Hartford’s Kenny Adeleke (Queens, N.Y./Paul Robeson/Hofstra) and University of Maine’s Ernest Turner (Camden, N.J./Sterling/UNLV) have been named America East Players of the Week. Hartford’s Paris Carter (Baltimore, Md./Lake Clifton) and Corey Hassan (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack) share the America East’s Rookie of the Week honors. The awards were announced Monday (February 27).
Adeleke recorded a pair of double-doubles last week to tie Malik Rose’s America East record for most double-doubles in a single season with 23 (58 in his career). He averaged 20.5 ppg and 17.0 rpg as the Hawks split a pair of games against Stony Brook and Boston University. At Stony Brook, he scored 20 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in an 11-point victory, shooting 7-of-11 from the field. Followed up that effort with 21 points and a season-high 18 rebounds in a loss to Boston U.. His big rebounding week also vaulted him into the national lead in the category.
Turner led Maine to two wins on the week and averaged 21.0 ppg and five rebounds a contest. He also scored a game-high 23 points in Maine’s win over UMBC, including a half-court shot at the buzzer to give Maine the 69-66 victory. 17 of his 23 points came in the second half, as the Black Bears made up a 20-point deficit. Against Stony Brook. Turner had 19 points and was 6-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range. Turner finished the week with nine three-pointers.
Carter led the Hawks in scoring for the week at 22.5 points per game, recording back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career. He scored a game-high 24 points in Hartford’s 76-65 victory at Stony Brook and also added six rebounds. Against Boston U., Carter added a team-high 21 points and pulled down six rebounds, hitting five three-pointers in a 4:30-minute span.
Hassan scored 16 points in Thursday’s 69-64 overtime win at Vermont and a career-high 23 points in an 84-71 victory at Hartford on Sunday. Against the Catamounts, Hassan matched his career-high in field goals, going 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-5 from three-point range. He added an assist and a pair of steals in 27 minutes as Boston U. won in Burlington for just the second time in the last seven games. Against Hartford, he was 6-of-14 from the field, but 5-of-12 from three-point range. He hit four treys in the first half, as the Terriers raced out to a 22-3 lead early on and was never threatened thereafter. It marked the third time this season and second time in his last three games that he has hit at least five 3-pointers in a game.
AMERICA EAST NOTES
Championship seedings:
The field for the 2006 America East Men's Basketball Championship is now set. The nine-team tournament will be held on March 3-5 at Binghamton University's Events Center in Vestal, N.Y. The Albany Great Danes (18-10, 13-3 America East) are the outright regular-season conference champions and will be the No. 1 seed for the first time in program history. Albany awaits the winner of the the first-round game between No. 8 UMBC (9-18, 5-11) and No. 9 Stony Brook (4-23, 2-14). The Retrievers and Seawolves get the championship started on Friday, March 3 at 7 p.m. Binghamton (15-12, 12-4) is the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 7 Maine (12-15, 7-9) in the first quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 4 at 12 noon. No. 3 Boston University (12-15, 9-7) takes on three-time defending champ No. 6 Vermont (11-16, 7-9) at 2:30 p.m., followed by the Albany contest versus UMBC or Stony Brook at 6 p.m. with No. 4 Hartford (13-14, 9-7) and No. 5 New Hampshire (11-16, 8-8) meeting up in the night cap at 8:30 p.m.
TV exposure:
Both semifinal games of the 2006 America East Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday, March 5 will be televised as part of the America East TV package. Bob Picozzi will handle the play-by-play duties for the AE-TV broadcasts with former Holy Cross great Ron Perry, the first America East Player of the Year in conference history, serving as the color analyst. WBGH (Binghamton), Time Warner Cable (Albany) and Cox Cable (R.I. and Conn.) will carry the action live and America East All Access will provide a live-streaming video feed for free at www.AmericaEast.com. The championship game will be played Saturday, March 11, and will be televised by ESPN2, beginning at 12 noon.
Matchup history:
Whether No. 1 Albany meets No. 8 UMBC or No. 9 Stony Brook in quarterfinal action, it will mark the first time the Great Danes have faced either foe in championship play. The Seawolves are 1-0 versus the Retrievers with the only meeting between the two coming in the 2004 tournament. No. 2 Binghamton is 0-1 versus Maine in championship action as the No. 4 Black Bears needed overtime to defeat the No. 5 Bearcats, 79-77, in 2004. When No. 3 Boston University and No. 6 Vermont square off in quarterfinal action it will mark the first postseason meeting between the two since the Catamounts earned their first-ever NCAA Tournament berth with a win on the Terrier’s home court, 56-55, in 2003. Boston U. and UVM have split their four previous tournament meetings. Hartford boasts a flawless 2-0 mark versus New Hampshire with both of those victories coming in the first round.