Hartford’s Aaron Cook (Randallstown, Md./Lake Clifton/Philly Lutheran) and New Hampshire’s Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) have been named America East Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, respectively. The awards were handed out on Monday (February 6).
Cook led the Hawks in scoring during two wins on the week with 29.0 ppg, while shooting over 50 percent from both the floor and three-point range. He scored a career- and America East season-high 40 points and tied a school record with eight three-pointers in the 75-66 win over Maine on Thursday. He became only the second player in Hartford’s Division I era to reach the 40-point plateau, joining former All-American Vin Baker. Cook then added 18 points in the Hawks’ win over Vermont on Sunday, which moved him into sixth place all-time at Hartford in scoring.
Gibbs was an integral component to New Hampshire’s two-win week, which catapulted the Wildcats to third place in the conference standings. He averaged 8.5 ppg and 2.5 rpg, while shooting 50 percent from the field (6-for-12) and a perfect 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Gibbs netted a season-high 13 points in the win over UMBC, going 5-for-8 from the field and 2-for-4 from beyond the arc.
AMERICA EAST NOTES
Great Danes continue to roll: Albany increased its conference lead to a game and a half as the Great Danes improved to 9-2 in America East action. Albany downed Stony Brook and Boston University on the week to stretch its win streak to four games. The Great Danes hit the road this week as they play at Hartford on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and at Maine on Saturday (7:30 p.m.).
Sellout Saturday: For the first time since the 2000-01 season, two America East schools sold out league games on the same day. On Saturday, Albany played in front of a capacity crowd (4,538) at its Big Purple Growl game versus Boston University, while Vermont also played in front of a sell out crowd (3,266) as the Catamounts hosted Hartford. The sellout was the first in Albany’s history, while UVM’s marked its third of the season and the 20th in the last 28 home games at Patrick Gymnasium.
Crowd pleasers: Binghamton, Vermont and Albany rank first, second and third, respectively, in America East home attendance this season with at least 2,800 fans per contest. The Bearcats have been drawing average crowds of 3,502 to the Events Center, while the Catamounts welcome 2,885 to Patrick Gymnasium and the Great Danes host 2,800 at the RACC.
BracketBuster bound: Albany has been selected to play a nationally-televised game in the fourth annual BracketBusters presented by eBay. The Great Danes will travel to Richmond, Va. to face Colonial Athletic Association opponent Virginia Commonwealth University. The game will be aired live on an ESPN network (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN 360) with game time, date and programming information scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 7.
Close competition: Of the 47 America East men’s basketball games that have been played this season, 21 have been decided by five points or less (three by 5, three by 4, six by 3, four by 2 and five by 1). Vermont has played the most games (six) decided by five or fewer points (2-4), while Albany has the best record (3-1) in those games.
Mr. Double Double: With his 17th double-double of the season at Vermont on Saturday, Hartford’s Kenny Adeleke (Queens, N.Y./Paul Robeson/Hofstra) broke Vin Baker’s school record for most double-doubles in a season. Adeleke tallied 23 points and 16 rebounds as the Hawks were victorious at Vermont for the first time since the 2002-03 season. He is currently leading the league in scoring (20.4 ppg) and rebounding (12.4 rpg), ranks second in blocks (1.90 bpg) and third in field goal percentage (57.3 percent).
Road warriors: Hartford had an impressive week as the Hawks won at Maine on Thursday, 69-62, and then at Vermont on Saturday (75-66). The road victories over the Black Bears and Catamounts marked the first time the Hawks have defeated the northern-most America East teams on the road in the same season since 1992-93. With its victories, Hartford moved into a tie for fourth place in the America East standings with Vermont at 5-5 in league action.
America East TV Game: The 2005-06 men’s America East TV schedule continues next week as Vermont hosts Maine on Wednesday, February 15 at 7 p.m. Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Jack Armstrong (color analyst) will call the game live on New England Sports Network (NESN). The game can also be seen live on the internet through America East All Access. A live streaming feed of the game will be posted once made available. Log on to www.AmericaEast.com on Wednesday to follow the action.