CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Vermont's Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) earned America East Player of the Week honors for the second straight week by averaging a double-double and leading his team to a pair of conference wins. Additionally, Hartford's Morgan Sabia (San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) took
home his third Rookie of the Week honor for the week ending January 27. Click here for the complete Weekly Release in PDF format.
Blakely, a sophomore forward, averaged 15 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks and four assists last week to help the Catamounts extend their win streak to four straight. Blakely scored 13 points, pulled down 14 boards and blocked eight shots in a 72-62 win over Stony Brook on Monday. He followed that performance with 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds in a 70-57 win over Boston University on Friday. He tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds in the second half alone.
Blakely is tied for the league lead with teammate Mike Trimboli, averaging 18.6 points per game. He also leads America East with in rebounding (9.1 pg) and blocks (2.47 pg) and is third in field goal percentage (.552).
Sabia garnered Rookie of the Week honors after leading the Hawks in scoring and rebounding in three games last week. Sabia, a freshman forward, averaged 14.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in a 2-1 week for Hartford. He also hit shot 49 percent (16-of-33) from the floor overall, including 53 percent (10-of-19) from three-point territory. Sabia scored 13 points and grabbed eight boards in a 76-71 win at Maine on Monday. He led the Hawks to another win against Stony Brook on Thursday, scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Sabia wrapped up the week with 15 points and seven rebounds in his first career start on Sunday. Sabia, who is averaging 12.3 points per game against conference opponents, shoots a league-best 43 percent from behind the arc.
Conference Notebook
Honor Roll
Several America East players had highlight performances last week. Albany's Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 23 minutes off the bench against Maine on Tuesday... Binghamton's Lazar Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia, Secondary Railway) scored 17 of his career-high 26 points in the second half in a victory over Maine on Sunday, the fifth straight win for the Bearcats... Hartford's Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) scored 19 of his career-high 28 points in the second half in a win at Maine on Monday... New Hampshire's Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) matched his career high with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting in a win at home over Harford on Sunday... Stony Brook's Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va./Herndon/George Washington) scored an America East season-high 33 points at Hartford on Thursday.
Rare Company
Albany's Brian Lillis is one of nine players in the country to lead his team in scoring (16.2 ppg), rebounding (6.0 pg) and assists (3.2 pg). Lillis averages a league-best 21.1 points per game against league foes.
'Cats Streaking
After starting the season just 1-7, Binghamton has won 9 of its last 12 contests, including five in a row. The Bearcats have matched their number of conference wins from last season and sit in first place in the league standings. Vermont has rolled off four straight wins and are tied for second with UMBC. Both teams have stepped it up defensively during their respective streaks. Binghamton is allowing just 59 points per game during this stretch, while Vermont is holding opponents to 60 points per game.
Dishing it Out
UMBC'S Jay Greene became the fourth Retriever to dish out 400 career assists. Only a junior, Greene surpassed the mark against Boston University on Tuesday. Greene, the conference's active leader with 404 career helpers, ranks fourth in the country with 7.2 assists per game and is also fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.34).
On TV This Week
America East TV will produce a pair of games this week. On Wednesday, Vermont strives for its fifth straight win when it travels to Hartford, where the Hawks are 7-2 this season. On Saturday, Boston University travels to New Hampshire for a 4 p.m. contest. Also on Saturday, Vermont will host UMBC at Patrick Gym for a 1 p.m. matchup, that will be streamed online at AmericaEast.com as part of the PackCast package.
1,000-Point Club
Albany's Jon Iati became the 29th player in team history to score 1,000 career points. Iati, the league's Rookie of the Year following the 2003-04 campaign, surpassed the milestone on a three-pointer in the waning minutes against Binghamton on Saturday. UMBC's Darryl Proctor scored his 1,000th career point against New Hampshire on January 6. Proctor, a transfer from Coppin State, scored 801 of those points while with the Eagles. Albany's Brent Wilson became the third player in America East to score his 1,000th point this season, when he reached the milestone against Iowa State on December 30. Wilson currently ranks third among active conference leaders with 1,104 career points. Vermont's Mike Trimboli surpassed the milestone on November 20. Stony Brook's Mitchell Beauford scored his 1,000th career point on November 12, while UMBC's Brian Hodges hit the mark on February 15, 2007 and is the league's active scoring leader with 1,417 career points.
Team-By-Team Notebooks
Albany (9-10 America East 4-3) dropped its second consecutive home game in an 81-70 loss to Maine on January 23 ... The Great Danes last suffered back-to-back home losses in January 2005 ... Maine shot 64.7 percent from the field, the best mark by an opponent since UAlbany upgraded to Division I in 1999-2000 ... Syracuse went 63.4% from the floor on Dec. 28, 2002 ... Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) accounted for 19 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals against Maine ... Lillis’ double-double streak ended at three straight games, the longest stretch by UAlbany player in the Division I era ... Lillis, a 6-foot-5 senior, leads America East in scoring (21.1 ppg) against conference opponents ... Brent Wilson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) ranks No. 22 on the program’s career scoring chart with 1,074 points ... Wilson recently became the fourth Great Dane at the Division I level to surpass the 500-career rebound mark (535) ... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J./Camden Catholic) scored 15 points against Maine, his 11th time in double digits this season ... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) had his best outing since late December with 16 points off the bench against the Black Bears ... Ambrose, who is scoring at a 7.5 clip, made 6-of-9 from the floor ... Jimmie Covington (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park) tied a career-high with seven rebounds vs. Maine ... Josh Martin (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) made a brief appearance in the first half against Maine after missing the previous five contests with a sprained right knee... UAlbany’s 11th Annual Big Purple Growl & Ferocious Feast features a men’s and women’s conference doubleheader with Stony Brook on Feb. 2 ... The University’s Winter Homecoming is expected to sell out for the third consecutive year ... The Great Danes edged Binghamton, 65-62, before 4,538 fans in 2007.
Binghamton Bearcats
BBinghamton (10-10, America East 6-2) took over sole possession of first place with two road wins during the week. The Bearcats stretched their win streak to five with wins at New Hampshire and Maine. Binghamton has won nine of its last 12 games and has already equaled its conference win total of last season (6)... The Bearcats lead the America East in scoring defense (61.6) and have held four of their last five opponents to under 60 points... Sophomore forward Lazar Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Secondary Railway Tech) averaged 22.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in the pair of games. Trifunovic scored a career-high 26 points against Maine, eclipsing the 20-point mark for the fourth time this season and seventh in his two years. He also scored a game-high 19 points in the win at New Hampshire... Senior guard Mike Gordon (Plainfield, N.J./Plainfield) averaged 13.0 points on 60% shooting. During the five-game win streak, Gordon is averaging 15.8 points on 59% shooting... Junior guard Dwayne Jackson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) has stepped up his production with double-digit scoring in six straight games... The Bearcats play five of their remaining eight league games at the Events Center, where the team is 7-2 overall, 3-0 against conference opponents.
Boston University (5-14, America East 2-5) lost both games last week, dropping double-digit losses to UMBC (62-40) and Vermont (70-57) ? both at home... Red-shirt sophomore guard Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) and freshman guard/forward John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict’s Prep) led the Terriers in scoring in both games... Morris had 12 and Holland added 11 in the loss to UMBC ... The teams tied it up early in the first, 5-5 at 16:55, on a jumper by Terrier forward Valdas Sirutis (Gargzdai, Lithuania/Tidewater Academy), but the Retrievers went on a 20-4 run over the next 13 minutes to take a 25-9 advantage with 3:59 remaining in the first half on two free throws by Matt Spadafora. UMBC went into the locker room up, 30-16, at the half. The Terriers couldn't mount a rally in the second half, cutting UMBC's lead to single digits once, 36-28, on a layup by red-shirt junior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) at 14:42... The Terriers and Vermont met in Agganis Arena on Friday, Jan. 25 on ESPNU ? the first-ever nationally televised America East regular-season game... Holland and Morris scored a team-best 13 points apiece... sophomore guard Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) contributed 11... The teams stayed together early before Vermont strung out a nine-point lead 10 minutes into the game. Boston University fought and came back to take a 25-24 lead at the half, helped along by shooting 10-for-12 from the free throw line (83.3 pct.). BU and UVM exchanged baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Catamounts took the lead for good at 15:52 on a three by Mike Trimboli. The Terriers cut the advantage to three, 52-49 at 5:46, but Vermont held on for the win... Boston U will try to get on the winning track with a pair of road games this week ? at Maine on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. and at UNH on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m.
Hartford (10-12, America East 4-3) went 2-1 last week with wins over Maine and Stony Brook and a loss to New Hampshire ... The 76-71 victory at Maine was Hartford's first road win of the season, and the 83-81 triumph over Stony Brook that followed secured a winning home record for the seventh straight season ... The Hawks wrapped up the week with a 74-59 loss at New Hampshire; Hartford is 1-7 in its last eight trips to UNH ... Hartford hit 11 three-pointers at New Hampshire to bring its season total to 200 ... The school record for three-pointers in a season (206) was set by last year's squad in 31 games ... Freshman Morgan Sabia (San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) led the team in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.7 rpg) for the week ... He scored in double figures in all three games and shot 49 percent for the week, including 10-of-19 from three-point range ... Sabia also notched his first career start at New Hampshire with classmate Kevin Estes (Richmond, Va./Benedictine) sitting out due to injury ... Sophomore Joe Zeglinski racked up a career-high 28 points in the win over Maine ... He shot 6-of-10 from three-point range as the Hawks overcame a 13-point second half deficit, their biggest comeback of the season ... Senior Rich Baker (Frederick, Md./Montrose Christian) made his return to the floor at New Hampshire after missing nine games with a hip injury. He played eight minutes off the bench and finished with one rebound ... Hartford will wrap up the first trip through the conference slate against Vermont on Wednesday, January 30 at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised live on NESN ... The Hawks end the week with a contest at Binghamton on Saturday, February 2 at 2 p.m.
Maine (6-14, America East 2-5) defeated Albany, 81-70, on Wednesday and has defeated two first-place teams away from home this season, previously defeating UMBC ... The Black Bears have shot better than 64 percent from the field in those two wins ... Underclassmen have scored 92 percent of the team’s points over the past three games ... Maine shot a solid 48 percent from three-point range last week, while shooting 44 percent from the floor overall ... The Black Bears currently have four players averaging in double-figures in scoring, with Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine), Junior Bernal (Manhattan, New York), Kaimondre Owes (Brooklyn, New York) and Brian Andre (Bingham, Maine) all pouring in over 10 points per contest ... After the Boston University game on Wednesday, Maine will play four of its next five game on the road ... At halftime of the Binghamton game, Jordan Cook (Hampden, Maine) and junior Bernal (Manhattan, New York) were honored with more than 230 other Maine student-athletes honored as UMaine Scholar-Athletes, it was the second time for Cook and Bernal ... The Red Sox World Series trophy was in the Alfond Arena a few hours prior to the Hartford game.
UMBC (13-7, America East 5-2) won for the first time in seven trips to Case Gymnasium by virtue of Tuesday’s 62-40 triumph over Boston University ... The Terriers’ 25 percent field goal percentage tied a UMBC opponent all-time record ... Boston U. hit only 14-of-56 shots from the floor, exactly matching an effort by UNH on January 25, 2007 in a 45-44 UMBC win ... The 40 points scored by the Terriers were the fewest allowed by a UMBC team against a Division I opponent in a 40-minute game in the 22-year history of the program ... The Retrievers were led in the game by forwards Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry), Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md./Notre Dame Prep/James Madison) and Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) ... Fry, making his first start in America East play this year, scored a season-high 12 points, all in the first half to help propel the Retrievers to a 30-16 lead at intermission ... He capped the first half scoring with his first three-point field goal of the campaign ... Johnson, coming off the bench for the first time all season, scored a team-high 13 points, while Proctor recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 caroms ... Entering the game at over 40 percent from behind the arc, UMBC misfired on 15 of 17 attempts vs. the Terriers ... Guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) recorded nine assists in the game and became the fourth player in school history with 400 helpers (404) ... His 144 assists on the season is already the fifth most in a single season in school history ... UMBC has already surpassed its win total of a year ago at 13 ... The 13 wins is the most a Retriever team has recorded since winning 20 (20-9) in the 2001-02 season ... UMBC returns to action on Wednesday when they host two-time defending champion Albany... Albany has won six straight game in the series vs. the Retrievers ... UMBC travels to Vermont on Saturday, searching for its first-ever win at Patrick Gymnasium (0-4).
New Hampshire (6-13, America East 3-4) went 1-1 last week, losing to Binghamton, 67-58, on Thursday, and posting a 74-59 win over Hartford on Sunday ... Junior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) tallied 10 points, six rebounds, five assists, a steal and a block against Binghamton ... The captain then turned his game up a notch, matching his career high with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc against the Hawks ... Gibbs also added five rebounds and two assists in his 40-minute effort ... Senior forward Mike Christensen (Reston, Va./Flint Hill) moved closer to the 1,000-point plateau, tallying four points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks ... The captain then did what captains do versus Hartford, netting all 18 of his points in the second half on 4-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-5 from long range ... Christensen also added three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in the victory ... Freshman forward Rony Tchatchoua (Douala, Cameroon/Findlay Prep) looked like a man on a mission versus Binghamton, returning after a six-game absence to score a team and career-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field ... Tchatchoua also added three steals and a pair of rebounds and blocks ... Tchatchoua then chipped in with seven points, four rebounds and three assists against Hartford, to help the Wildcats score a huge win ... Freshman forward Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) is beginning to become a consistent presence on the boards as he posted 11 rebounds and nine points versus Binghamton, and pulled down another 11 boards against Hartford ... Junior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark) tallied eight points, three assists and three steals against Binghamton, and recorded eight points, four assists, two steals and a block in the win over Hartford ... Freshman guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men) chipped in with seven points, four rebounds and four assists against Hartford, while freshman guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) added nine points, two rebounds and two assists ... The ?Cats return to action Wednesday, Jan. 30 when they hit the road to take on Stony Brook at 7 p.m.
Stony Brook (4-15, America East 1-6) lost a pair of road contests this week and have now lost eight of nine ... The Seawolves dropped a 83-81 decision to Hartford on Thursday despite a career-high 33 points from senior Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va./Herndon/George Washington) ... Stony Brook trailed by as many as 12 in the second half and by five with just over two minutes remaining. But Lucas hit two free throws with 1:29 to go to slice the lead to three and senior Mitchell Beauford (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) then cut the deficit to two at 83-81 with 40 seconds left after Hartford's Michael Turner had hit one of two free throws. Lucas gathered the rebound after the Hawks missed on the ensuing possession and brought it into the frontcourt and was bumped off the ball just in front of the three-point line with seconds remaining, leading to a wild scramble for the loose ball that Stony Brook was unable to collect as time expired ... Lucas was brilliant on the offensive end for the Seawolves, going 8-of-11 from the field, which included five three-pointers and a 10-for-10 performance from the free-throw line. Junior Demetrius Young (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento/Yuba College) hit his first seven shots from the field on the way to his 16 points for Stony Brook, which shot 50.9 percent from the field and set a season-high in points ... Junior Michael Tyree (Somerset, N.J./Franklin/Seward CC) scored a team-high 20 points, including four of five from three but it wasn't enough as Vermont shot 48 percent from the field on its way to a 72-62 victory over the Seawolves on Monday at Patrick Gym ... Senior Emanuel Neto (Luando, Angola/Colegio Henriques/San Jacinto College) tallied 13 rebounds in the game, which featured 47 fouls and 51 free throws between the two teams.
Vermont (10-9, America East 5-2) went 2-0 on the week, defeating Stony Brook at home, 72-62 and downing Boston University on the road, 70-57 ... The Catamounts have now won four straight overall and are tied for first in the conference ... Against Stony Brook, junior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) went 7-for-13 from the floor for a game-high 22 points, while sophomore Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) had 13 points, 14 rebounds and eight blocks ... The Cats are now 6-1 at home this year and have won 14 of their last 16 regular-season contests at Patrick Gym ... On Friday Blakely was at it again with a game-high 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds ... Blakely had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the deciding second half as the Cats came from behind to defeat BU ... Senior Kyle Cieplicki (Shelburne, Vt./Rice) scored 11 off the bench in his first game back after missing two straight due to an injury ... Friday was Vermont’s first win on the season when it trailed at the half ... UVM head coach Mike Lonergan is now one win shy of 300 for his career ... On Friday, Vermont had everyone healthy for the first time since the first game of the season at George Mason ... The Cats have two games this week, as they travel to face Hartford on Wednesday (8 p.m.) on NESN and then return home to host UMBC on Saturday (1 p.m.).