CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- UMBC's Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington,Md./Notre Dame Prep/James Madison) earned America East Player of the Week accolades after leading the Retrievers to a win over MEAC preseason favorite Hampton on Saturday. Maine's Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine./Gardiner) took home Rookie of the Week honors for the week ending December 25. Click here for complete release in PDF format.
Johnson compiled a double scoring a team-high 19 points and ripping down 15 rebounds against Hampton. Johnson, who also earned Player of the Week honors on November 19, hit 6-of-12 shots from the floor and converted 7-of-10 attempts from the foul line. A senior forward, Johnson also blocked four shots and had two assists and two steals in 35 minutes. Johnson, who has five double-doubles this season, ranks 10th in the league in scoring (14.3 ppg) and is the conference's top rebounder (8.8 rpg.)
McNally earned newcomer honors after scoring six points and grabbing three boards against Big East perennial power Connecticut on Saturday. McNally played 19 minutes off the bench and hit three of his eight shots from the field. A freshman forward, McNally has appeared in all 11 games this season and made four starts.
Conference Notebook
Notables
Several America East student-athletes had standout performances last week. Albany's Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American School) scored a career-high 24 points against Duke by making 10-of-16 from the field. It was the most points allowed by the Blue Devils to date this season... Binghamton's Lazar Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Secondary Railway Tech) recorded a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds in the Bearcats win over Chicago State on Saturday... Hartford's Jaret Von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) led the Hawks in scoring last week with 17 points in the loss to Brown. The junior forward also added a pair of assists and one steal while shooting 6-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free throw line... Maine's Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./MCI) scored a team-high 16 points against perennial Big East power Connecticut on Saturday. The sophomore guard also added four rebounds, four assists and three steals in 36 minutes... UMBC ... junior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and 11 assists against Hampton on Saturday... Vermont's Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) had a team-best 19 points and seven rebounds in an 80-72 win over Quinnipiac on December 22.
Where They Rank
The second Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) ratings were released on December 17 by RPIratings.com. UMBC is the highest rated America East team (93) after getting off to a 7-2 start and posting a combined 4-1 mark against teams rated 51-200. The next highest team is Hartford at 196, followed by Vermont (199), Albany (216), Boston University (258), New Hampshire (269), Maine (297), Stony Brook (304) and Binghamton (311).
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 39.0 points per game and rank one and three in the league, respectively. Trimboli averages a league-best 20.1 points, while Blakely adds 18.9 per contest... UMBC's Brian Hodges ranks fourth in the league with 17.1 points per game. Teammate Ray Barbosa contributes 15.9 per outing, good for sixth best in the league. Additionally, the Retrievers have two others in the top 11 scoring leaders. Cavell Johnson is 10th (14.3 ppg) and Darryl Proctor is 11th (14.1 ppg)... Boston University's Corey Lowe and Carlos Strong rank third among teammates, averaging 32.9 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 nine points shy of the milestone and would become the 28th player in school history to reach the mark, while teammate Jon Iati is within 38 points of the milestone.
Team Notebook
Albany (5-6, America East 0-0) has dropped five of its last six starts following losses to No. 6 Duke (111-70) and Boise State (74-68)... The Blue Devils won their 57th consecutive non-conference home game by scoring the most points by an opponent in the UAlbany program’s history... Syracuse (2002) and Wagner (1969) owned the previous record with 109 points... The Great Danes played their second-highest ranked opponent since moving to Division I... Connecticut was No. 2 when the teams met in the 2006 NCAAs... Boise State rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to win the rematch of last year’s ESPNU BracketBusters’ game... Anthony Thomas, who made the game-winning shot in last February’s 83-82 win, led the comeback with 11 of his 15 points over the final four minutes... The Great Danes had won 20 of their previous 22 games at SEFCU Arena... UAlbany tied a season-high by canning 10 three-point field goals... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y. / Our Savior New American School) scored a career-high 24 points against Duke by making 10-of-16 from the field... Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa / West Des Moines Dowling) netted 16 points vs. Boise State, and has reached double figures in 10 of his last 11 starts... Lillis moved into sixth place on the school’s all-time steals list (142)... Brent Wilson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Prairie) needs nine points to become the 28th player in UAlbany history to hit the 1,000-career mark... Wilson and Lillis will both return to their home state when the Great Danes meet Iowa State on Dec. 30 in the program’s first-ever matchup with a Big 12 Conference team... Jon Iati (York, Pa. / York Catholic) is 38 points away from also scoring 1,000 as a collegian... freshman Josh Martin (Philadelphia, Pa. / Simon Gratz) tallied a career-high 15 points, all in the opening half, and handed out six assists against Boise State.
Binghamton (3-7, America East 0-0) scored 20 of the game's first 22 points and never looked back in their 75-55 win over Chicago State on Saturday... Lazar Trifunovic recorded a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds... Mike Gordon added 17 points.. The win avenged an 81-60 loss to the Cougars on November 17... Binghamton has won two in a row after dropping six straight. The Bearcats led from start to finish in a 71-59 victory over visiting George Washington on December 13. The win was the program's first-ever against an Atlantic 10 member. Head coach Kevin Broadus served as an assistant coach under GW coach Karl Hobbs for three seasons... Sophomore forward Lazar Trifunovic hit 7-of-9 from the floor and 9-of-11 free throws en route to a game-high 23 points... Junior guard Dwayne Jackson chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals... Binghamton sealed the win by converting 11-of-12 free throws in the final 2:13.
Boston University (3-7, America East 0-0) suffered a 73-55 loss at Delaware on Saturday, Dec. 22... The Terriers (3-7) were led by sophomore guard Corey Lowe's (Newton, Mass./Newton North) 13 points ... Sophomore forward Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont./Iroquois Ridge) added 11 points ... Red-shirt sophomore Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind.) returned to action for the first time this season after injury, scoring six points and grabbing three rebounds ... Lowe scored Boston U's first seven points of the game as the Terriers took a 7-4 lead at 16:10, but Delaware went on a 9-2 run to take a 13-11 advantage three minutes later. The Blue Hens forced an up-tempo game that hurried Boston U's offense and caused empty Terrier possessions. A Brittain basket at 8:56 trimmed UDel's lead to 15-14, but the Fightin' Blue Hens went on an 18-7 rally to close the first half, including a string of seven-straight free throws.Delaware started the second half as the Hens finished the first, going on a 15-4 run to take a 48-25 lead at 14:38 ... The Terriers return to action on Saturday, Dec. 29 at UMass at 7:30 p.m.
Hartford (5-8 , America East 0-0) lost its only game last week, a 79-61 final to Brown at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion. The loss was the first at home on the season for the Hawks and snapped a five-game winning streak on their home floor. Junior Jaret Von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) led Hartford with 17 points while classmate Warren McLendon (Dublin, Ga./West Laurens/The Citadel) and sophomore Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) each added 13... Hartford will have eight days off before playing its final non-conference road game of the season at Virginia on Sunday, December 30 at 3 p.m.
Maine (4-7, America East 0-0) recently completed a challenging stretch that saw it play against Providence, Florida State and Connecticut all within a month...Maine will play its next four games on the road, including the first three that are all in the state of New York...The Black Bears have been playing plenty of underclassmen this year, with freshman and sophomores playing more than 67 percent of all minutes possible through the first 11 games...The Black Bears only committed 14 turnovers against Connecticut on Saturday, their second lowest amount of the season, with the lowest being 13 against Fisher...Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y,/MCI) has now led the Black Bears in scoring in three of the last four games...Going into the UCONN game, Maine was 21st in the nation in steals per game, with 10.2, and 54th in the nation in defensive field goal percentage, at 39.4 percent...Brian Andre (Bingham, ME./Valley) was 34th in the country in filed goal percentage going into the UCONN game, shooting a blistering 60 percent...The exhibition game against UMaine-Augusta will feature three sets of players who were teammates in high school, but now play for Maine-Augusta and Maine...The upcoming game against Canisius in Buffalo, N.Y., will be familiar territory for Brian Andre, who played at the University at Buffalo before transferring to Maine.
UMBC (8-4, America East 0-0) senior forward Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md./Notre Dame Acad./James Madison) led a season-high five Retrievers in double figures as UMBC rallied for an 83-65 win over MEAC pre-season favorite Hampton at the RAC Arena on Saturday... Hampton had wins over Tulsa and VCU on its resume... The Retrievers outscored the Pirates, 51-31 in the second half and won for the fourth time this season while trailing at halftime... Sophomore swingman Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa./Archbishop Wood) doubled his previous career high, hitting seven of eight shots from the floor in an 18-point effort... junior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) recorded his second career double-double with 11 points and 11 assists... Greene has 50 assist in UMBC’s five home games (5-0) this season... The Retrievers have won seven in a row at the RAC Arena and ten of the last 11... Senior guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./Allen/James Madison) and junior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) each chipped in with 15 points... Senior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) saw his 11-game double figures scoring streak come to an end as he managed five points... UMBC, the nation’s ninth-best free throw shooting team entering the week, hit 11 of 12 in the final 3:34 of the game to seal the victory... The Retriever have made 66 of 78 free throw attempts (84.6%) in the final five minutes of games this season... The Retrievers’ only dressed seven scholarship players and nine total student-athletes vs. Hampton... Uwem Eshietedoho (Miramar, Fla./American), a six-foot-eight junior forward, will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fractured right tibia in the second half of the game against West Virginia on Saturday, Dec. 15, while Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry), a six-nine sophomore forward, suffered a sprained left ankle in the first half vs. the Mountaineers and is considered week-to-week with the injury... UMBC is assured of entering the new year and America East Conference play with its most non-conference wins (eight) since the Retrievers first joined a Division I conference (1990-91)... The Retrievers’ final non-conference game is at national finalist Ohio State on Saturday... The game will be televised by The Big Ten Network and will be UMBC’s first-ever Division I contest to start before noon (11 a.m.).
New Hampshire (3-7, America East 0-0) was idle last week. The Wildcats went 0-2 the week before, losing back-to-back games at home to Long Island University (84-78) Dec. 10, and Iona (87-81) Dec. 15 ... junior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark) got back on track in a big way when he scored 16 points, while dishing out six assists and pulling down four rebounds against Long Island ... Gilchrese kept it going versus Iona, netting 20 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor and 8-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe, while adding eight assists, four rebounds and three steals ... fellow junior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) tallied 12 points, five rebounds and five assists versus LIU and followed up that performance by scoring 20 points against Iona ... freshman forward Rony Tchatchoua (Douala, Cameroon/Findlay Prep) submitted what may have been the best week of his young collegiate career, putting up a career-high 14 points and matching his career high in rebounds with seven versus LIU ... Tchatchoua followed that up with an 11-point performance against Iona in his first start of the year ...December 10 America East Rookie of the Week freshman guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men) had his best collegiate performance against Long Island, scoring a career-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including a career-high four 3-pointers in a career-best 38 minutes ... senior forward Mike Christensen (Reston, Va./Flint Hill) snapped his six-game double-digit scoring streak this week, but did tally eight points, eight rebounds and six assists versus Iona ... freshman guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) registered 10 points versus Iona ... the ?Cats return to action Sunday, Dec. 30 when they host Colgate at 1 p.m.
Stony Brook (3-8, America East 0-0) was idle last week. The Seawolves won two of their three games the week prior. Senior Mitchell Beauford scored a game-high 16 points and senior Ricky Lucas added 12 points and eight rebounds as the Stony Brook men's basketball team held on late for a 62-53 victory over NJIT on Monday night at Stony Brook Arena. The Seawolves wore a black band on their uniforms in memory of senior Emanuel Neto’s mother who passed away last Saturday after a long illness. Lucas scored a team-high 19 points to lead four Seawolves in double-figures as the Stony Brook men's basketball team built a 22-point lead and then hung on late for its second straight victory, an exciting 77-74 victory over the Hofstra Pride on Wednesday night at the Mack Sports Complex, the Seawolves first road victory of the year and first win over the Pride in four tries. Stony Brook set season-highs for points (77) and field goal percentage (51.9 percent) in the game. SBU’s two-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday, as Lucas scored a career-high 25 points including 20 in the second half as the Seawolves rallied from a 13-point second half deficit but fell short against FDU, 74-71. Junior Demetrius Young recorded 14 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Young had eight points and 10 rebounds in the second half to help rally the Seawolves. The Seawolves host Cornell on December 29 at 2 p.m.
Vermont (4-7, America East 0-0) went 1-1 on the week in a pair of home games against non-conference opponents ... The Catamounts fell to Delaware 71-60 on December 19 after trailing by as many as 28 in the second half ... Junior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) led Vermont with 18 points and seven assists, while sophomore Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) added 15 points and seven boards ... The Cats scored only 15 points in the first half, which was the fewest in half for Vermont since they tallied only 13 in a 43-41 loss at Boston University on January 22, 2006 ... On Saturday the Cats rebounded with an 80-72 victory over Quinnipiac ... Blakely led four Cats in double figures with 19 points and seven boards, while Trimboli netted 18 ... Senior Kyle Cieplicki (Shelburne, Vt./Rice) matched a season-high with 16, including going 4-for-6 from three, while sophomore Nick Vier (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Bergen Catholic) tied a career-high with 12 points ... Vermont used a 14-0 run early in the second half to pull away and earn the win ... The Catamounts have now won 10 straight games over teams from the Northeast Conference and are 26-12 all-time ... The Catamounts are 6-1 over their last seven games when four players reach double figures ... Saturday was Vermont’s fourth appearance on television this season as the game was on the New England Sports Network (NESN) ... The Cats will be on TV this season a minimum of 10 times ... Vermont is off until December 30, when the Catamounts will play host to Central Connecticut State at 7 p.m.