CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - In a week full of top performances, University at Albany's Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) and Boston University's John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep) delivered when it mattered most to earn Co-Player of the Week honors. Stony Brook University's Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md./Hargrave Military
Academy) put up impressive numbers to garner Rookie of the Week
accolades for the second straight week..
Ambrose, a sophomore guard, matched his career-high twice last week (24 points) and single-handily led his team to a thrilling 68-67 win over Central Connecticut on Saturday. The Great Danes relinquished an 18-point second-half lead and trailed by four with 20 seconds remaining, but Ambrose, an America East All-Rookie choice a year ago, scored the final five points of the game, and hit a running bank shot with 3.8 seconds remaining to win it. He scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds in Albany's win at Bryant on Wednesday. On the week, Ambrose averaged 16.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and shot 57 percent (21-of-37) from the floor
Holland, the 2008 America East Rookie of the Year, played a critical role in leading Boston U. to two wins last week. A 6-foot-5 combo guard, Holland averaged 19.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field. He scored 12 points in an overtime victory at Bucknell Tuesday, with seven of those coming in the extra session. Then in a 67-62 win against St. Peter's on Saturday, Holland poured in 18 of his game-high 26 in the second half. Through three games, Holland ranks third in America East in scoring (20.0 ppg), is tied for fourth in steals (2.33 spg) and tied for 12th in rebounding (5.3 rpg).
Brenton earns 2nd straight rookie honor
A 6-foot-5 forward, Brenton averaged 10.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals in a pair games last week. He had six points, eight rebounds and four steals in the Seawloves' loss at Lafayette Tuesday and followed that performance with his first collegiate double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) against Wagner Saturday.
The native of Columbia, Md. leads America East in rebounds (11.3), is tied for fourth in steals (2.33) and just outside the Top 25 in scoring (9.7 ppg).
Weekly Notebook
The Rest of the Best
Will Harris, Albany's highly touted transfer from Virginia, tallied career-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds in his team's thrilling 68-67 win over Central Connecticut on Saturday... Binghamton's D.J. Rivera recorded a pair of double-doubles in his first two games as a Bearcat. The transfer from St. Joseph's tallied an America East season-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a win over Mansfield Monday and tallied 20 points and 10 reounds at George Washington on Wednesday... Hartford's Jaret von Rosenberg scored a season-high 24 points to lead Hartford to a double-overtime victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) for its first win of the season... First-team all-conference selections Jay Greene and Darryl Proctor led UMBC to the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic title. Greene (14.3 ppg, 7.0 apg) earned MVP honors, while Proctor (20.5 ppg, 9.5 rpg) garnered all-tournament recognition... Vermont's Marqus Blakely, the 2008 America East Player and Defensive Player of the Year, had 23 points tallied game-highs with 11 rebounds, four blocks and four steals against Maryland Friday.
UMBC Captures Columbia Tourney
UMBC downed Quinnipiac and host Columbia to win the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic over the weekend. Jay Greene averaged 16 points and seven assists in the two games and had a game-high 22 in the Retrievers' 66-52 over the host Lions in the title game. He was named the Classic's Most Valuable Player. Darryl Proctor averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds to earn all-tournament accolades. A transfer from Coppin State prior the 2006-07 season, Proctor scored a UMBC career-high 25 points and hit a key bucket with time winding down to secure a 76-71 win over Qunnipiac in the opening round. UMBC has now won fiive straight in-season tournaments.
Close Call for Cats in College Park
University of Vermont nearly went to College Park and upset perennial ACC-power Maryland on Friday night. The Cats led 72-69 in the waning seconds, but the Terrapins' Greivis Vasquez hit a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining to force overtime and Maryland outscored the Catamounts 17-2 in the extra session. Marqus Blakely scored a team-high 23 points and tallied game-highs with 11 rebounds, four blocks and four steals for Vermont.
Zeglinski Zoning in on 1,000 Points
University of Hartford junior guard Joe Zeglinski is three points shy of becoming the 128th player in league history to score 1,000 points. A first-team all-conference selection last season, Zeglinski would become the 21st player in Hartford history to accomplish the feat.
Big start for Black Bears
Despite its loss at Providence on Saturday, Maine is off to its best start since the 2003-04 campaign when it went 20-12 and reached the America East Championship final. Prior to this season, the Black Bears hadn't gone 3-0 to start a campaign since accomplishing the feat in the fall of 1998
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 thePpoint
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
UMBC and University of Vermont are both receiving votes in the latest Mid Major Top 25 Poll, which was released Monday. The Retrievers received seven points, while the Catamounts totaled four. 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 reserve 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 Notebooks
Albany Great Danes
Albany (2-2) played a memorable home opener in a 68-67 victory over Central Connecticut State, a wacky affair that included the Great Danes losing an 18-point lead, going down four with 21.6 seconds to play, and winning on a last-second shot... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y. / Our Savior New American) scored seven of his 24 points in the final one minute and 49 seconds and made a short bank shot with 3.8 seconds remaining... The Great Danes, who improved to 7-3 in Division I home debuts, missed a layup with nine second left, but then forced a turnover on the sideline with a defensive double-team... UAlbany has won nine times by one point at the Division I level, including last year’s home overtime win against Vermont... The Great Danes’ home-opening win was the 125th in the history of SEFCU Arena... Will Harris (Corona, N.Y. / Brewster Academy) added 18 points and nine rebounds ... Harris, who transferred from Virginia, posted his top marks as a collegian... Ambrose also matched his career-best scoring total with 24 in a 76-67 victory at Bryant on Nov. 19... The sophomore, who went scoreless in his previous outing, added eight rebounds and three steals... Louis Barraza (Phoenix, Ariz. / Trevor Browne) struck for 13 points and made three 3-pointers against Bryant’s zone defenses... The Great Danes opened the schedule with three road games for the first time since 2004-05 ... UAlbany met DePaul in a homecoming for Chicago native Jimmie Covington (Chicago, Ill. / Morgan Park) on Nov. 17... After opening with No. 23 Villanova, the Great Danes played back-to-back Big East Conference opponents for the first time since Dec. 2004... freshman Anthony Raffa (Strathmere, N.J. / Wildwood Catholic) netted 11 points off the bench against Central Conn. State... junior guard Mike Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Sheepshead Bay) had a near triple-double with 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists at DePaul.
binghamton bearcats
Binghamton (1-1) split its first two games of the season, defeating Mansfield 80-62 before losing at George Washington 71-57... Against the Division II Mounties, BU built an 11-point halftime lead and shot 62% in the second half to win its season opener for the first time in six years. The game drew 3,461 fans to the Events Center... At GW, the Bearcats suffered through 31% shooting and lost by 14 points. The team’s struggles at the free throw line continued, as they missed 13 foul shots (59%). In two games, Binghamton has missed 34 free throws and is shooting just 51% from the line... Junior forward D.J. Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti HS/St. Joseph’s Univ.) averaged 24.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in the two games, recording back-to-back double-doubles. Rivera was explosive getting to the basket, where he shot 50% and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds during the two games... Senior guard Dwayne Jackson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) averaged 15.0 points for the week. Jackson scored 20 points with seven rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench at GW... Junior point guard Emanuel Mayben (Troy, N.Y./Troy/Hudson CC) averaged 13.5 points and 6.5 assists in a team-high 36.5 minutes of action.
Boston U.Terriers
Boston University (2-1) won back-to-back games in the month of November for the first time since 2004 when the Terriers started the year 4-1 ... Overcame a 16-point deficit late in the first half against Bucknell to send the game to overtime before eventually winning, 71-68 ... Sophomore John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict’s Prep) scored seven of his 12 points in the extra session ... Junior Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) led the Terriers in scoring with 19 ... The Bison entered the game with the 44th-best home court winning percentage with a 56-15 (.789) record at six-year-old Sojka Pavilion ... Matt Wolff posted a career-high 13 rebounds, two more than his previous high ... Lowe scored six-straight points to overcome an early 14-9 deficit against St. Peter’s to give the Terriers a lead they would never relinquish ... Holland missed the final 10 minutes of the first half due to having two fouls ... Well-rested, he scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half to earn America East player of the game honors ... Freshman Jake O’Brien (Weymouth, Mass./Boston College H.S.) started both games for the injured junior Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont./Iroquois Ridge), who did play for 11 minutes against the Peacocks ... Team now has 199 wins in Case Gym ... Next travel to Northeasern Tues. and then to Mount St. Mary’s Sat.
Hartford Hawks
Hartford (1-3) picked up its first victory of the 2008-09 season last week, defeating St. Francis (NY) 91-82 in double overtime. The Hawks made a season-high 16 three-pointers in the contest and got 24 points from senior Jaret von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) and 22 from junior Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan)... Earlier in the week, Hartford dropped games at second-ranked Connecticut (56-99) and Penn State (64-89). The Hawks hung with the Huskies for a good portion of the game. Hartford trailed by only four with 13 minutes left in the contest before UConn blew the game open. The Hawks dropped to 0-17 all-time against ranked opponents... Zeglinski needs only three more points to become the 21st player in school history to record 1,000 career points. If he reaches the milestone against Rhode Island (his 70th career game), he will be the second-fastest to the mark in Hartford’s Division I history (Vin Baker needed 69 games)... Hartford will play three games this week, all a part of the 2008 Philly Hoop Group Classic. The Hawks will play at Rhode Island on Tuesday, November 25 before wrapping up the tournament after Thanksgiving at The Palestra in Philadelphia, Pa. Hartford will play NJIT in Philadelphia on November 28 and either Monmouth or Niagara on November 29.
MAINE BLACK BEARS
Maine (3-1) defeated Princeton 58-55 in overtime on Wednesday before falling to Providence 83-62 on Saturday...Against Princeton, Maine was behind by four at halftime and by six with four minutes to go before outscoring the Tigers 7-to-1 to tie the game at 51 and push it into overtime...In overtime, with the score knotted at 55, Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./Hyde/MCI) made two free throws and freshman Andrew Rogers (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) followed it up with another free throw that made the Tigers take a desperation three-pointer at the end that was no good...Maine was led by Kaimondre Owes (Brooklyn, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes/St.Peter’s College) had 11 points to lead the Black Bears in the low-scoring game...Bernal had 10 points and five rebounds while Rogers had seven points and two assists...Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner) had nine points and six rebounds...Against Providence on Saturday, Maine fell behind early in the game but closed the Friar lead to 54-42 with a 10-to-4 run in the second half before the Friars pulled away...Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) had 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting to go along with five rebounds and four steals to lead Maine...Owes added 13 points as well...Bernal had 10 points, four rebounds and five assists while McNally had 10 points and five boards...Maine is holding its opponents to 39.8 percent shooting from the field while shooting 47.5 percent...The Black Bears are also shooting a solid 37.3 percent from three-point range while holding their opponents to 24.8 percent from behind the arc...Maine returns to action on Nov. 23 against South Alabama, which was a seven-seed in the NCCA Tournament in March and will play either UC-Davis or Tulane the next day.
UMBC Retrievers
UMBC (3-1) senior guard and tournament Most Valuable Player Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa.) scored a game-high 22 points, leading UMBC to a 66-52 victory in the title game of the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic...UMBC has won five consecutive in-season tournaments, although the last victory occurred in the final Battle of Baltimore Tournament in 2003-04...Senior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md.) added 16 points and eight rebounds and also earned a spot on the all-tournament team...Sophomore forward Rich Flemming (Chester, Pa.) was the other Retriever in double figures with 13 points and he added a career-best nine rebounds... The Retrievers trailed only once at 3-2, then went on an 8-0 run to open up a 10-3 lead at the 14:30 mark of the first half...Greene scored 13 points in the first 20 minutes as the visitors built a pair of 13-point leads before settling for a 30-22 advantage at intermission... The Lions were within 54-47 with 2:52 to play, but on the next possession, Proctor turned a potential turnover into a three-point play, sparking an 8-0 run which gave UMBC a comfortable 62-47 advantage with 1:21 remaining...UMBC converted 24 of 29 from the charity stripe (83 percent)... The win was the 60th in Randy Monroe’s tenure at UMBC... In the tournament opener, the Retrievers rallied from a six-point second half deficit to upend Quinnipiac, 76-71...Proctor scored a UMBC career best 25 points and posted his first double-double of the season with 11 rebounds... It was the 30th double-double of Proctor’s collegiate career... For the second time in the young season, all five UMBC starters scored in double figures and Jay Greene recorded his fourth career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists... Flemming has gotten his UMBC career off on a strong note, scoring in double figures (11.3 ppg) in all three games this week... The Retrievers hit 29 of 52 shots from the floor (55.8 percent) vs. the Bobcats... The Retrievers dropped a 67-60 decision to Morgan State to open the week... UMBC never led in the game, marking the first time that has happened since a Feb. 15, 2007 game at Hartford, a span of 39 contests... Greene’s fourth assist (of seven) in that game moved him into the top spot in assists in school history...The Retrievers return to action on Wednesday, with a contest at George Washington, before returning home to entertain Toledo on Saturday, Nov. 29.
New Hampshire WIldcats
New Hampshire (1-2) went 0-2 last week, losing a tough game at home to Harvard, 80-69, and falling on the road to Big Ten foe Penn State, 70-50 ... sophomore guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) single-handedly kept UNH within striking distance against Harvard, scoring 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting, including a career-high four 3-pointers ... the 21 points was one shy of his career high ...Conley also chipped in with seven points, three rebounds and an assist versus Penn State ... senior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) led the Wildcats against Penn State, netting 14 points with four huge treys that kept UNH in the game ... Gibbs filled the stat line with four rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal ... senior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark CC) also played well versus PSU, hitting for 13 points on 3 of 5 shooting from downtown and adding three rebounds and an assist ... Gilchrese also had seven points, two rebounds and four assists against Harvard ... sophomore guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) scored 10 points against Harvard ... sophomore forward Rony Tchatchoua (Douala, Cameroon) tallied nine points and six rebounds against Harvard ... sophomore center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) pulled down eight rebounds against Harvard, while junior forward Abby Kabba (Oklahoma City, Okla./Northern Oklahoma) grabbed a career-high seven boards in a personal-best 26 minutes at Penn State.
Stony Brook Seawolves
Stony Brook (0-2) went 0-2 on the week, losing at Lafayette, 80-71, on Tuesday before falling to visiting Wagner, 65-62, on Saturday afternoon ... Junior Muhammad El-Amin scored 15 points in his collegiate debut on Tuesday against Lafayette ... El-Amin scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half as the Seawolves cut a 22-point deficit to seven in the final minutes ... Freshman Dallis Joyner had the first double-digit scoring game of his career against the Leopards, recoding 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field ... SBU forced the Leopards into 24 turnovers on Tuesday night ... Sophomore Chris Martin had 11 points in 14 minutes of action against Lafayette... Freshman Tommy Brenton led four Seawolves in double-figures with 15 points in the loss to Wagner on Saturday afternoon ... Brenton also grabbed 10 rebounds to record the first double-double by a Seawolves player this season ... Joyner had this second straight double-figure scoring game against Wagner, scoring 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field ... the Seawolves went 23-for-29 (79.3 percent) from the free-throw line against the Seahawks ... Martin set a career-high with 14 points against Wagner ... making his first career start for the Seawolves, El-Amin reached double-figures for the second straight game (11 points) ... senior Marques Cox started for just the second time since his freshman season against Wagner ... Cox had three points, two assists and three steals in 29 minutes of action.
Vermont Catamounts
Vermont (1-2) went 1-1 on the week, as it earned an 89-58 victory at home over Yale on Tuesday and then nearly upset Maryland on the road on Friday, before falling in overtime ... Senior Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) and junior Maurice Joseph (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain St.-Lambert/Michigan St.) led the Catamounts with 17 points each in the win over Yale, while senior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) went for 16 and seven assists ... Vermont opened the game up with a 21-3 run midway through the first half and led by as many as 34 in the contest ... With Joseph and McIntosh finishing as the high scorers, it marked the first time in the last 32 outings that neither Trimboli or junior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) didn’t lead the team in points ... On Friday Vermont didn’t trail for the final 13:07 of regulation and would lead by as many as eight, but Maryland got a late three to tie the game and then won in overtime ... Blakely led the Cats with his first double-double of the year, netting 23 points and 11 rebounds to go with four blocks and four steals ... There were 10 lead changes in the game ... Vermont is back in action on Tuesday when it faces former America East rival Delaware on the road (7 p.m.) and then hosts Loyola (Md.) on Saturday (1 p.m.).