CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- UMBC's Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) took home America East Player of the Week honors after averaging a double-double last week and leading the Retrievers to a pair of road conference wins. New Hampshire's Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men) received conference Rookie of the Week honors for the week ending January 6. Click here for the complete Weekly Release in PDF format.
Proctor, a 6-foot-4 forward, averaged 18.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in wins over Stony Brook and New Hampshire last week. He scored 16 points and pulled down 16 boards in a 76-62 win over the Seawolves on Thursday. Proctor followed that performance with 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Wildcats on Sunday. For the week, he also shot 56 percent from the field (15-of-27) and averaged a pair of assists.Proctor ranks eighth in America East with 14.5 points per game and fourth with 8.5 rebounds per contest. Proctor a transfer from Coppin State, scored his 1,000th career points against UNH on Sunday, with 801 of those points coming as an Eagle. He is the fourth different UMBC player to earn the Player of the Week honors this season.
New Hampshire's Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men) received conference Rookie of the Week honors by averaging 17.0 points and 7.0 rebounds last week and leading the Wildcats to their first win in a conference opener in 10 years. Abreu, a 6-foot-1 freshman, scored 14 points and pulled down six rebounds UNH's 75-66 win over defending-champion Albany on Thursday. Abreu , the league's leading rookie scorer at 12.7 points per game, continued his strong play with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists against first-place UMBC on Sunday.
Conference Notebook
Honorable Mention
Several America East players had highlight performances last week. Albany's Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) hit a left-handed layup with 27.1 seconds remaining in overtime and blocked Marqus Blakely's game-winning attempt on the other end as time expired... Lillis scored 19 of his career-high 29 points in the second half and overtime and also added seven rebounds, seven assists, three blocks, three steals and committed just one turnover... Hartford's Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) hit a jump shot with 27 seconds remaining to break a 67-67 tie and give the Hawks the win. Zeglinski led his team with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting Maine's Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) scored 27 points against Stony Brook on Sunday and hit 7-of-10 three-point attempts... Vermont's Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) averaged 22.0 points and 11.0 rebounds to help his team go 1-1 in the Catamounts' first two conference games. He scored 21 points and grabbed 14 boards in a win over Binghamton on Thursday and followed up with 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists against Albany on Sunday...
1,000-Point Club
UMBC's Darryl Proctor scored his 1,000th career point against New Hampshire on Sunday, 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 1,023 career points. Vermont's Mike Trimboli surpassed the milestone on November 20 and has 1,217 career points. 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 1,333 career points.
Stat Check
At the outset of conference play, UMBC is not only atop the standings, the Retrievers also lead several key offensive categories. The Retrievers average 77.4 points per game, best in the conference. UMBC is also tops in three-point field goal percentage (.411), free throw percentage (.745) and assists per game (15.47). Individually, four Retrievers rank in the top 10 in scoring and are pouring in at least 14.0 points per game. Jay Greene leads the league and ranks among NCAA leaders in assists (7.00 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.18). Vermont is America East's best shooting team overall, hitting 46.7 percent of its shots. Mike Trimboli leads the league in scoring (19.8 ppg), while teammate Marqus Blakely is second (19.1 ppg). Defensively, Stony Brook is holding teams to just 663 points per game, while Maine is limiting opponents to 41.7 percent shooting. Albany ranks among the top 30 NCAA leaders in rebounding margin, grabbing 7.0 more boards than its opponent per game.
Team Notebook
Albany (6-8, America East 1-1) ended a four-game losing streak with an 80-79 overtime win against Vermont on Jan. 6 ... The matchup featured two programs that have combined to capture the last five America East Conference titles ... The Great Danes posted their second overtime win of the season in a contest that had 18 lead changes and 10 ties ... Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) scored a career-high 29 points and helped decide the outcome on the last two possessions ... Lillis, who has reached double figures in 13 of 14 games this season, converted a spin move in the low post with 10.3 seconds remaining and then blocked Marqus Blakely’s shot in the closing moments ... Lillis, a 6-foot-5 senior, added seven points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals ... Brent Wilson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa / Prairie) recorded his fourth career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds against Vermont ... Wilson, who was honored prior to the game after scoring his 1,000th career point on December 30, moved into 26th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,023 points ... Wilson also became the fourth UAlbany player in the Division I era to grab 500 career rebounds (508) ... The senior forward joins Will Brand (688), Levi Levine (610) and Jamar Wilson (549) on that list ... Jon Iati (York, Pa./York Catholic) needs 17 points to become the 29th player in team history to reach the 1,000-plateau ... Jerel Hastings (Dallas, Texas/South Oak Cliff) made his first start since December 8, and responded with eight points and five rebounds against the Catamounts ... Freshman guard Josh Martin (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz) missed his last start with a sprained knee ... Brett Gifford (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge) tied season-highs in rebounds (4) and blocks (2) in 19 minutes off the bench vs. Vermont ... The Great Danes have dropped seven of eight road decisions this year after losing at New Hampshire, 75-66, on January 3.
Binghamton (5-9, America East 1-1) split its first two conference games of the season, falling at Vermont before beating Boston University by 20 points at home ... The Bearcats have won four consecutive games at the Events Center and have won four of their last six games overall ... Senior guard Mike Gordon (Plainfield, N.J./Plainfield) averaged 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals in the two games. Gordon scored a season-high 21 points at Vermont and then hit 8-of-13 shots in the win over Boston. He recorded four steals in each game and leads the America East in that category ... Sophomore forward Lazar Trifunovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Secondary Railway Tech) produced his sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Terriers. He made 7-of-11 shots and is now averaging 15.9 points and a league-best 8.9 rebounds ... Binghamton shot 60% in its 69-49 win over Boston - the best field goal percentage in its seven years of America East play. It was the best FG% the program has achieved since shooting 61.5 percent in a loss to Brown in 2004 ... The win over Boston snapped a three-game losing streak to the Terriers, who swept Binghamton and then eliminated the Bearcats from the America East tournament last season ... Binghamton is averaging a league-best 3,288 fans at home, where the team is 5-2.
Boston University (3-10, America East 0-1) dropped a pair of games last week, 65-62 at Holy Cross on Wednesday and 69-49 at Binghamton on Sunday ... The Terriers had another slow start but overcame it to contend with Holy Cross, fighting a see-saw battle throughout the second half that saw six ties and eight lead changes and each team more than doubling their first-half point total ... Sophomore guard Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) led Boston U. with a game-best 20 points, scoring 14 in the second half and going 5-for-10 from three for the game. Classmate Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) followed with 18 points on 6-of-10 from the floor (5-for-9 from deep) and a career-high six assists. Sophomore Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ontario/Iroquois Ridge) tallied 15 points and eight rebounds... Against Binghamton, the Bearcats went on a 13-2 run late in the second half to secure the win over Boston University. The Terriers scored just two points during a seven-minute span as the Bearcats made their rally ... Boston U is 17-12 in conference season openers since joining what was then the North Atlantic conference in 1979 ... Brittain led the Terriers with 11 points and five rebounds to be BU's America East Player of the Game. Strong was second in scoring with eight points... BU hopes to pick up its first conference win on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. when the Terriers host UNH in the Case Center.
Hartford (6-9, America East 0-0) wrapped up its non-conference schedule with a 73-70 victory over Yale University last week. The Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak by shooting 49 percent from the floor and a season-high 79 percent from the foul line ... Sophomore Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) scored a game-high 22 points, including the go-ahead basket with 21.4 seconds remaining that put Hartford up for good ... Junior Jaret Von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) buried four free throws in the final 10 seconds to seal the victory ... Zeglinski leads the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game. He is also tied for the team lead in assists with 46, eight more than he had all of last season in 31 games ... Junior Warren McLendon (Dublin, Ga./West Laurens/The Citadel) leads the team in rebounding at 5.7 per game. He has led the team in the category in the last six games while averaging 7.5 per contest over that span ... Senior Brian Glowiak (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) became the 23rd player in Hartford's Division I history to play in 100 career games when he came off the bench for 21 minutes against Yale. Wayne McClinton (1999-03) and Ryan Stys (2000-04) share the school record for most career games played at 118 ... Hartford opens conference play against Binghamton on Wednesday, January 9 at 7 p.m. at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion. The Bearcats have won three of the last four meetings, including a pair of buzzer-beating victories at Chase Arena in each of the last two seasons ... The Hawks end the week with a televised game (NESN) at home against Boston University on Saturday, January 12 at 6 p.m. The two teams split the season series last year, with Hartford pulling out a double-overtime win at home by a 80-75 final.
Maine’s (4-9, America East 0-1) game against Stony Brook was the third road game in seven days for the Black Bears...Maine has not played at home since Dec. 15 ... Phil Tchekane Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon/Redemption Christian) has stepped up his game as of late, as he had 12 points and six boards against Canisius, nine points against Colgate, and four points, 10 rebounds and four assists against Stony Brook ...Maine’s attendance for all games is currently leading America East in overall attendance ... Maine has out-rebounded its last three opponents by a 112-92 margin ... In the last three games, Maine has started 10 freshmen and sophomores for the 15 starting spots ... Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) has played 94% of all possible minutes in the last three games, the most on the team ... The Black Bears have improved their three-point shooting as of late, shooting around 40 percent in the last two games ... Despite its recent outcomes, Maine is still the top defensive field goal percentage team in the conference.
UMBC (10-5, America East 2-0) has opened the conference schedule with two road wins for the second straight year ... The Retrievers were the lone conference team to open with two road contests ... UMBC defeated Stony Brook, 76-62 and UNH, 86-73 ... Junior forward Darryl Protor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) posted double-doubles in his first two America East games, both helping UMBC to road wins ... He now has double-doubles in three straight games, six on the season and 16 in his career ... Proctor was UMBC’s America East Conference Player of the Game in both games and surpassed the 1,000-point plateau (1,018 points/74 games) for his career ... The 16 rebounds vs. Stony Brook was a new career high and the most for a Retriever since Andrew Feeley had 16 at James Madison on Nov. 27, 2004 ... UMBC’s 10-5 start ties is best record through 15 games (1988-89) in its 22-year Division I history ... The win over Stony Brook snapped a six-game America East Conference road losing streak and a four-game streak this season ... UMBC improved to 4-1 in its five league openers ... The win at UNH snapped a three-game losing streak at Lundholm Gym ... The Retrievers had never scored more than 65 points in a regular season game vs. the Wildcats prior to posting 86 on Sunday ... Senior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half at UNH and moved into sixth place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 1,333 points ... Hodges needs two more three-point field goals to hit the 200 mark in his career ... Junior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa.) entered the week ranked sixth in the country in both assists (7.1 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.33) ... The Retrievers are third in the county in fewest turnovers (10.7 through 1/3/08) ... UMBC’s 55 percent from the floor (33/60) at UNH is a season-best and the first time this year they went over the 50-percent mark ... The Retrievers committed one second half turnover in a 49-point second half ... UMBC has been outscored by two points in the first half this season, but is +91 in the second half ... Senior forward Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md./Notre Dame Acad./James Madison) led the Retrievers with 22 points at UNH and tied his season/career best with four blocked shots ... UMBC opens a three-game homestand this week as they host Vermont on Wednesday and Maine on Saturday.
New Hampshire (4-9, America East 1-1) went 1-1 last week, scoring a huge 75-66 win in its conference opener Jan. 3 versus Albany, and dropping a hard-fought battle with UMBC, 86-73, on Jan. 6 ... The Wildcats were victorious in their conference opener for the first time since Dec. 3, 1997, when they beat Vermont, 75-68 ... Against Albany, junior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) led all scorers with 19 points and tallied three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal ... Gibbs upped his level of play versus UMBC, tying his career high by scoring 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from behind the arc ... Gibbs, who also pulled down six rebounds, tied his career high with the six treys ... Freshman guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men) scored 14 points and added six rebounds in 40 minutes versus Albany, and tallied 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists in another 40-minute effort against UMBC ... Senior forward Mike Christensen (Reston, Va./Flint Hill) produced a pair of solid stat lines, scoring 16 points and adding six rebounds and four assists versus Albany, and tallying 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists against UMBC ... junior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark) netted 18 points against Albany to extend his double-digit scoring streak to four games ... Freshman forward Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds against Albany ... Freshman guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) scored 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench in his return from illness ... The ?Cats return to action Wednesday, Jan. 9 when they travel to Boston University to take on the Terriers at 7 p.m.
Stony Brook (4-10, America East 1-1), which is inthe midst of a season-long four-game homestand, went 1-1 this week with a victory over Maine and a loss to UMBC ... Seniors Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va./Herndon/George Washington) and Mitchell Beauford (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) combined for 39 points and freshman Jermol Paul (Palm Beach, Fla./W.T. Dwyer) added 12 as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 75-59 victory over the Maine Black Bears on Sunday afternoon at Stony Brook Arena ... Beauford notched a season-high 21 for Stony Brook, going 8-of-13 from the floor, while adding three assists and three steals. Lucas, the Seawolves leading scorer, scored just 10 points in the previous two games combined but came up big on Sunday scoring 14 of his 18 in the first half ... The Seawolves defeated the Black Bears for the first time since January 25, 2003 ... Junior Demetrius Young (Sacramento, Calif./Sacramento/Yuba College) had eight points and 10 rebounds, recording double-digit boards for the fourth straight game ... The Seawolves set season-highs for points (45) and halftime lead (16) in the first half against Maine on Sunday ... Junior Nick Carter (Huntington Station, N.Y./Walt Whitman/ Suffolk CC) scored a career-high 18 points, but Jay Greene led four UMBCplayers in double-figures with 17 as the Retrievers defeated the Seawolves, 76-62, in the conference opener for both teams on Thursday night at Stony Brook Arena. Carter knocked down three from long distance but received little support as the Seawolves shot just 33.3 percent for the game. Stony Brook once again won the battle of the backboards, 45-39, which included 23 offensive rebounds.
Vermont (6-8, America East 1-1) split a pair of America East games in the opening week of conference action ... On Thursday the Catamounts defeated Binghamton 71-60 at home, as prior to the game they were honored with a banner raising that commemorated the 2007 America East regular-season championship ... Sophomore Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) led Vermont with his fourth double-double of the season as he tallied 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds ... Senior Kyle Cieplicki (Shelburne, Vt./Rice) went for a season-high 18 points in the contest on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor ... The Cats shot 52.0 percent for the game, which included 56.5 percent in the second half ... On Sunday UVM fell on the road to Albany 80-79 in overtime, snapping a three-game winning streak in the process ... Blakely led the Cats again with 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks and a pair of steals ... Junior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) went for 17 and Cieplicki added 11 ... Freshman Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I./St. Andrews) netted a career-high nine on three three-pointers ... Cieplicki also set a career-high for boards in the game with nine ... Vermont is 47-11 in the month of January over the last six-plus seasons ... The win over Binghamton marked the Cats’ eighth straight conference opening victory ... Vermont is back in action this week with a road contest at UMBC on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and then host New Hampshire on Saturday (1 p.m.).