CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - For the second straight week, University of Vermont's Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn/St. Luke's) has been named America East Player of the Week after leading his team to its fourth win in five games, while Stony Brook University's Danny Carter (London, England) had a career
night against the No. 2 team in the nation to earn Rookie of the Week
accolades The awards for the week ending Dec. 21 were announced on Monday.
A senior guard, Trimboli scored 24 points, pulled down six rebounds and dished out five assists in the Catamounts' 84-79 win over Quinnipiac on Sunday. He shot a perfect 7-of-7 from the field, made 7-of-9 free throw attempts and also had two steals.
It is the fifth time the the three-time all-conference selection has earned the honor.Trimboli also was named the league's top player on consecutive weeks during the 2006-07 season (Feb. 11, 18). He now ranks 23rd on America East's all-time scoring list with 1,643 career points. This season, Trimboli is fifth among league leaders in scoring (16.3 ppg), second in assists (5.4 apg) and fifth in steals (1.78 spg).
Carter, a 6-foot-9 forward, scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed a career-best six rebounds in 24 foor minutes against Connecticut on Monday. England's U-18 Player of the Year in 2007, Carter shot 8-of-13 overall and canned both of his 3-point tries. The reserve is averaging 5.1 points, 2.6 rebounds in 15 minutes per game thus far in his freshman campaign.
Conference Notebook
The Rest of the Best
Albany's Anthony Raffa scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds to lead Albany to win over Sacred Heart Saturday. His steal with 2.6 seconds left sealed the outcome... D.J. Rivera, the league's leading scorer poured in 23 points in a loss to Manhattan on Saturday... Corey Lowe had 20 points for Boston University in their last second loss to Delaware... Maine's Gerald McLemore scored 18 points and had six boards against Harvard Sunday.... UMBC's Darryl Proctor recorded his 33rd career double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds against American... Vermont's Marqus Blakely scored 16 points, had six rebounds and blocked three shots in the win over the Bobcats. He currently leads the league in rebounding, steals and blocked shots. Only the late Reggie Lewis finished a season as the leader in all three categories (195-86).
RPI Report
America East is ranked 16th of 31 conferences in the RPI which was released by Collegiate Basketball News on Monday. The 16th postion is an 11-spot improvement from last season, when the league finished 27th and just four spots lower than the league's best-ever ranking of 13, which came in 1997.
You Play to Win the Game
With 30 non-conference games to go this season, America East teams have already won as many games (44) as all of last season. The membership has posted a combined .500 winning percentage in non-league games (44-44) to date this season, compared to a .376 mark (44-73) a year ago. The conference is an impressive 43-24 in games against its peer conference (non-FBS schools) not including the Atlantic 10. This season the conference has posted its first win over a Big East school (Binghamton over Rutgers) since 2005 and posted wins wins over three of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association (Delaware, Northeastern, UNC-Wilmington).
Stat Check
In the team rankings, Vermont continues to set the pace offensively, leading the conference in both scoring offense (77.3 ppg) and field goal percentage (.478). No team has averaged that many points since Maine scored 78.4 per game in 2000-01. Stony Brook is the top team on the other side of the ball, holding opponents to just 58.6 points per game. St. Joseph's transfer D.J. Rivera leads the league in scoring (20.6 ppg), while Vermont's Marqus Blakely, last year's rebounding leader, is again at the top of the list with 8.9 boards per game. Jay Greene once again leads the league in assists (6.5) after leading the league with 7.2 per game last season. Blakely also leads the league in steals (2.67 spg) and blocks (3.33 bpg) which has only been done once before in league history (Reggie Lewis '85-86).
In the Ranks
America East teams have faced seven ranked opponents to date this season, including four of the top five teams in the country and three in the past week. Additionally, Hartfrod faces No. 21/24 Baylor this week.
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.
Team Notebooks
Albany (7-4) rallied from a nine-point deficit in the late stages of the game in pulling out a 60-59 victory at Sacred Heart on Dec. 20... The non-league game was delayed one day due to a snowstorm... The Great Danes posted their second one-point win of the season and 10th as a Division I program... UAlbany has matched its best 11-game record at the Division I level, as the program was 7-4 to begin the 2006-07 campaign... Sacred Heart shot 52.2 percent, but the Great Danes forced 23 turnovers, the most by the opposition in more than three years... UAlbany had lost 19 straight games, dating back to Feb. 2, 2005, when its opponent shot 50 percent or better... redshirt freshman Billy Allen (Hamilton, Ohio / Hamilton) had a career-high eight points off the bench and drew his team even at 59 apiece with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc... Allen later found Mike Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Sheepshead Bay) will a bullet pass and after the junior college transfer was fouled he made the first of two free throws to put UAlbany ahead with 9.5 seconds remaining... Anthony Raffa (Strathmere, N.J. / Wildwood Catholic) scored 15 points and grabbed a career-best eight rebounds... Raffa, a freshman guard, stripped Sacred Heart’s Ryan Litke in the open floor with two seconds left to preserve the win... Raffa has scored in double digits in five of his last six outings... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J. / Wildwood Catholic) came up with the loose ball after Raffa’s strip, his career-best fourth steal... Connelly, who had 10 points, six rebounds and a season-high three assists, scored in twin figures for the first time since Dec. 1... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y. / Our Savior New American) had his eight-game, double-figure scoring streak halted... UAlbany ranks 18th nationally in rebounding margin (+8.7 per game)... The Great Danes have shot less than 40 percent from the floor in six of their last seven contests
Boston University (5-5) dropped a heartbreaking 70-68 decision against former America East foe Delaware on Sunday afternoon ... The Terriers were down by eight with 7:03 to go in the second half, but stormed back in the final minutes to take a 68-67 lead after senior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) nailed two clutch free throws with 12.5 seconds remaining ... After a called timeout though, the Blue Hens’ Jawan Carter drove to the basket, drawing in the BU defense and then passed the ball to an open D.J. Boney, who drained the open 3-pointer from the left corner for the win ... The two free throws gave Wolff his first career double-double and the Terriers’ first of the season as well, as he finished with 12 rebounds and 10 points ... BU has yet to lose by double-digits ... Honored before the game in a ceremony for scoring his 1,000th point against Notre Dame the week prior, junior Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) scored a game-high 20 points ... His 1,029 career points now place him 23rd all-time in the BU record book ... The contest marked the first time this season that BU scored more points in the pant (30-28) but also the first time that an opponent hit more 3-pointers than the Terriers (8-7) ... The team has the week off for the holidays and will visit defending Ivy League champion Cornell next Monday (Dec. 29) in their first-ever meeting.
Binghamton (4-4) has dropped two in a row, including Saturday’s six-point setback against Manhattan at the Events Center. In that game, the Bearcats shot 50% but surrendered the second-most points in the building’s five-year history and the Jaspers orchestrated a second-half comeback primarily at the free throw line. The game was slowed by 52 fouls and 75 free throws, with Manhattan converting 31-of-45 from the charity stripe. Junior guard D.J. Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti HS/St. Joseph’s Univ.), the leading scorer in the America East, netted a team-high 23 points (7-of-12 FG) in 29 minutes to pace four Bearcats in double figures. Rivera has now scored 20 or more points in three straight games and in six of eight this season... Senior guard Dwayne Jackson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) netted 17 pts, including 12 in the first half... Senior forward Reggie Fuller (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower HS/Angelina College) added 11 points and three blocks... Junior point guard Emanuel Mayben (Troy, N/.Y./Troy/Hudson Valley CC) contributed 11 points and six assists... Binghamton led for most of the game, but turnovers in the final two minutes of the first half helped squander a nine-point lead and missed shots in the final two minutes of the game (missed 6-of-7) prevented a comeback after Manhattan seized the lead with five minutes to play. The Bearcats were whistled for a season-high 31 fouls and had three players foul out of the game. The team also committed 19 turnovers. The starting five shot a collective 58% from the field but BU’s six subs managed just six combined field goals. Sophomore center Theo Davis (Brampton, Ontario/Cardozo/Gonzaga Univ.) made his BU debut and chipped in three rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes. Sophomore guard Chretien Lukusa (Toronto, Ontario/East Commerce Collegiate) returned after missing five games with an injury and played 12 minutes.
Hartford (4-7) will take on 21st-ranked Baylor University this week. The Hawks and Bears will meet for the first time ever on Monday, December 22 at 8 p.m. in Waco, TX. Hartford is 0-3 all-time against Big 12 teams. Senior captain Jaret von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) will lead the team in his return to Waco, where he was born and raised until the age of 12... The Hawks have a few days off for the holidays before returning to action at Stanford University on Tuesday, December 30. Hartford will play a PAC-10 team for only the second time in its 25-year Division I history.
Maine (5-6, 0-0) fell to Harvard by the score of 76-63...It was a back and forth game until Harvard was able to pull away late...Maine was led by Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch/Worcester Academy) led the Black Bears with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-18 shooting...McLemore also grabbed six rebounds...Troy Barnies (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) added a career-high 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds...Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner) had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds...Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) tied his career-high with seven assists and also had four steals to go with nine points...Andrew Rogers (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) added five assists...Maine dominated the glass, outrebounding Harvard 42-27...McNally has had at least five rebounds in eight straight games...McLemore has scored in double-figures in seven out of 11 games this season, and six of the last seven games...Socoby is closing in on 1,000 points for his career as he is currently at 801...Maine travels to take on Boston College on Tuesday at 1 p.m...It will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 2004-05 season.
UMBC (5-5) staged a furious rally that fell short, as the visiting American Eagles defeated the Retrievers, 74-61, in a match-up of two NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago on Saturday, Dec. 20 at the RAC Arena...Both squads are now 5-5 on the season...Senior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) was UMBC’s America East Player of the Game, posting his fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds...American’s Garrison Carr was brilliant, posting career highs with eight three-point field goals and 34 points...It was the most points scored by a player against the Retrievers since Vermont’s Taylor Coppenrath scored 34 vs. UMBC on Jan. 31, 2004... American built a stunning 32-9 advantage with 6:27 remaining in the half before ending the first and UMBC trailed by as many as 26 points at 45-19 early in the second half before beginning a gritty comeback... Trailing 60-38 with 9:26 remaining, the hosts matched AU’s earlier 16-2 run, holding American to no field goals over the next eight and a half minutes...Junior Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) hit for seven straight points to cap the surge and trim the deficit to 62-54 with 3:15 to play... American turned the ball over on their next possession, but Fry’s entry pass intended for Proctor was intercepted and Carr buried his final trifecta of the night to restore the Eagle lead to 65-54 with 1:55 remaining...Senior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) hit four three-point field goals en route to a 14-point effort, while junior guard Matt Spadafora (Richboro, Pa./Archbishop Wood) added 11 points... UMBC hit 16 of 30 shots from the floor in the second half (53.3 percent)...It was the 33rd time that Proctor has recorded a double-double in 102 collegiate games... Freshman post Jake Wasco (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Learning Center) saw his most extensive playing time of the season, starting the second half vs. American and playing 17 minutes... He recorded his first collegiate field goal in the game... In its last three games, UMBC is 27 of 75 from the floor in the first half (36 percent) and 43 of 75 from the field (57.3 percent) in the final 20 minutes...UMBC heads to Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers on Tuesday...It will be just UMBC’s sixth game vs. a team from the Big 12 Conference and their first since a 1995-96 game at Texas A&M.
New Hampshire (3-5) had last week off, but will get back to work with a game at Fordham on Dec. 23 before closing out 2008 by playing host to Hofstra on Dec. 27... The Wildcats have dropped their last two contests, dropping a pair of road games to Rhode Island (88-56) and Long Island (76-72) ... for the second time this season sophomore guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) led the Wildcat comeback, this time versus LIU ... Abreu scored 19 points, including 17 in the second half, to erase a nine-point deficit ... late in the second half, Abreu scored nine straight points for the Wildcats during a span of 2:31 ... Abreu also added five rebounds, five assists and a block in the contest ... against A10-power Rhode Island, Abreu led UNH with 13 points and chipped in with a rebound and two assists ... senior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass.) had a milestone night at LIU, becoming the 26th Wildcat to score 1,000 points in a career with a trey that cut UNH’s deficit to just two with 28 seconds left ... Gibbs netted 15 points to go along with four rebounds, an assist and a block ... the co-captain tallied 12 points, two rebounds, three assists and a steal against URI ... junior forward Radar Onguetou (Yaounde, Cameroon/New Hampton School) played his best game of the season at LIU, pouring in 14 points ? one shy of his career high ? on 6 of 8 shooting, while adding eight rebounds and three assists in 39 minutes ... Onguetou also chipped in with four points, five rebounds, an assist and a steal versus Rhode Island ... freshman guard Russell Graham (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) set career highs in points (9), assists (5), steals (2) and minutes (29) against Rhode Island ... sophomore Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) tallied six points and seven boards at Long Island ... freshman forward Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece-Athena) recorded career highs against LIU with six points and five rebounds.
Stony Brook (5-5) fell to #2 Connecticut, 91-57, in its only game of week on Monday at the XL Center ... Freshman Danny Carter scored a career-high 20 points for the Seawolves, going 8-for-13 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line ... Carter also grabbed a career-high six rebounds in addition to blocking two shots ... The Seawolves closed the first half on a 17-7 run to cut a 24 point deficit to 14 at the break ... Carter scored 10 points in the run including back-to-back three pointers to end the half ... SBU would get as close as 11 on a three from junior Jonathan Moore just 40 seconds into the second half ... the Seawolves trailed by only 12 with 15:58 remaining after back-to-back three-pointers from freshman Bryan Dougher before the Huskies pulled away for the 91-57 victory ... Stony Brook turned the ball over just eight times against the Huskies ... SBU forced UConn into 16 turnovers and had 12 steals, its second highest total in a game this season ... despite the loss to the Huskies the Seawolves are still off to their best start in Division I, 5-5, since the 2000-01 and 2002-03 squads also started the season 5-5 ... Stony Brook will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 28th, traveling to take on St. Peter’s ... it will be the second game of a five-game road trip for the Seawolves.
Vermont (6-3) won its only game of the week, defeating Quinnipiac 84-79 on the road on Sunday afternoon in a game that was televised on NESN ... Senior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) led the Cats by scoring 24 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the floor, as he would also grab six rebounds and hand out five assists ... Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) added 16 points, six rebounds and five blocks, while junior Maurice Joseph (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain-St. Lambert/Mich. St) had a big game going 4-for-6 from the floor for 15 points ... The Catamounts used a hot-shooting first half that saw them connect on 16 of their 26 shots (61.5 percent) and take a 44-29 halftime lead ... Sunday was the first of a minimum 11 TV appearances for the Cats this season ... UVM has now won 12 straight and is 28-12 all-time against teams from the NEC ... Vermont has won 49 of its last 50 games when scoring 80 or more ... Vermont is now 3-0 all-time against Quinnipiac, having defeated the Bobcats in each of the last three seasons ... The Cats are 9-1 in their last 10 appearances on NESN ... Vermont returns to action on December 27-30 when the Catamounts make the long trip to Honolulu, Hawaii to take part in the Rainbow Classic. Vermont will face George Washington in its first of three games on the 27th at 11 p.m. eastern time.