CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - University of Maine's Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) and Stony Brook University's Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md./Hargrave Military Academy) led their teams to victories over the weekend to earn the first America East Men's Basketball weekly honors of the 2008-09 season.
Socoby led his team to a pair of wins at the 100 Club Classic in Kennesaw, Ga. en route to the tournament title. The honors was the first Player of the Week award of the season.
A junior guard, Socoby scored 16 points in each of the Black Bears' victories to earn the tournament' s Most Valuable Player award. Socoby also averaged 6.5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2.5 steals over the two games. A third-team all-conference performer last season, Socoby recorded the league's lone double-double of the week with 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds in Maine's 60-47 win over host Kennesaw State in the championship game on Saturday.
In his collegiate debut, Brenton grabbed 16 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass, to earn the first Rookie of the Week award of the season.
A 6-foot-5 forward, Brenton accounted for nearly half of his team's 37 rebounds in their 60-44 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday. The 16 caroms were also one shy of Stony Brook's Division I single-game mark set by set by Leon Brisport in 2001. Brenton also scored eight points on 4-of-7 shooting, and tied a game-high with three assists.
Conference Weekly Notebook
The Rest of the Best
Will Harris, Albany's highly touted transfer from Virginia, tallied 13 points, a team-high five assists and three rebounds in his team debut against nationally-ranked Villanova on Friday... Boston University's John Holland, the 2008 America East Rookie of the year, recorded game-highs with 22 points and four steals in his team's season debut against George Washington on Friday... Maine's Gerald McLemore scored 24 points in his collegiate debut and canned 6-of-9 three-point attempts in his team's season-opening 77-64 win over Northern Illinois on Friday.... First-team all-conference selections Darryl Proctor and Jay Greene picked up where they left off last season as Proctor tallied game-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds, while Greene dished out a game-best nine assists to go with 16 points against Stevenson... University of New Hampshire's Eric Gilchrese tallied 21 points on 7-for-10 from the field, including a career-high six treys on just eight attempts in a win over Suffolk on Sunday. He also added four rebounds, five assists and two steals in the win... Vermont's Marqus Blakely, the 2008 America East Player and Defensive Player of the Year, picked up where he left off last season with 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 steals before fouling out with 3:31 left in Vermont's 80-79 overtime loss to George Mason on Saturday.
Maine Takes Classic
Univeristy of Maine defeated Northern Illinois and Kennesaw State over weekend to win the the 100 Club Classic in Kennesaw, Ga. The Black Bears downed the Huskies, 77-64 on Friday before beating the host Owls, 60-47, in the championship game on Saturday. America East Player of the week Mark Socoby was named tournament MVP, while Troy Barnies was named to the All-Tournament squad. The 2-0 start is Maine's first since it posted wins over Hampton Institute and Northwestern to start the 1998-1999 season.
Banner Night
UMBC hoisted its 2008 America East Championship Banner to the rafters of RAC Arena before its season opener against Stevenson on Saturday night. The Retrievers won a school-record 24 games, its first America East regular-season and tournament titles and made its first-ever NCAA appearance last season.
Fans Flock For Home Openers
A combined 13,000 fans packed America East gyms for their favorite team's home opener over the weekend. A crowd of 4,625 fans watched Boston University kick off its 100th season of basketball in the first of at least six games at Agganis Arena. A soldout Patrick Gym (3,266) watched Vermont's overtime thriller against George Mason. A total of 3,114 people watched UMBC celebrate its 2008 title team prior to a win over Stevenson. Strong crowds also saw Stony Brook and New Hampshire post wins in their respective home openers.
Blakely One to Watch
In what should be little surprise, Vermont junior Marqus Blakely, the first player in conference history to win both the Kevin Roberson America East Player of the Year Award and Defensive Player of the Year honors in one season, has been named one of ESPN.com's 10 mid-major players to watch for the 2008-09 season. Blakely, who also earned AP honorable mention All-America honors last season, led America East in scoring (19.0 ppg), rebounds (11.0 rpg) and blocked shots (2.7 bpg). He had 24 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and four steals in the Catamounts season-opener against George Mason on Saturday.
A Pair at the Point
UMBC's Jay Greene and Vermont's Mike Trimboli were among the 47 preseason nominees for the Bob Cousy Award. The award, which is selected by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and presented by The Hartford, is given to the top male point guard annually spanning across all divisions. America East is one of just two non-BCS conferences with more than one nominee. D.J. Augustin of Texas was the 2008 winner.
Two Among Top Mid-Majors
Boston University and University of Vermont are both receiving votes in the first in-season Mid Major Top 25 Poll, which was released Monday. The Terriers, received 44 points, while the Catamounts totaled 25. Both teams dropped overtime decisions in their season-openers over the weekend. The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit League, Sun Belt and West Coast Conferences.
Albany Bound
For the first time, The America East Men's Basketball Championship will be held at University at Albany's SEFCU Arena on March 6-8, with the title game to be played on March 14 at the higher remaining seed. Over 1,500 All-Session Tournament Passes for the 2009 America East Men’s Basketball Tournament have already been sold. To resere your tickets today, please call 518-442-4683 or visit AmericaEast.com.
Terriers Atop Poll Again
For the second consecutive year, Boston University, winner of a conference-best five America East Championships, is the preseason choice of the coaches to win the America East Men’s Baskeball title in 2008-09. The Terriers received five of a possible eight first-place votes (coaches were not allowed to vote for their team) and 59 points slightly, ahead of University of Vermont, which received four first-place votes and 55 points.
University of Hartford, which appeared in the America East Championship title game for the first time last season, was slotted third with 51 points. UMBC, the defending league champion, tallied 45 points and a fourth-place position. New York rivals Binghamton University (37 points) and University at Albany (30) came in fifth and sixth, respectively, followed by University of New Hampshire (24), University of Maine (13) and Stony Brook University (10) to round out the nine-team field.
Preseason All-League
Juniors Marqus Blakely of Vermont and Corey Lowe of Boston University were unanimous selections to the 2008-09 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 Jay Greene of UMBC and Mike Trimboli of Vermont, and junior Joe Zeglinski of Hartford.
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 fourth-year show, which will air on regional sports networks, including NESN, beginning in January, is hosted by Eric Frede, who produces the show along with his Cod Rock Media Productions partner, Dan Hannigan.
Team Weekly Notebook
Albany Great Danes
Albany (0-1) dropped a 78-60 decision to Villanova, ranked No. 23 by Associated Press and No. 25 by ESPN/USA Today, on Nov. 14 ... Wooden Award candidate Scottie Reynolds had 13 points, all in the second half, to pace six Wildcats in double figures ... The Great Danes, who have eight new faces on their 13-player roster, played a national top-25 squad for the sixth consecutive year and met the highest-ranked opponent in a UAlbany opener ... University of Virginia transfer Will Harris (Corona, N.Y. / Brewster Academy) had 13 points, five assists and three rebounds in his first game in a Great Dane uniform ... Harris scored off a tip-in and made a conventional three-point play in a run that closed the gap to 62-51 with 6:29 remaining ... Anthony Raffa (Strathmere, N.J. / Wildwood Catholic) shared team honors with 13 points, the most by a UA freshman since 2003 ... Raffa, who also had five rebounds, posted the fifth-best scoring total by a freshman in an opener in the program’s Division I era ... Brett Gifford (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge) grabbed a career-high seven rebounds and scored four points as a starter ... Scotty McRae (Rosedale, N.Y. / Benjamin Cardozo) had an impact off the bench with six points, two rebounds and two blocks ... McRae was one of 11 players who appeared against Villanova, the most used in an opener in four years ... UAlbany will meet its second consecutive Big East Conference opponent at DePaul on Nov. 17 ... The Great Danes make their home debut against Central Connecticut State on Nov. 22 as part of a basketball-volleyball tripleheader ...
Boston University Terriers
Boston University (0-1) fell short in their bid to defeat George Washington, 63-58, after junior Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) ran almost the full length of the court to make a layup to tie the game at 51 with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation ... The home season opener was the first game of the program’s historic 100th season and the first of at least six games to be held at Agganis Arena this season ... The 26 turnovers committed by GW were the most recorded by an opponent since Ohio University had the same number during the 2003-04 season ... Sophomore John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict’s Prep) led all players with 22 points and four steals ... Freshman Jake O’Brien (Weymouth, Mass./Boston College H.S.) started in his first career game for the injured junior Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont./Iroquois Ridge) ... The Colonials’ 51 points through regulation were the fewest recorded by the team in the 17-game series between the two squads that began in 1959 ... 68 was the previous low, set in 1975 and 2002 ... Coincidently, eight members of the first team to play GW were honored at halftime for the 50th anniversary of making the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament ... They also witnessed the retiring of the No. 10 jersey belonging to the late Jack Leaman, who was a senior co-captain on the team .... Next travel to Bucknell on Tuesday and host St. Peter’s on Saturday.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (0-1) opened its season with a one-point loss to Quinnipiac last week. Senior Michael Turner (Novato, Calif./Marin Catholic/West Valley) led the team with 15 points and seven rebounds while classmate Jaret von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Colling County) chipped in with 10 points and six assists... Hartford will renew its in-state rivalry with Connecticut on Monday at the XL Center in Hartford. The teams will meet for the first time in a decade. The Huskies are ranked second in both the AP and USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches' Polls. The Hawks are 0-16 all-time against ranked opponents.... Hartford will also play at Penn State on Thursday night before hosting St. Francis (NY) on Saturday afternoon... Junior Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) needs only 52 more points to become the 21st player in school history to record 1,000 career points.
Maine Black Bears
Maine (2-0) won the 100 Club Classic championship hosted by Kennesaw St. with wins over Northern Illinois on Friday night and Kennesaw St. on Saturday night...Against Northern Illinois on Friday night, freshman Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch/Worcester Academy) scored 24 points to lead Maine to a 77-64 victory...McLemore was 8-for-11 from the field, including going 6-for-9 from behind the arc...Maine shot 52 percent from the field while holding Northern Illinois to 38 percent shooting...Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) had 16 points, three rebounds and four assists in the game...Socoby also made 9-of-11 free throws...Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./Hyde/MCI) had a great overall game, scoring 12 points, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out five assists and making two steals...Freshman big man Svetoslav Chetinov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria/MCI) had a solid first game with nine points and seven rebounds...In the championship game against Kennesaw St., Socoby had 16 points and 10 rebounds en route to being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player...Socoby went 5-for-10 from the field, including going 4-for-9 from three-point range...Troy Barnies (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) had a career-high 16 points on 8-for-8 shooting and grabbed six rebounds as he was named to the All-Tournament Team...Chetinov had five points and four rebounds...Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner) had six points and four rebounds...Bernal had six assists...The last time Maine won its first two games of the season was 10 years ago when the 1998-99 team ended up 19-9...Maine continues action on Wednesday when the Black Bears travel to take on Princeton at 7 p.m. followed by a 2 p.m. game at Providence.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (1-0) celebrated its 2008 championship before its season opener, then kicked off the 2008-09 season with a 91-54 win over Stevenson (Md.) University before 3,114 fans at the sultry RAC Arena... It was the Retrievers’ sixth straight home opening victory and Head Coach Randy Monroe is 4-1 in his five lid-lifters...Seniors Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md.) and Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa.) helped unveil the America East championship banner before the game and dominated play during their stints against the Mustangs... Proctor totaled 20 points and added nine rebounds and four steals in 34 minutes, while Greene, the America East Player of the Game for UMBC, added 17 points and nine assists... The 2009 Bob Cousy (Collegiate Point Guard of the Year) preseason nominee became the second player in school history to surpass 500 career assists (505) and needs just three more to become the school’s all-time leader...Freshman Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md./Brewster Academy) made a spectacular debut, hitting all eight shots from the floor in a 17-point, six-carom effort in 26 minutes...UMBC’s other two starters, juniors Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) and Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa./Archbishop Wood) also posted double figures, amassing 10 and 11 points respectively... The Retrievers eclipsed the 90-point plateau for the first time since a 95-82 win over Navy on Jan. 3, 2006...Proctor has scored in double figures in nine straight games, in 32 of 34 games in a UMBC uniform and in 77 games in his 93-game career... The crowd of 3,114 was the tenth-largest in RAC Arena history... UMBC plays four straight games away from home, beginning with a Nov. 17 match-up at MEAC preseason favorite Morgan State... The Retrievers have won the last two meetings with Morgan and lead the all-time series, 13-10... UMBC then travels to New York for the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic where they will face Quinnipiac in the opening round...It will be the Retrievers’ first in-season tournament since the 2004-05 Battle of Baltimore Classic.
New Hampshire Wildcats
New Hampshire (1-0,) went 1-0 last week, rolling past Suffolk University, 101-50, in its season-opener at Lundholm Gymnasium on Nov. 16 ... senior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark CC) started off his senior campaign on the right foot, pouring in 21 points to lead all scorers ... Gilchrese was 7-for-10 from the field, including a career-high six treys on just eight attempts ... the point guard also added four rebounds, five assists and two steals in the win ... fellow senior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) netted 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting and tallied three rebounds and two assists ... sophomore center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) scored 11 points on 5 of 5 shooting, including a put-back dunk off a Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) miss, which set the tone early for the Wildcats ... DiLiegro filled the stat line with six rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist ... Conley also tallied 11 points with a pair of ferocious slams and added three steals ... sophomore guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) also submitted a solid stat line with nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals ... junior forward Radar Onguetou (Yaounde, Cameroon/New Hampton School) looked good in his first game in nearly a year, tallying five points, four rebounds and a pair of assists ... the newcomers also had a nice showing in their first games at the Division I level, with freshman guard Russell Graham (Norristown, Pa./Norristown leading the way with eight points, four rebounds and three assists in 15 minutes off the bench.
Stony Brook Seawolves
The Seawolves (1-0) opened the season with a 60-44 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday night at Pritchard Gymnasium ... it marked the first time the Seawolves opened the season at home since the 2003-04 season ... the game was also the Seawolves first in newly renovated Pritchard Gymnasium ...the Seawolves had not played in Pritchard Gymnasium since 1990 ... freshman Tommy Brenton had eight points and 16 rebounds in his first collegiate game ... Brenton started and played 31 minutes for Stony Brook in addition to dishing out a team-high three assists ... freshman Danny Carter came off the bench to score a team-high 11 points in the victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore, shooting 5-for-7 from the field ... he also recorded a team-best three blocks ... freshman Bryan Dougher scored 10 points in his first collegiate game as he played a team-high 35 minutes ... the Seawolves had just four turnovers against Maryland-Eastern Shore ... Stony Brook held Maryland-Eastern Shore to 29.2 percent shooting (7-for-24) in the second half ... senior Demetrius Young was the third Seawolves player to reach double-figures, scoring 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting ... SBU will travel to take on Lafayette on Tuesday before returning home to take on Wagner on Saturday afternoon ... the Seawolves lost a heartbreaker to Lafayette in their home opener last season, falling to the Leopards 76-68 in overtime ... Stony Brook will be taking on Wagner for the first time since the 2005-06 season when SBU lost 67-54 to the Seahawks.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (0-1) dropped its season opener 80-79 in overtime to visiting George Mason on Saturday afternoon in front of a sold-out crowd at Patrick Gym ... Darryl Monroe hit a pair of free throws with 0.7 seconds left in OT to give the Patriots the victory ... Junior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) led all scorers with 24 points, as he also added eight boards, four steals and four blocks ... Senior Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) added 11 points and eight boards for the Cats, while junior Maurice Joseph (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain-St. Lambert/Michigan State) tallied nine in his debut ... Senior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) had nine points and handed out a game-high seven assists ... George Mason made the NCAA Final Four in 2006 ... ... Vermont is now 25-24 since 1960 in season openers and 34-15 during that time in home openers ... Saturday marked the first regular season game in a Catamount uniform for Joseph and freshmen Garvey Young (Washington, D.C./Georgetown Prep.) and Jordan Clarke (Rockville, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) ... Last season opener to go into overtime was during the 1991-92 season when the Cats fell to Monmouth 72-65, and it was the third time ever ... Vermont is back in action on Tuesday at home when the Catamounts host Yale starting at 7 p.m. ... UVM also makes its first road trip of the season when it travels to face Maryland on Friday (8 p.m.) in a game that will be televised on Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic.