two new banners commemorating their accomplishments and awarded championship rings to members of the historic team.
Hawks Impress in Leibovitz Debut
Dan Leibovitz made an impressive debut as head coach of Hartford as the Hawks put a serious scare in #8 Georgetown on Saturday afternoon before succumbing to the Hoyas, 69-59. Hartford was a thorn in the Hoyas' side as the Hawks were in the game from wire-to-wire. With just under four minutes remaining in the contest, the Hawks trailed by just four points. Hartford used an eight-man rotation and various zone defenses taken from Leibovitz's 10 years as an assistant under John Chaney at Temple.
Fresh Faces
The opening week of the 2006-07 season has spawned optimism around America East freshmen.
? America East Co-Rookie of the Week Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./Maine Central Institute) ran the point for the Black Bears like a well-versed veteran in Maine’s loss at Harvard. Bernal netted a team-high 18 points and was part of Ted Woodward’s three-guard starting rotation that combined to score 41 points with 10 rebounds and six assists.
? Boston University’s youth movement began on Friday night versus George Washington as four freshmen were in the starting lineup for Dennis Wolff’s squad, but it was a freshman sixth-man that impressed the most. Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) scored a team-high 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting, 5-of-8 from beyond the arc, to lead the Terriers.
? At Hartford, freshman guard Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) netted 14 points with five rebounds to pace the Hawks in a solid showing at #8 Georgetown. Zeglinski connected on 5-of-15 field goal attempts and 4-of-11 from three-point land.
? Vermont freshman Joe Trapani (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) came off the bench to score 20 points in his Catamount debut as he was 6-of-9 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. The 6-7 forward was stiffled by Maryland’s defensive efforts, but he should prove to be a solid contributor for the Catamounts all season long.
Something Old, Something New
Stony Brook's season-opening victory over Colgate was a case of something old and something new for the Seawolves. Preseason all-conference pick Mitchell Beauford (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) was back to his ways as he scored 20 points to lead SBU to victory, while the highly touted recruiting class made its much-anticipated debut. Junior transfer Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va./Herndon/George Washington) was the brightest spot mong the newcomers as he netted 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting with five rebounds. Beauford and Lucas appear poised to be one of the top backcourt duos in America East.
Efficient Force
Despite being limited to 16 minutes of action due to foul trouble, Maine's Philippe Tchekane Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon/Redemption Christian Academy) tallied an efficient 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting with 10 rebounds. Bofia's aggressive play on the offensive end yielded a career-high in scoring the column and game-high seven offensive rebounds.
Crowd Pleasers
Only two America East squads have opened the home portions of their 2006-07 slates, but both of those games featured impressive crowds. At the newly-dubbed SEFCU Arena, Albany welcomed a sell-out crowd of 4,538 to watch the Great Danes knock off Bucknell. In Boston University’s opener at Agganis Arena, the site of the 2007 America East Men’s Basketball Championship, the Terriers took the floor in front of 4,778 fans.
Albany Tops Coaches’ Poll
Coming off its first-ever conference championship and subsequent berth to the NCAA Tournament, the University at Albany has been unanimously picked to win back-to-back America East men’s basketball titles, according to a vote of the league’s head coaches.
The Great Danes received all eight possible first-place votes (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own team) to pace the conference’s teams with 64 points. Picks two through five are just seven points apart as University of Maine (49 points), University of Vermont (48), University of New Hampshire (45) and Boston University (42 points with one first-place vote) are narrowly separated in the conference’s top five.
Binghamton University (30), which finished second in the regular-season last year, has been tabbed to finish sixth in 2006-07, while Stony Brook University (22), UMBC (22) and University of Hartford (9) round out the league’s nine-team poll.
Preseason All-Conference Squad
The reigning America East Player of the Year, Jamar Wilson (Bronx, N.Y./All Hallows/Our Savior New American School) of Albany, and the league’s other returning first team all-conference selection, Blagoj Janev (Sydney, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) of New Hampshire, highlight the 2006 America East Men’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team. Wilson and Janev were unanimous selections as they both received all eight possible preseason votes from the league’s head coaches (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes).
Joining Wilson and Janev on the preseason squad is Kevin Reed (Yarmouth, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth/St. Thomas More) of Maine, Mitchell Beauford (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) of Stony Brook and Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s School) of Vermont. Four of the five preseason picks come from teams that are slated to finish in the top half of America East, according to the preseason coaches’ poll, with Beauford being the only exception as Stony Brook was picked 7th.
Lights, Camera, Action
America East announced its most comprehensive television schedule in history with more than 50 men’s and women’s basketball games slated for broadcast in 2006-07 (see following page for complete schedule). Included in the package is the America East Men’s Basketball Championship, which will air live on ESPN2 on March 10 at 12 noon. It marks the 19th-consecutive year that the championship game will appear on ESPN or ESPN2.
America East and ESPN Regional Television will team up to produce and distribute games throughout the America East geographic footprint, which includes several of the nation’s top 25 media markets including New York (No. 1), Boston (No. 5), Washington, D.C. (No. 8), Baltimore and Hartford. In addition, no fewer than 12 games will be included in the ESPN Full Court package, the subscription service provided by ESPN. The games will also be available on-line via video streaming at AmericaEast.com, through the conference’s multi-media partner, XOS Technologies.
Basketball Standards Set
In an effort to further the development of the league as a whole, America East has established a set of men’s and women’s basketball standards that will enhance the league’s premier sport by implementing competitive scheduling policies, radio and television requirements and a marketing fund aimed at boosting basketball awareness conference-wide. The standards are a product of the league’s annual Athletic Director’s meeting in June and were later approved by the conference’s nine member-institution Presidents.
With an emphasis on an opponents’ two-year average RPI (Ratings Percentage Index), the league’s new scheduling policy calls for member institutions to effectively schedule games versus tougher non-conference foes. Effective for the 2007-08 season, minimum requirements have been established to stress the importance of strength-of-schedule around the league, which should help bolster the conference’s overall RPI.
With more than 50 televised basketball games planned for the 2006-07 season, the increase in television coverage is the most significant and visible standard established. The comprehensive television schedule is more than double any previous season total in conference history. Likewise, every basketball game will now be available online via a streamed radio broadcast, with men’s games required as over-the-air broadcasts as well.
A number of new marketing initiatives have been set up for the 2006-07 season with none more beneficial than the marketing fund. Established for basketball marketing and promotions efforts, institutions shall apply to the conference office for use of this fund.
Among the conference’s other marketing initiatives are the promotion of America East Opening Night, a full-color, 24-page America East Basketball Fan Guide, a nightly fan handout, the recognition of America East Players of the Game following each men’s and women’s basketball contest and a re-designed website through a partnership with XOS Technologies.
Championship Returns to Boston
The America East Men’s Basketball Championship returns to Boston in 2007 as Boston University hosts the nine-team tournament on March 2-4 at Agganis Arena. The first round game will take place on Friday, March 2, followed by the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 3 and the semifinals on Sunday, March 4.
Tournament ticket packages are $30 for youth/students and $60 for adults. To purchase tickets call 617-353-GoBU or online at www.AmericaEast.com. To request media credentials for the conference’s premier event, email K.J. Cardinal (cardinal@americaeast.com).
New Website Debuts
America East and XOS Technologies have partnered to launch a new and improved www.AmericaEast.com. For this partnership, XOS will provide an online platform that includes website design, technology development and integration and E-commerce solutions. The newly launched site, which is aimed toward an interactive audience, will offer FREE online streaming of the America East television package, live championship statistics, an upgraded webstore and online auctions.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Albany Great Danes
The Great Danes (1-0, 0-0 America East) rallied for a 55-49 victory over Bucknell in the 2006-07 season opener on Nov. 11... The Bison, who were receiving votes in both top-25 polls, exploded onto the national scene the last two years by defeating Kansas and Arkansas in their NCAA first-round game... UAlbany held Bucknell to 29.8-percent shooting, the lowest figure by an opponent since Feb. 14, 2004... The Bison made just 4-of-21 attempts in the second half, as the Great Danes regrouped from trailing by 12 at the intermission... UAlbany overcame the largest halftime deficit in the program’s Division I history ... the Great Danes held an opponent under 50 points for the 15th time at the Division I level... Jason Siggers (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) had 11 of his 17 points in the first half... Siggers also tied a career-high with seven rebounds in his first start as a collegian... Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) scored 11 points, all in the second half, and made two free throws with 51.3 seconds remaining that gave his team the lead for good at 50-49... Lillis, who reached double figures for the first time since Jan. 9th of last year, added five rebounds and four steals... Jamar Wilson (Bronx, N.Y./Our Savior New American School) had 12 points and six assists, but was limited to 28 minutes due to leg cramps... SEFCU, the largest credit union in the Capital Region, made a $2.75 million commitment to name the Recreation and Convocation Center, in addition to promotional opportunities, for a 10-year period on Nov. 1... UAlbany’s SEFCU Arena was sold out (4,538) for the opener with Bucknell... UAlbany unveiled two banners in a pre-game ceremony to commemorate the basketball program’s first-ever America East Conference championship and subsequent NCAA appearance.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (0-1, 0-0 America East) dropped its season opener on the road at Long Island University. It marked the fourth-consecutive season that the Bearcats have lost their first game... Long Island jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led from start to finish. It was Binghamton’s first loss to the Blackbirds in the all-time series... Senior guard Troy Hailey (Hyattsville, Md./Montrose Christian) and junior guard Mike Gordon (Plainfield, N.J./Plainfield) scored 11 points apiece... Freshman Lazar Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Railway Technical) grabbed 12 rebounds in his collegiate debut. It was the most rebounds by a Binghamton freshman in the school’s Division I era. Trifunovic also chipped in four points and a block in 23 minutes of action... Playing in front of a boisterous group of family and friends, junior guard Richard Forbes (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Far Rockaway/Howard JC) scored nine points - all in the second half - and had four steals in 22 minutes... Sophomore guard Dwayne Jackson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) scored all seven of his points in the first half on 3-of-4 shooting.
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (0-1, 0-0 America East) opened its season with a 70-57 home loss to Atlantic 10 power George Washington (1-0) on Friday, Nov. 10 at Agganis Arena... The Terriers are now 4-9 all-time in season-openers under head coach Dennis Wolff... Freshman Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) had a team-best 19 points in his first collegiate game... He shot seven-for-12 from the floor, including five-for-eight from three-point range... Strong tallied two assists as well in 27 minutes... Boston U. also got a strong performance from red-shirt sophomore Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North)... Morris posted nine points on four-for-nine shooting, three rebounds, three assists, and one steal in 32 minutes... The Terriers will face Harvard on Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 7:00 p.m. in Laivetes Pavilion.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (0-1, 0-0 America East) tipped off the 2006-07 season at Georgetown last week, giving the eighth-ranked Hoyas a run for their money before falling 69-59 in head coach Dan Leibovitz’s debut... The Hawks hung around the entire game and trailed by only four points with under four minutes remaining. Freshman Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) and senior Alez Zimnickas (Toronto, Ontario/Bishop Allen Academy/Love Christian Center) each had a team-high 14 points. Zeglinski also added a team-high five rebounds, four steals and one assist. Zimnickas hit 5-of-6 from the field and made all three-pointers he took. His 14 points were a career high... Senior Bo Taylor (Reston, Va./Paul VI Catholic/Bishop O’Connell/South Lakes) also made his return to the floor after sitting out the majority of last season. He finished with 12 points and a career-high four assists... The Hawks will play two road games this week, starting with a Monday contest at Towson at 7 p.m. Hartford wraps up the week at Army on Saturday, November 18 at 1 p.m.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (0-1, 0-0 America East) dropped it’s season opener 75-71 to Harvard on Saturday afternoon. The game featured the return of senior standout Kevin Reed (Yarmouth, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth/St. Thomas Moore) who sat out the 2005-06 season as a medical redshirt. Reed finished with 12 points and seven reoubounds... The game was also the debut of rookies Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./Hyde School/MCI), Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) and Jordan Cook (Hampden, Maine/Hampden). Bernal finished with a team-high 18 points in the game... Phillipe Tchekane-Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon/Redemption Christian Academy) added 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 16 minutes of play as he was plagued by foul trouble. The 17 points were a career high for Tchekane-Bofia and it was his fourth career double-double... Maine out-rebounded Harvard 42 to 29 in the game. The Black Bears had 19 offensive rebounds... Olli Ahvenniemi (Vaasa, Finland/Vaasan Lyseon Lukio) had three blocks in the game and moved into sole possession of fourth place on the Maine all-time blocks list with 106. He is 24 shy of tying Ed Jones (1990-94) with 130 for third place... The Black Bears now travel to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where they will take place in the College Basketball Experience. Maine faces Detroit on Monday in the first round and will play either Marquette or Idaho State on Tuesday.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (0-1, 0-0 America East) lost its season opener for the first time in eight years, dating back to an 85-56 setback at Pittsburgh to christen the 1998-99 season... The Retrievers started that campaign 0-4, but would go on to win 15-straight Northeast Conference games and the league’s regular season title... Trailing 33-31 at halftime, UMBC opened the second half on a 6-0 run vs. St. Peter’s to surge ahead, 37-33 with 17:39 remaining... But the Retrievers misfired on their next 10 field goal attempts and St. Peter’s went on a 16-0 run over the next eight minutes to take command... UMBC shot just 32.8 percent from the field, while the Peacocks converted on 10 of 20 from behind the arc... Senior guard Chris Pugh (Clinton, Md./Oxon Hill) led all scorers in the game with 17 points, while sophomore guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) added 10 points, six assists and three steals... Sophomore forward Uwem Eshietedoho (Miramar, Fla./American) earned his first start since the fourth game of the 2005-06 season and responded well with a team-high seven rebounds... Freshman forward Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) had a solid debut, scoring five points, but blocking three shots in 20 minutes of action... Junior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) missed his first free throw attempt of the season, snapping a streak of 20 made in a row... The Retrievers open at home on Tuesday when they welcome Loyola (Md.) for a live televised (MASN) game.
New Hampshire Wildcats
New Hampshire (0-1, 0-0 America East) posted an 0-1 record in the opening week of college basketball... UNH suffered a tough 86-47 loss to No.15 Boston College on Friday night... BC used its size and strength to out-rebound the Wildcats by a margin of 47-20... Wildcat sophomore guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) notched a team-high 11 points with three steals... UNH freshman guard Dan McGeary (Boston, Mass./Roxbury Latin) tallied six first half points en route to scoring a career-high eight points... Senior co-captain Blagoj Janev (Sydney, Australia/Australia Institute of Sport) posted eight points along with five rebounds, while junior forward Mike Christensen (Reston, Va./Flint Hill) registered eight points and four rebounds... Freshman forward Seth Price (Grove City, Ohio/Grove City) notched four points and five rebounds in his collegiate debut... The Wildcats return for their second home contest of the season on Saturday (Nov. 18) when they host Central Connecticut State University at 12:00 noon.
Stony Brook Seawolves
The Seawolves (1-0, 0-0 America East) opened up the 2006-07 campaign with a 65-59 win on the road at Colgate on Friday evening... The combination of Mitchell Beauford (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) and Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va./Herndon/George Washington) proved to be too much as the Seawolves won their first road game of the year since the 1996-97 season. Lucas and Beauford each netted a game-high 20 points for the Seawolves who led by as many as 15 in the second half after scoring just 19 points in the first half... Shooting a blistering 67 percent from the field in the second half, Beauford held the Raiders off as he tallied the final eight points of the game for Stony Brook and went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 39 seconds... Mike Popoko (Baltimore, Md./The McDonogh School) chipped in with 10 points, all in the second half. Of the 65 points scored in the game, 59 were scored by either juniors or seniors for the Seawolves... Stony Brook managed to win just one away game all of last season and looks to start 2-0 for the first time in Division I history... Stony Brook returns to action when it takes on Cornell on Monday evening at 7 p.m.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (1-1, 0-0 America East) split in a pair of contests as part of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic this past week... The Catamounts defeated New Orleans 82-65 in the first Division I college basketball game of the 2006-07 season... Freshman Joe Trapani (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) netted a game-high 20 points in his collegiate debut to lead Vermont... Six Catamounts registered nine points or more, as Vermont picked up its first season-opening victory since 2002 (Eastern Michigan 71-64)... Sophomore Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke's) scored 11 and handed out eight assists for Vermont, while junior Kyle Cieplicki (Shelburne, Vt./Rice) netted 10... Twelve different Catamounts played in the first half against the Privateers... On Wednesday Vermont fell to regional host Maryland 81-63... Trimboli led the Cats with 15 points and five assists... Senior Chris Holm (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds in the loss... The Cats play their first three and seven of their first eight on the road... Dating back to last season, the Catamounts have played four straight televised games... Vermont head coach Mike Lonergan is a former Terrapin assistant coach... Trapani joins T.J. Sorrentine ?05 and Eddie Benton ?96 as the last three Catamounts to lead the team in scoring in their first career game... The Catamounts return to action on Monday when they travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to take on their second Atlantic Coast Conference opponent in as many games in #15 Boston College.