CAMBRIDGE, Mass.- Boston University's Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) garnered America East Player of the Week honors this week after leading the Terriers to a win over Harvard, which snapped the team's six-game losing skid. New Hampshire's Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys II Men) earned Rookie of the Week accolades for the week ending December 9 after a pair of solid performances last week. Click here for the complete Weekly Report in PDF format.
Lowe,
a sophomore guard, recorded his first career double-double with 23
points and 10 rebounds in Boston U.'s 79-72 victory over the Crimson on
Tuesday night. Lowe, who also dished out three assists, hit 6-of-10
shots from three-point land. He currently ranks fourth in America East
with 17.5 points per game.
Abreu, a freshman guard, after averaged 12.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in a two games last week. Abreu scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds against Northeastern on Tuesday. He followed up that performance with his 14 points against Brown on Thursday. Abreu ranks first among America East rookies and third on his team overall with 11.3 points per game.
America East Notebook
Notables
Several America East student-athletes had standout performances last week. Albany junior forward Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J./Camden Catholic) recorded his first career double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds against Deleware on Wednesday ... Boston University's Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) scored 22 points against Harvard on Tuesday and has averaged 23.6 points per game over his last three outings ... Hartford's junior forward Warren McLendon (Dublin, Ga./West Laurens/The Citadel) and sophomore Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) each scored 24 points apiece as the Hawks put up an America East season-high 97 points at North Texas on Saturday ... UMBC's Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) poured in 25 points against Wichita State on Tuesday, with 16 of those coming in the first half ... Vermont's Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke's School), the conference's leading scorer at 20.3 points per game, scored an America East season-high and career-best 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting against Yale on Saturday.
Where They Rank
The first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ratings were released on Monday by RPIratings.com. UMBC is the highest rated America East team (58) after getting off to a 7-2 start and posting a combined 4-1 mark against teams rated 51-200. New Hampshire is the next highest team at 201 followed by Hartford (212), Vermont (230), Albany (236), Maine (270), Boston University (290), Stony Brook (319) and Binghamton (326).
Dynamic Duos
America East teams present difficult matchups for opposing defenses as several teams have multiple scoring threats. Vermont's tandem of Mike Trimboli and Marqus Blakely combine for 39.7 points per game and rank one and two in the league, respectively. Trimboli averages a league-best 20.3 point, while Blakely adds 19.4 per contest... UMBC's Brian Hodges ranks third in the league with 18.8 points per game. Teammate Ray Barbosa contributes 16.2 per outing, good for sixth best in the league. Additionally, the Retriever's have two others in the top 11 scoring leaders. Darryl Proctor is seventh (14.8 ppg) and Cavell Johnson is tied for 11th (14.3)... Boston University's Corey Lowe and Carlos Strong rank third among teammates, averaging 31.8 points per contest.
1,000-Point Club
Vermont's Mike Trimboli became the second player in America East to score his 1,000th point this season, when he surpassed the milestone on November 20. Stony Brook's Mitchell Beauford scored his 1,000th career point just last week, while UMBC's Brian Hodges hit the mark on February 15, 2007. Albany's Brent Wilson is just 33points shy of the milestone and would become the 28th player in school history to reach the mark, while teammate Jon Iati is within 48 points of the milestone.
Scheduling Tough
As a result of the scheduling standards that were passed prior to last season, America East teams have continued to schedule quality non-conference opponent to prepare them for league play. This season, America East teams will play 22 combined non-league games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago, including Vermont taking on two-time defending national champion Florida and UMBC traveling to runner-up Ohio State. Additionally, America East teams will play seven combined games against teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll, including Hartford at No. 6 Louisville, Albany at No. 13 Duke and Stony Brook at No. 20 Kentucky.
Terriers Top Poll
Boston University, winner of a conference-best five America East Championships, was the preseason choice of the coaches to win the league title in 2007-08. The Terriers received five of a possible eight first-place votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their team) and 61 points to outdistance back-to-back champion Albany, which had four first-place votes and 55 points.
Vermont, which earned the America East regular-season title last year en route to its first NIT berth, was chosen third with 50 points. Binghamton, with rookie head coach Kevin Broadus, was picked fourth with 45 points. UMBC (33 points) edged Hartford (31) for fifth place. Stony Brook (19) was seventh while Maine and New Hampshire tied for eighth place with 15 points.
Preseason All-League
Senior Brian Hodges of UMBC and junior Mike Trimboli of Vermont were unanimous selections to the 2007-08 America East Preseason All-Conference team in voting conducted by the conference’s head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players.
That duo is joined by seniors Brent Wilson of Albany and Mike Gordon of Binghamton, and sophomore Tyler Morris of Boston University.
Back to Binghamton
The America East Men's Basketball Championship returns to Binghamton University’s Events Center on March 7-9, with the title game to be played on March 15 at the higher remaining seed. It is the second time in three years the Events Center has hosted the tournament. It played host to the Women's Championship last season. Reserve your All Session Tournament Pass for the 2008 America East Men’s Basketball Tournament. For more information please call 607-777-3741.
You're On Television
ESPNU will broadcast the first nationally-televised regular-season conference game in America East history when Boston University plays host to Vermont at Agganis Arena on Friday, January 25 at 9 p.m. The game is the marquee match-up in the America East Television schedule, which will include more than 50 games on national or regional sports networks in 2007-08.
The America East Men’s Basketball Championship game will be shown live on March 15 at 12 noon on ESPN2. It marks the 21st straight year the conference championship has been nationally televised.
America East and ESPN Regional Television will produce 20 games for distribution among regional sports networks and local carriers. A total of 14 games involving America East teams will appear on NESN, seven games on Comcast Sports Net, seven games on MASN, four games on CN8, three games on Fox Sports New York, and two games on MSG network.
The America East men’s basketball semifinals will appear on Comcast Sports Net and Time Warner cable while the women’s semifinals and championship are slated for NESN and Time Warner. Eric Frede returns as the play-by-play announcer for America East basketball. Leah Secundo, a veteran of America East television productions, is the color analyst for women’s basketball games. Former Harvard head coach Frank Sullivan will be the men’s basketball color analyst.
Among the out-of-conference highlights are Albany at Duke (ESPN2) on December 17 and Vermont at two-time defending national champion Florida (CN8) on November 30.
Streaming on the Web
For the first time in conference history, America East will produce “enhanced streaming” games, which will be available for free at the AmericaEastZone at AmericaEast.com. Through its partnerships with Pack Network and JumpTV Sports, America East will produce eight women’s basketball games beginning when Hartford visits Boston University on January 5. The package will include two “wildcard” games to be determined by the conference standings in February.
On Campus
America East will also produce five episodes of America East On Campus, a 30-minute magazine show devoted to the conference’s student-athletes. The third-year show, which will air on regional sports networks including NESN beginning in January, is hosted by Frede, who produces the show along with his Cod Rock Media Productions partner, Dan Hannigan.
Team Notebook
Albany (4-4, America East 0-0) dropped a pair of road games against Delaware and St. Bonaventure last week ... The Great Danes have lost three in a row for the first time since December 2006 ... UAlbany built a 51-41 lead in the second half against the Bonnies, but then went scoreless for nearly seven minutes ... The Great Danes, who have dropped four of five road games this season, did not attempt one free throw at St. Bonaventure ... Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) has scored in double figures in seven of eight games this season ... Lillis had 10 points and a career-high seven assists vs. the Bonnies ... Brent Wilson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) played in his 100th career game at Delaware ... Wilson needs 33 points to reach the 1,000-career mark and currently ranks 30th on the all-time list with 967 points ... Jon Iati (York, Pa./York Catholic) had 12 points vs. St. Bonaventure... Iati scored in twin figures for the fourth time this season and 45th as a collegian ... the 5-foot-9 guard is 57 points from reaching the 1,000-plateau ... Wilson (185) and Iati (184) are fourth and fifth, respectively, on UAlbany’s career 3-pointers made list ... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J./Camden Catholic) recorded his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds vs. Delaware ... Connelly, a 6’8” junior, is shooting 51.7 percent from the field (31 of 60) over his last six start s... Albany ranks among the top-50 nationally in field goal percentage defense (.392), plus is allowing 60.0 points per game ... the Great Danes meet nationally-ranked Duke on Monday, Dec. 17... Mike Patrick and Len Elmore will be the announcers on the ESPN2 broadcast.
Binghamton (1-7, America East 0-0) lost its only game of the week, 73-55, to Colgate, and is mired in a six-game losing streak ... Senior guard Richard Forbes (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Far Rockaway/Howard JC) scored a game-high 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting. Forbes drained his first four three-pointers and reached double-figures for the fifth time this season. He has scored 20 or more points four times this season and eight times in his two-year career at Binghamton ... Senior point guard Mike Gordon (Plainfield, N.J./Plainfield) had a solid all-around game with 10 points, five assists and three steals ... Junior forward Reggie Fuller (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower/Angelina College) contributed eight points, five rebounds, five steals and a block ... Binghamton welcomes George Washington to the Events Center on Thursday. Head coach Kevin Broadus served as an assistant under GW coach Karl Hobbs from 2001-04.
Boston University (2-6, America East 0-0) snapped a six-game losing streak with a 79-72 win over Harvard on Tuesday, Dec. 4... The Terriers were led by sophomore guard Corey Lowe’s (Newton, Mass./Newton North) first career double double. He had a game-high 23 points and a career high-10 rebounds... Three other Terriers scored in double figures ? sophomore guard Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) with 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting, sophomore forward Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) who had a career-high 17 points and junior guard Marques Johnson (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) with a personal-best 11 points... The Terriers ran out to an 11-6 first-half lead on three 3-pointers from Lowe and Strong and a lay up by Brittain. Boston U stayed out in front, pushing its lead to 25-19 at 9:36 after Strong went on a personal 11-0 run in the middle of the first. Boston University went into the break up 44-37 and shooting a season-high 58.1 percent from the floor (18-for-31). The Terriers were out in front despite not making it to the free throw line once in the first half, while Harvard went 10-for-10. Boston University overcame a slow start to the second half that saw Harvard trim BU's lead to two, 50-48, at 15:07 on a lay up by Pat Magnarelli... The Terriers play another Ivy opponent on Tuesday, Dec. 11 when they travel to Yale at 7:30 p.m.
Hartford (4-6, 0-0 America East) lost at North Texas on Saturday in its only action of the week. The Hawks made a school-record 17 three-pointers but fell by a 105-97 final ... The Mean Green shot 60 percent for the game, including 73 percent in the second half. North Texas also shot the three well (14 makes) and held a 36-30 advantage on the glass ... Hartford dished out a season-high 21 assists and turned the ball over a season-low 11 times ... Junior Warren McLendon (Dublin, Ga./West Laurens/The Citadel) and sophomore Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) led the Hawks with 24 points apiece, tying a season high for the former and a career high for the latte r... The previous school record of 12 three-pointers had been accomplished three times, including twice last season (against Monmouth and Towson). The first time the Hawks recorded 12 treys in a game was against George Washington on December 3, 1991 ... Hartford will host Monmouth University on Tuesday, December 11 at 7 p.m. before heading to Philadelphia to play at Villanova University on Friday, December 14 at 7 p.m ... The Hawks, who are 1-26 all-time against teams from the Big East, will take on the Wildcats for the first time in school history.
Maine's (4-5, America East 0-0) game against Florida State was its second of three games against opponents in the “major” conferences, with the University of Connecticut on Dec. 22 the third game ... Despite the outcome, Maine shot the ball well in the second half against Florida State, shooting 41 percent ... The Black Bears also outplayed the Seminoles inside, out-scoring the Seminoles in the paint 32-to-28 for the game...Senior center Brian Andre is first in America East and 18th in the nation in field goal percentage, shooting 63.6 percent...Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) is first in America East and 43rrd in the country in defensive rebounding, and is overall averaging a solid 7.2 rebounds per game ...Freshman guard Robby Hanzlik (Greenwood Village, Colo./New Hampton) had his second double-digit scoring game of his career when he had 10 points against Florida State...Senior forward walk-on Pat Woodbrey (Raymond, Maine/Poland Regional High School) only played one year of high school basketball, but played intramurals and got better before trying out this year and making the team...Freshman F Troy Barnies (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) played well against Florida State, despite it being just the second game of his career due to a hand injury, scoring eight points and three rebounds...The Black Bears return home this weekend, where they have played their best basketball, going 3-1 in four home contests this season.
UMBC (7-2, America East 0-0) senior guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./Allen/James Madison) scored a season-high 27 points as UMBC coasted to an 82-37 win over Goucher (Md.) College at the RAC Arena on Saturday night ... The Retrievers improved to 7-2 on the season, the best start in the school’s 22-year Division I history...UMBC tied a school record by hitting 13 three-point field goals (13/23) in the contest ... The last time a Retriever squad hit 13 was on Dec. 30, 1994 at LSU ... The 45-point margin of victory was also UMBC’s largest since entering Division I, surpassing the 40-point win recorded over Shenandoah (109-69) in the 1989-90 season ... the 37 points allowed by UMBC was the fewest in a 40-minute game in the school’s Division I history and tied the all-time low set in a 47-37 win over Saint Thomas Acquinas in the 1979-80 season ... Senior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) started slowly, but hit three second-half three-point goals in a 20-point effort ... Hodges moved into ninth place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 1,249 points and is just five points shy of entering the eighth position ...Junior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) and junior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State ) each added 11 points ...Greene dished out a game-high eight assists, while Proctor had a game-high nine rebounds ... All 10 Retrievers in uniform saw action for the first time this season as senior forward Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md./Notre Dame Academy/James Madison) did not dress due to a virus ... Earlier in the week, the team saw its three-game winning streak halted as host Wichita State (5-2) held off the Retrievers down the stretch to win, 77-68 ...
The Retrievers received dynamic performances by guards Hodges and Greene, who combined to score 45 of UMBC’s 68 points ... Hodges scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the first half, while Greene buried 15 of his 20 points to lead a second-half rally ... Greene has now hit 14 of his last 23 three-point attempts and is averaging 17.3 ppg over his last three games... he entered last week third in the nation with 7.4 assists per game ... Through 13 games last season, UMBC recorded only three games with a player hitting for 20 or more points... through nine games in 2007-08, there have been 14 ... The Retrievers are now 14-0 vs. non-Division I competition since UMBC entered the DI ranks in the 1986-87 season ...UMBC has a pair of road games this week, facing Central Connecticut State (televised by Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) on Tuesday and at West Virginia on Saturday.
New Hampshire (3-5, America East 0-0) went 0-2 last week, losing to Northeastern University at home, 62-57, and dropping one on the road at Brown, 68-52 ... Senior forward Mike Christensen (Reston, Va./Flint Hill) did all he could to help the Wildcats beat Northeastern on Dec. 3, scoring 17 points, pulling down five rebounds and dishing out three assists ... Christensen then scored in double digits for the sixth game in a row Dec. 6 versus Brown, tallying 10 points and five rebounds ... freshman guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men) chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds against Northeastern, and then scored in double digits for the seventh time in eight games when he netted 14 points and added three rebounds and two assists against Brown ... freshman forward Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) posted the first double-double of his career and the first this season for the Wildcats when he tallied career highs in points and rebounds with 12 apiece versus the Huskies ... junior Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) scored 10 points at Brown, while junior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark) chipped in with nine when he came off the bench for the first time this season.
Stony Brook (1-7, America East) dropped its only game of the week at Lehigh, 76-61, despite a game-high 21 points from senior Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va./Herndon) as the Mountain Hawks knocked down 11 of 15 three-pointers ... Senior Emanuel Neto (Luanda Angola/Colegio Henriques) led the Seawolves with 11 rebounds while junior Michael Tyree (Somerset, N.J./Franklin) added 11 points, the only other SBU player in double-figures ... Ricky Lucas has regained his scoring touch the last two games, scoring 40 points on 14-for-29 shooting after scoring just six points on two for 10 shooting the previous two contests ... Lucas, the Seawolves' leading scorer tallied a game-high 21 points against Lehigh on Wednesday which put him over the 500 point mark in his Stony Brook career ... Stony Brook continued to struggle putting the ball in the basket on Wednesday against Lehigh scoring just 61 points and shooting 19-for-58 (35.8 percent) from the field and 16-for-26 (61.5 percent) from the foul line ... Emanuel Neto has 29 rebounds in the three contests since being inserted in the starting line-up including 12 (seven offensive) against Kentucky and 11 versus Lehigh. Neto also ranks third in the conference with 8.6 rebounds per game and first in the league with 3.5 offensive boards per game.
Vermont (2-6, America East 0-0) dropped its only contest of the week on the road against Yale, 86-76 ... Junior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) tallied a career-high 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the floor to lead the Catamounts ... Trimboli’s old career-best was 27 and came in a win over Binghamton on February 18 of last season ... Vermont led 39-37 at the half but Yale outscored the Cats 49-37 in the second half ... The Cats dressed only nine players for the game, as sophomore Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) and freshman Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I./St. Andrews) missed the game due to injury ... Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) added 15, while sophomore Nick Vier (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Bergen Catholic) matched a career-high with 12 points and set a new personal-best with seven assists ... Every Catamount played in the first half ... Trimboli has scored 20 or more in four of Vermont’s last five games, as the Cats are now 15-4 when he does so ... Vermont has shot at least 44.0 percent from the floor in five of the last six games ... UVM had only four road losses all of last season, as Saturday marked its fifth this year ... Trimboli’s 32 points are the most scored by a Catamount this season ... Vermont wraps up its second four-game road trip of the season on December 16 when the Catamounts travel to face Harvard for a 2 p.m. contest.