Vermont's Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s School) has been named America East Player of the Week for the first time in his career after pacing the league-leading Catamounts to three victories on the week, including a critical 67-63 win at second-ranked Albany. Boston University's Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) has been tabbed America East Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. The awards were announced on Monday (February 12).
In three conference outings on the week, the 6-1 guard averaged 19.0 ppg and 4.7 apg, while connecting on 21-of-22 free throws. Trimboli started the week with 20 points and seven assists in a victory over the conference's third-best squad Boston University and followed that up with 13 points and five assists in a win over UMBC. The 2006 America East Rookie of the Year saved his best performance on the week for the biggest league game of the season. Trimboli poured in a game-high 24 points, including calmly draining seven of eight free throw attempts in the final 49 seconds, to give UVM a critical win over Albany.
Strong poured in a career-high 30 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the floor and 8-for-10 from three-point territory to lead the third-place Terriers past Binghamton. His eight threes were a single-game school record and he became the first Terrier to register a 30-point game since Chaz Carr’s 36-point effort in overtime against Northeastern on Jan. 20, 2002. Strong also tied his career high with six rebounds and set career highs in field goals made and attempted and three-pointers made and attempted. He capped off the week with nine points, five rebounds and three assists versus UNH.
AMERICA EAST NOTEBOOK
Cats Control Their Own Destiny
With four league games remaining, Vermont (19-6, 11-1 America East) sits atop the conference standings and controls its own destiny. UVM's magic number to clinch the top seed for the 2007 America East Championship is two, while its magic number to secure the regular-season title outright is three. The Catamounts' boast two regular-season titles in their league history (2004-05 and 2001-02), winning the 2004-05 crown outright and sharing the 2001-02 hardware with Boston University.
Championship Bracket Times Set
The official times for all pairings of the 2007 America East Men's Basketball Championship have been set. Below is a complete championship schedule, which can be downloaded in PDF format at www.AmericaEast.com.
2007 Championship Schedule
at Boston University's Agganis Arena
First Round: Friday, March 2
#8 vs. #9, 7 p.m.
Quarterfinals: Saturday, March 3
#8/9 vs. #1, 12 noon
#5 vs. #4, 2:30 p.m.
#7 vs. #2, 6 p.m.
#6 vs. #3, 8:30 p.m.
Semifinals: Sunday, March 4
TBD, 12 noon
TBD, 2:30 p.m.
Title Game: Saturday, March 10
at higher remaining seed, 12 noon (ESPN2)
Home cooking
Clinching the top seed for the America East Championship has been a critical marker for success in the league's tournament. The conference's top seed boasts a 56-7 (.888) record in tournament play, winning 17 of 24 crowns and making it to the title game 20 times. Furthermore, the title game has been played on the home court of one of the participating teams 22 times with the home squad winning 20 of those contests. The last team to go on the road and win the league title game was Vermont in 2003. The Catamounts' David Hehn netted a buzzer beater to give UVM a 56-55 win over Boston University at Case Gymnasium, starting a run to three-straight league titles for Vermont.
Road Kill
With a 67-63 victory over Albany at a sold-out SEFCU Arena on Sunday, Vermont proved once again that it can win on the road. The Catamounts boast the nation's best road record (12-3) and are a flawless 6-0 in league play away from Patrick Gymnasium. UVM is a solid 7-3 on its home court this season, but the Cats haven't been nearly as dominant as they have been on the road. Vermont's only losses on the road came at Maryland, at Michigan State and at Towson.
Jamar 2K
With 21 points versus Vermont on Sunday, Albany's Jamar Wilson (Bronx, N.Y./Our Savior New American School) became just the 11th player in America East history to eclipse the 2,000-point plateau. With 2,012 career points, Wilson is just one point behind former Vermont star T.J. Sorrentine for 10th in the conference annals. Wilson needs only four points to pass Hofstra's Speedy Claxton and 13 to overtake Drexel's Malik Rose. With at least four games remaining in his career, Wilson is on pace to net 2,084 points, which would rank seventh all-time in America East.
Boarding Holm
Vermont's Chris Holm (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley/Rhode Island) has been dominant on the glass all season long as the 6-11 forward ranks second in the nation in rebounding (12.1 rpg). ? Holm leads the conference in caroms by 5.2 rpg. In fact, Holm has more defensive rebounds (181) than America East's second-leading rebounder, Omari Peterkin (6.9 rpg) of Boston University has total rebounds (151)
? Holm has tallied double-digits in the rebounding column 19 times this season, including nine straight.
? Through 12 league games played, Holm is averaging 12.4 rpg in conference play, compared to 11.8 rpg in non-league action
? Holm is on pace to become Vermont's single-season rebounding leader.
Championship Brunch at Fenway
The 2007 America East Men's Basketball Championship Brunch will be held at Fenway Park's State Street Pavilion on March 2 at 10 a.m. The league will hand out its annual awards just hours before the start of the conference's nine-team tournament. The brunch is open to the public with ticket prices set at $50. To purchase tickets, contact Assistant to the Commissioner Rachael Hilgar at hilgar@AmericaEast.com.
Sensational Sophomore
Vermont's Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s School) has proven to be the catalyst of the league's top squad. The 6-1 guard ranks second in America East in scoring (15.6 ppg), second in assists (5.0 apg) and third in free throw percentage (83.3 percent). Since conference play began on January 3, Trimboli has picked up his scoring to help lead the Cats to the top of the standings. In league action, Trimboli is scoring at a 17.6 ppg clip, compared to 13.7 ppg in non-conference contests. In UVM's huge win at Albany on Sunday, Trimboli poured in a game-high 24 points, including connecting on seven of eight free throw attempts in the final 49 seconds, to secure the victory for Vermont.
Albany Looks to Bust Bracket
For the second-consecutive season Albany will participate in a nationally televised game as part of the O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters series as the Great Danes head to Boise State for a Friday evening tilt. Bill Doleman (play-by-play) and Kevin O'Neill (color analyst) will call the action live on ESPNU at 9 p.m. Last season the Great Danes went into a hostile environment at Virginia Commonwealth and nearly pulled off the upset on ESPNU, losing by just three points, 70-67.
Close Competition
? Five of the 10 America East games on the week were decided by 10 points or less, including two that were decided by three points or less.
? With about three-quarters of the 2006-07 regular-season conference slate completed, the competition around America East has been very close. Fifty-seven league games are in the books with 36 of those outings being decided by 10 points or less and 27 by five points or less.
? On the season, America East teams have combined to play a total of 227 games with 54.2 percent (123) decided by 10 points or less and 32.2 percent (73) decided by five points or less.
AE Moves Up to 19th In RPI Report
The Collegiate Basketball News RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) Report was released on Monday (Feb. 12) and America East moved up one spot to the 19th-ranked league in the nation. Vermont moved up 16 spots to 83, while Albany dropped one place to 98. The two flip-flopped for the fourth-consecutive week as the league's top-ranked team.
? As a conference, the league ranks 19th in the country, which is eight spots higher than last season's final RPI of 27, and ninth among other mid-major leagues. Most notably, America East ranks ahead of the MAAC (25th overall/15th among mid-majors) and the Ohio Valley (27th/17th).
? Eight of nine America East members boast higher RPIs than they finished with a season ago. See the list below that compares last year's final RPI with this year's current RPI and the number of spots each school has moved up.
School 2005-06 2006-07 Increase
Vermont 212 83 +129
UMBC 297 218 +79
Maine 281 225 +56
Stony Brook 310 256 +54
Hartford 268 230 +38
Albany 116 98 +18
Boston U. 209 202 +7
New Hampshire 248 243 +5
AE-TV Schedule Continues
America East Basketball Presented by Boston Herald continues this week as Maine hosts Vermont on Wednesday, February 14. Eric Frede (play-by-play) and Tom Herrion (color analyst) will call the action live on NESN at 8 p.m. On Sunday, the Catamounts welcome Binghamton to Patrick Gymnasium for another AETV contest, also called by Frede and Herrion and featured on NESN and MSG. Streaming video for both games will be available through America East Zone on the conference's website www.AmericaEast.com.
Conference Climb
With just two regular-season non-conference games remaining, America East squads have sailed past last year's non-conference win total. America East teams are currently 49-62 (.441) in 2006-07, compared to just 33-69 (.324) a season ago. The conference is on pace to register 50 regular-season non-conference victories this campaign, which would be the most since the league recorded 52 in 1994-95 when there were also nine teams in the league.
Above .500
Three league teams are currently .500 or better in non-conference play on the 2006-07 season. Last season, only Albany (8-8) posted a non-conference mark of .500 or better.
Non-Conference Slate Nears end
Seven of the league's nine teams have already completed the regular-season non-conference portion of their 2006-07 schedules. Vermont (8-5), Binghamton (7-5), Hartford (6-7), Stony Brook (5-7), UMBC (4-9), New Hampshire (4-9) and Boston University (3-9) have all wrapped up their non-league slates, while Albany (7-5) and Maine (5-7) both have one regular-season non-conference tilt remaining. Below is a list of the non-league games that remain.
Regular-Season Non-Conference Games
F 16 Albany at Boise St. (ESPN BracketBusters)
F 17 Maine at Northeastern, 1 p.m.
Road Warriors
The biggest component to America East's non-conference success this season has been the ability of league teams to win on the road. Conference teams have combined to win 29 non-conference road games in 2006-07, compared to just nine a season ago. The most notable road victory to date was Vermont's victory at #14 Boston College, but the overall road successes of the league could loom large when the league's automatic qualifier is seeded for the NCAA Tournament and for other postseason candidates as well.
Championship Tickets On Sale Now
Tickets for the 2007 America East Men's Basketball Championship on March 2-4 at Boston University's Agganis Arena are on sale now. To purchase tickets visit www.AmericaEast.com.
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).
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/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.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTES
Albany Great Danes
Albany (18-8, 11-3 America East) had its eight-game winning streak halted in a 67-63 loss to Vermont on Feb. 11... The battle for the conference leadership was viewed by a capacity crowd of 4,538 at SEFCU Arena, the third home sellout of the season... UAlbany also won eight in a row, the program’s Division I record, in the 2005-06 campaign... The Great Danes had reached the win column in 15 of their last 16 at home prior to the Vermont game... Jamar Wilson (Bronx, N.Y./Our Savior New American School) had 21 points, including the 2,000th of his career, against the Catamounts... Wilson became the 11th player in America East history to reach the scoring plateau (2,012)... The Great Danes are now 7-2 this winter in games decided by five points or less... UAlbany is allowing 60.6 ppg in its 18 wins as opposed to a 78.1 ppg in its eight losses... Wilson totaled 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a 71-55 triumph at Maine on Feb. 7... UAlbany tied the school’s Division I mark with its eighth road win of the year by limiting the Black Bears to 34.5 percent shooting, the sixth opponent to be held under 40 percent in 2006-07... Jason Siggers (Dallas, Texas/Skyline) had 17 points, on 7-of-11 shooting, versus Vermont, and has reached double figures in 12 of his last 14 outings... Brent Wilson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) had 14 points and 10 rebounds at Maine, his second career double-double... Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) had 10 points, all in the second half, in a 61-55 come-from-behind win at Hartford on Feb. 5... Lillis fueled a run of eight unanswered that broke the game open with five minutes remaining... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J./Camden Catholic) scored a career-high 12 points off the bench against Vermont... UAlbany will participate for the second-consecutive year in a nationally-televised O’Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters game... The Great Danes travel to Boise State on Feb. 16, a contest which will be shown on ESPNU at 9 p.m.
Binghamton Bearcats
Binghamton (11-14, 4-9 America East) split a pair of games and moved up a notch into eighth place with three regular-season games remaining... Junior point guard Mike Gordon (Plainfield, N.J./Plainfield) continued his stellar play, averaging 14.5 ppg on 56 percent shooting and 4.5 spg... Gordon leads the conference with 61 steals (2.4 spg) and ranks second in assist-to-turnover ratio... Freshman forward Lazar Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Secondary Railway) averaged 14.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg in the two games... He recorded his first double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Maine and has scored in double figures in four of his last five games... Junior guard Richard Forbes (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Far Rockaway/Howard JC) exploded for 14 first-half points to spark the win over the Black Bears... Forbes tallied 10-consecutive points in a stretch of 3:50... His game-high 18 points were the most Forbes has scored since pouring in 25 in a win over Albany on January 6... Junior center Giovanni Olomo (Yaounde, Cameroon/Rio Grande, N.M.) grabbed a season-high 10 rebounds against Maine as Binghamton had two players with double-figure rebounds for the first time since January 5, 2006 (41 games)... Binghamton, which is closing in on its fourth-straight conference attendance title, drew a season-high 4,587 fans for the Maine game.
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (10-14, 7-5 America East) split a pair of games last week, defeating Binghamton 66-54 on Feb. 8 before falling 60-55 at New Hampshire on Feb. 11... In the win over Binghamton, freshman Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) scored a career-high 30 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the floor and 8-for-10 from the three-point line... His eight threes were a school record for most made in a single game... He was the first Terrier to have a 30-point game since Chaz Carr’s 36-point effort in overtime against Northeastern on Jan. 20, 2002... Boston U. made 50 percent of its threes (13-for-26) versus the Bearcats... Freshman Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ontario, Canada/Iroquois Ridge) scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds as well... The last time the Terriers shot better from deep was at Hartford on Jan. 6 when Boston U. connected on 15-of-26 three-point attempts (51.7 percent)... In the loss at UNH, the Terriers struggled to find an offensive rhythm and couldn’t contain the Wildcats on the glass... Boston U. did out-score UNH in the paint, 20-12, due mainly to Brittain’s 10 points... He was 5-for-6 from the floor... Freshman Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) and redshirt freshman Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) were the two other Terriers in double figures against the Wildcats... Lowe tallied 17 points and Morris added 14 points... Boston U. returns to action with two games this week, hosting Stony Brook on Feb. 15 and traveling to UMBC on Feb. 18.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (11-15, 5-8 America East) went 2-1 last week and snapped an eight-game losing streak, winning back-to-back games for the first time since the beginning of January... The Hawks hung with Albany before falling short 61-55 to start the week... Hartford then cruised to wins over New Hampshire (62-46) and Stony Brook (59-44) to remain in a tie for sixth place in the conference... Hartford had its streak of consecutive games with a three-point field goal snapped against Albany... Prior to going 0-for-11 from long range against the Great Danes, the last time the Hawks did not make a three-point basket in a game was on January 16, 1991 (a span of 461 games)... Senior Bo Taylor (Reston, Va./Paul VI Catholic/Bishop O'Connell/South Lakes) led the Hawks in scoring for the week, averaging 17.3 ppg over the three-game stretch... He had 18 points and four rebounds against the Wildcats and 17 points and a career-high five steals against the Seawolves... He leads the team in scoring on the season at 14.8 ppg... Junior Rich Baker (Frederick, Md./Montrose Christian) made his return to the lineup at Stony Brook, scoring six points and handing out three assists in 12 minutes off the bench... He had missed the previous 11 games with a foot injury... Freshman Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) is averaging 12.3 ppg, the second-highest scoring average for a freshman in Hartford's Division I history... He also leads all Hartford freshmen in three-point field goals (60) and is closing in on the record for most minutes played (Ryan Stys holds the mark with 970, with Zeglinski at 942)... The Hawks will play their final home game of the season against UMBC on Thursday, February 15 at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion... Hartford lost the first meeting by a 73-68 final at UMBC back on January 18.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (11-14, 6-7 America East) dropped a pair of America East games on the week to Albany and Binghamton... Kevin Reed (Yarmouth, Mass./Dennis-Yarmouth/St. Thomas More) moved into sixth place on Maine’s all-time scoring list on Sunday... He currently has 1,522 career points... He is one point shy of tying Roger Lapham for fifth place on Maine’s all-time scoring list... He needs five rebounds to tie Steve Gavett for ninth place on Maine’s all-time rebounding list with 708... Reed has currently played in 114 career games... He is three shy of tying Deonte Hursey for the school record for career games played with 117... Maine is 9-1 this season when holding opponents to a field goal percentage of less than 40 percent... Maine will retire Rufus Harris’ number 20 on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at the game against Vermont... Harris played at Maine from 1976?1980 and is Maine’s all-time leading scorer with 2,206 career points... Olli Ahvenniemi (Vaasa, Finland/Vaasan Lyseon Lukio) ranks third on Maine’s all-time blocks list with 138... Maine hosts Vermont on Wednesday night, before traveling to Northeastern for its final non-conference game of the 2006?07 campaign on Saturday.
UMBC Retrievers
For the third straight year, UMBC (9-16, 5-7 America East) had its chances to knock off America East power Vermont at Patrick Gym, but again came up short, losing to the first-place Catamounts, 66-57... Senior forward Mike Housman (Great Falls, Va./Langley), who did not compete in pre-game shoot-around due to a high fever, was UMBC’s America East Player of the Game as he tied his season high with 17 points and added a team-high eight rebounds... But UMBC continued to struggle offensively, as it shot just 32.4 percent from the floor and lost despite attempting 21 more field goal attempts than the hosts... Vermont, the poorest free throw shooting team in America East entering the game, hit 18 of 19 free throw attempts in the second half and 22-of-26 for the game... UMBC led late, but lost 66-61 two seasons ago in Burlington and missed 15 of 27 free throws in last year's 68-57 setback... Sophomore guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) was a stat-stuffer, with 15 points, seven assists (only one turnover) and five steals... Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) added 13 points, but the two combined to hit just nine of 31 shots from the floor... Hodges is eight points shy of 1,000 in his career... He is set to become the 14th player in school history to reach that plateau and would be the fourth UMBC NCAA Division I player to reach that milestone in three seasons... The Retrievers had the weekend off before traveling to Hartford on Thursday... UMBC fell to 0-4 at Patrick Gym and is 0-3 at Chase Family Arena.
New Hampshire Wildcats
New Hampshire (9-17, 5-8 America East) earned a 1-1 record on the week... The Wildcats began the week with a 62-46 loss to Hartford and were led by the play of freshman forward Radar Onguetou’s (Yaound?, Cameroon/New Hampton School) career-high 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting... Onguetou pulled down a combined 14 rebounds in two games this week... Senior co-captain Jermaine Anderson (Beverly, Mass./Phillips Exeter) notched 14 points in the loss at Hartford before he went off for a game-high 22 points in a 60-55 win over the Boston University Terriers last Sunday... Anderson registered 12-straight foul shots at the charity stripe in the second half of action to lift the Wildcats and halt a five-game losing streak... Anderson leads the America East in free throw percentage, shooting 75-of-85 (88.2 percent)... Senior Blagoj Janev (Sydney, Australia/Australia Institute of Sport) compiled 13 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) added 10 points and eight rebounds in the win... The Wildcats outrebounded the Terriers by a margin of 34-23 and shot 39.6 percent for the game... Janev moved into fourth all-time for scoring at New Hampshire with 1,301 points, surpassing Scott Drapeau’s 1,290 career points and moved into a tie for sixth all-time for career blocks with 46... The Wildcats return to action on Thursday (Feb. 15) as they play host to the Binghamton Bearcats at 7 p.m. in Lundholm Gymnasium... UNH defeated Binghamton back on January 18 in a close 75-72 road win... The ?Cats round out the week and make their last regular season road trip to face the Stony Brook Seawolves on Sunday at 2 p.m. with hopes of sweeping the season series.
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (8-16, 3-9 America East) dropped its lone contest of the week to Hartford on Sunday afternoon, 59-44, at the Stony Brook University Arena... Stony Brook's defense was strong early, holding Hartford scoreless until the 11:47 mark in the first half... Mike Popoko (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh School) scored 10 points for the Seawolves including his 1,000th career point joining D.J. Munir as only the second Seawolf to accomplish the feat in the Seawolves' Division I era... Mitchell Beauford (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) scored nine points and Tre Cunningham (Greenville, S.C./South Side/Massanutten) had eight points off the bench... The Seawolves return to action with a pair of games this week as they travel to Boston on Thursday and host New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (19-6, 11-1 America East) increased its winning streak to seven straight with three victories over the past week, including wins against the second and third place teams in the conference... UVM has won 16 of its last 18 overall... On Monday the Catamounts used a 22-1 run midway through the second half on their way to defeating Boston University in Patrick Gym, 72-63... Sophomore Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) led all scorers with 20 points and seven assists... Vermont had 15 assists on 16 second half buckets... On Thursday, senior Martin Klimes (Prague, Czech Rep./Walsingham) and sophomore Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) combined to go 11-for-16 from the floor to lead UVM over UMBC 66-57... A late 12-0 run and big free throws down the stretch propelled the Cats to a come-from-behind 67-63 win over Albany on Sunday... Trimboli netted a game-high 24 points and also had five steals in the win... UVM is 7-2 in games televised this season as Sunday’s game was on TW3 in the Albany area... Vermont is tied for the most road/neutral wins in the nation this year with Butler as it is now 12-3 away from home... The Catamounts are now 6-0 in conference road games... Vermont has now swept four teams this year after only doing so once a season ago... Klimes has reached double figures in each of the last four games... Vermont is 73-23 in America East action since the start of the 2001-02 season... The Catamounts have two games this week as they travel to Maine on Wednesday for an 8 p.m. clash and then host Binghamton on Sunday at 3 p.m., with both games being televised.