CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Binghamton University's D.J. Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti/St. Joseph's) and UMBC's Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md./Brewster Academy) each rode hot offensive performances to America East weekly awards for the honors of 2008.
Rivera, the Player of the Week, also received the award on Dec. 8. A junior transfer from St. Joseph's, Rivera began his week with 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 69-58 win over Rider on Tuesday. He followed that performance with 24 points and eight rebounds in Binghamton's 74-73 victory at Tulane on Saturday. For the week, Rivera averaged 23 points, 9 rebounds and shot 15-of-27 from the floor (3-of-4 from 3-point land) and 13-of-16 from the free throw line.
A 6-foot-4, 190 pound forward, Rivera has made quite an impact on the Bearcats and America East so far this season. He leads the league in scoring (21.1 ppg) and is sixth in both rebounding (6.9 rpg) and shooting percentage (.493). Rivera is also the first Binghamton player to earn Player of the Week honors twice in a season since Anthony Green accomplished the feat during the 2002-03 season.
Gilliam, the Rookie of the Week, led UMBC to one of its best non-conference wins in program history. A freshman guard, Gilliam scored 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the Retrievers' 66-64 win at Nebraska on Tuesday. The win snapped the Cornhuskers' 31-game non-conference home court win streak, the eighth longest run in the nation. Gilliam hit 9-of-11 attempts from the floor in the best offensive game for a UMBC rookie since Brian Hodges had 28 on March 4, 2005. He is also the first Retriever to earn top rookie accolades since Hodges on Feb. 27 of that season.
Gilliam is averaging 9.5 points during his freshman campaign and leads the league shooting a blistering 64.7 percent from the floor (44-of-68).
Conference Notebook
The Rest of the Best
Albany's Anthony Raffa continued his steady play with a team-high 14 points and six rebounds to lead the Great Danes' to their third straight win, a 68-56 victory at St. Francis, N.Y.... Hartford's Jaret von Rosenberg enjoyed his homecoming with 19 points, six rebounds and nine assists against Baylor on Tuesdayn. Von Rosenberg was born in Waco and lived there until second grade, had between 40-50 relatives in attendance... Maine's Gerald McLemore scored 18 points against Boston College... UMBC's Darryl Proctor recorded his 34th career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds in the win at Nebraska... Stony Brook's Muhamad El-Amin poured in a career-high 27 points, including 20 in the first half, to lead his team to a road win over MAAC foe St. Peter's on Sunday... Vermont's Maurice Joseph had a career-high 18 points in Vermont's 83-72 win against George Washington in the first round of the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.
RPI Report
After falling to 16th in last week's report, America East is back up to 14th out of 31 conferences in the RPI which was released by Collegiate Basketball News on Monday. The league is currently sixth among FCS conferences, ahead of the Colonial (15th) and Metro Atlantic (16th). The ranking is an 13-spot improvement from last season, when the league finished 27th and just one spots lower than the league's best-ever ranking of 13, which came in 1997.
Strong Starts All Around
Several America East teams are off to strong starts this season. Vermont's 7-3 mark equals the 1990-91, 2002-03 and 2004-05 squads for the program's best 10-game start. Albany (8-4) is off to its best 12-game start since joining the Division I ranks in 2002, while Stony Brook's 6-5 start is its best record since moving up to Division I as well.
UMBC Ends Nebraska's Streak
UMBC snapped Nebraska's 31-game home court non-conference win streak last win, the eighth longest run in the nation. Rookie of the Week Chauncey Gilliam led the charge with 21 points, while Darryl Proctor had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. The win was the Retrievers' first against a school from a BCS conference.
You Play to Win the Game
With 20 non-conference games to go this season, America East teams have already surpassed last season's non-conference win total. The league has combined for 50 wins in 98 games (.510 win percentage) compared to a .376 mark (44-73) a year ago. The conference is an impressive 47-27 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, a win over Big IX foe Nebraska (UMBC), Atlantic 10 foe George Washington (Vermont) and posted wins wins over three of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association (Delaware, Northeastern, UNC-Wilmington).
Conference Play Begins Saturday
the 2008-09 conference slate begins this week with three games on Saturday. Binghamton will trek to Orono for a 1 p.m. contest with Maine, while Albany goes to Hartford for a 2 p.m. contest. UMBC, winners of eight straight games at the RAC against league foes, including the 2008 America East Champipionship game, hosts Stony Brook at 7:05 p.m.
Team-By-Team Notebook
Albany (8-4) extended its winning streak to three straight with a 68-56 non-league victory against St. Francis, N.Y. on Dec. 22... The Great Danes have their best 12-game record as a Division I program... UAlbany started with a 7-5 record in the 2006-07 campaign... The Great Danes have won three in a row largely behind solid defensive play, as the team is allowing 53.7 points and 39.6-percent shooting in that span... UAlbany has four road victories before the month of January for the second time at the Division I level... The Great Danes first accomplished the feat in the 2004-05 season... UAlbany shot 46.8% from the field against St. Francis, its first time about the 40-percent figure since Nov. 29... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J. / Camden Catholic) matched a season-high with 13 points at Saint Francis... Connelly scored in double figures for the 30th time as a collegian... Anthony Raffa (Strathmere, N.J. / Wildwood Catholic) scored a team-high 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and made 8-of-10 from the line on Dec. 22... Raffa has scored in double figures in six of his last seven starts and is averaging 14.3 points in that stretch... Virginia transfer Will Harris (Corona, N.Y. / Brewster Academy) scored 13 points, all in the second half, at Saint Francis... Harris, who was not in the starting lineup for the first time this year, has reached twin figures on eight occasions this season... Mike Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Sheepshead Bay) has handed out three-plus assists against eight opponents this year... Scotty McRae (Rosedale, N.Y. / Benjamin Cardozo) is averaging 5.7 rebounds over his last six games... UAlbany ranks 17th nationally in rebounding margin (+8.4 per game)... The Great Danes will play a defending national champion for the first time in the matchup with Kansas on Dec. 30... In 2005-06, UAlbany met both NCAA championship participants (Florida & UCLA) in the regular season... UAlbany also faced Syracuse during its run to the 2003 national title.
Binghamton (6-4) has won two in a row and five of its last seven. Last week the Bearcats earned an 11-point home win over MAAC power Rider and then battled for a one-point road victory at Conference USA member Tulane... Junior guard D.J. Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti HS/St. Joseph’s Univ.), the leading scorer in the America East, continued his production by averaging 23.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two games. Rivera shot 56% from the floor and 81% from the free throw line. He has scored 20 or more points in a school-record five straight games and in eight of his first 10 games at Binghamton... Junior guard Malik Alvin (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz HS/Chipola College) averaged 13.0 points, 6.5 assists and 3.0 steals in the two games... Senior guard Dwayne Jackson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) netted all 10 of his points in the second half against Rider, and is averaging 12.2 points and 4.6 rebounds off the bench... Sophomore center Theo Davis (Brampton, Ontario/Cardozo/Gonzaga Univ.) continued to make strides in his return to the court with a key block late in the game at Tulane. He contributed three assists, two blocks and a pair of rebounds in 10 minutes of work... Freshman center Kyrie Sutton (Brooklyn, N.Y./Boys & Girls HS) had his most productive game of the season at Tulane, chipping in eight rebounds, four points and three blocks.
Boston University (5-5) faces off against Cornell for the first-time ever on Monday night in a meeting of preseason conference favorites after taking a week off due to the holidays ...The Terriers are currently riding a 12-game winning streak against the Ivy League schools with the last loss coming in 2001 against Columbia ... Junior Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) scored a game-high 20 points in the last contest against Delaware and is second in the league in scoring (19.3 ppg) ... The sharpshooter is currently 23rd all-time in the BU record book with 1,029 career points ... After posting his first career double-double (10 pts., 12 rebs.) against the Blue Hens, senior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) leads the team in rebounding (5.4 rpg) and is 11th in the league ... The Terriers have yet to lose a game by double-digits this season ... The team returns to Agganis Arena for the third time this season when it hosts Holy Cross on Friday (Jan. 2).
Hartford (4-8) dropped its only game last week, falling to #21/#22 Baylor University by a 74-59 final at the Ferrell Center. Senior guard Jaret von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) led all scorers with 19 points in his homecoming and also dished out a career-high nine assists... Freshman forward Genesis Maciel (Los Angeles, Calif./Compton Centennial/Worcester Academy) scored in double figures for the second time this season, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. He also made a pair of three-pointers for the first time in his career... Hartford will next play at Stanford University on Tuesday, December 30. The Hawks have not faced a Pac-10 opponent since the 1993 season... Hartford will tip off America East play at home against Albany on Saturday, January 3.
Maine (5-7) fell at Boston College by the score of 99-61...Maine was led by freshman Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif.) who had 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting and three steals...Kaimondre Owes (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Peter’s College) poured in 12 points and grabbed three rebounds...Owes also went a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe...Troy Barnies (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) had 10 points and eight rebounds...Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner) added seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks to go with four points...Svetoslav Chetinov (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) added four points and five rebounds in only 15 minutes of action...The Black Bears’ bench outscored the Eagles bench by a 27-20 margin...Boston College was the last team in a tough month for the Black Bears as they played at #4 Oklahoma, at Providence, at South Alabama and at Boston College...Maine also battled Conference USA foe Tulane at the South Alabama Basketball Classic...The 18 points for McLemore against Boston College marked the second consecutive game that McLemore has had that many points as he had 18 against Harvard as well...McNally had had at least six rebounds in eight straight games...Barnies is averaging a solid 11 points and 7.3 rebounds in the last three games...Maine continues play on Tuesday against Canisius at 7 p.m. in the Alfond Arena.at 2 p.m. The Hawks and Great Danes split the season series last season, with each team winning on its opponent's home court.
UMBC (6-5) halted the eighth-longest home non-conference winning streak in the nation and defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 66-64, before 8,293 fans at the Devaney Sports Center on Dec. 23...It was UMBC’s first-ever victory over a team from one of the top six conferences in the country (ACC, Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, SEC, PAC-10) and was the Retrievers’ top win in RPI, as Nebraska entered the game at No. 53 (source: www.realtimerpi.com)...Freshman Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md./Brewster Academy) was brilliant, hitting nine of 11 shots from the floor and scoring a game-high 21 points... Gilliam posted season highs in scoring and rebounding as he helped and is now 44 of 68 (64.7%) from the field this season... His 21 points was the most in a game by a UMBC freshman since Brian Hodges scored 28 vs. UNH on March 4, 2005... Seniors Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) and Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) were also heroic as each stuffed the stat sheet in 40 minutes... Proctor posted his fourth double-double in the last five games with 15 points and a season high 13 rebounds, while Greene scored 13 points and added nine assists...Proctor’s blocked shot of a Steve Harley driving layup with 0.1 seconds remaining sealed the win for UMBC... The Retrievers hit 24 of 42 shots ( 57.1 percent) from the floor, 15 of 18 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe and outrebounded the Huskers. 32-19...NU’s last non-conference loss occurred on Dec. 3, 2005, a 73-72 loss vs. UAB... UMBC was dominant in the first 20 minutes, leading by as many as 20 points at 36-16 before settling for a 37-21 lead at intermission...UMBC scored 66 points, as the Huskers came into the game as the sixth-best defensive team in the nation, allowing just over 53 points per game... For the record, UMBC was 0-54 (Big East, 0-16), (Big 12, 0-5), (ACC 0-22), (Big 10 0-9), (SEC 0-2), (Pac-10 0-0) against the aforementioned conferences prior to the Dec. 23 win at Nebraska...UMBC became the first team this season to hit better than 50 percent from the field against the Huskers, knocking down 57.1 percent to score an opponent season-high 66 points... No team had hit better than 47 percent against NU in the first nine games of the year... Winning the close games has become a staple over the past two-plus seasons for Randy Monroe-coached teams... Since the start of the 2006-07 season, UMBC is 18-7 (.720) in games decided by five points or less... In its 3-0 start to this season in those tight games, UMBC is 22 of 28 (78.6%) from the free throw line in the last five minutes of play...Greene is now seventh in school history in both steals (140) and 3,382 minutes played... Proctor needs seven points to reach 1,500 in his collegiate career... UMBC has a week off before revisiting the midwest on Dec. 30 when they face Saint Louis... UMBC will play its 1,100th intercollegiate contest vs. the Billikens.
New Hampshire (3-7) went 0-2 last week, dropping a close one on the road to Fordham (60-56) Dec. 23, and falling short at home against Hofstra (62-57) Dec. 27 ... sophomore forward Rony Tchatchoua (Douala, Cameroon/Findlay Prep (Las Vegas)) played his best game of the season against Hofstra and nearly led the Wildcats past the Pride when he tied his career high with 17 points on 6 of 6 shooting, including his first 3-pointer of 2008 ... Tchatchoua was also 4 of 5 from the line and added four rebounds in the contest ... versus Fordham, Tchatchoua provided a spark off the bench to help get the ?Cats back into the game, tallying seven points on 2 of 3 shooting from the field and 3 of 4 from the line to go along with three rebounds ... sophomore center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) grabbed his first double-double of the season against Hofstra, recording 10 points and 11 rebounds to go along with an assist, a block and a steal ... senior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) did a little bit of everything against Hofstra, tallying eight points, six rebounds and two assists ... Gibbs also set a career high with four steals and matched a career high with three blocks ... Gibbs added 10 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal at Fordham, and was a career-best 7 of 8 from the line ... sophomore guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) was UNH’s leading scorer at Fordham, netting 12 points to go along with six boards ... fellow sophomore guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) tallied 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals at Fordham ... junior forward Colbey Santos (Onset, Mass/Tabor Academy) chipped in with six points and five rebounds at Hofstra, while freshman guard Russell Graham (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) added eight points, two rebounds and an assist ... freshman forward Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece-Athena) netted a career-high seven points, including his first career trey, against Hofstra.
Stony Brook (6-5) defeated St. Peter’s 68-52 on Sunday afternoon in their only game of the week. ... The Seawolves are off to their best start since joining Division I in 1999 ... The victory over Saint Peter’s was the Seawolves third road win of the season after recording just two all of last season ... Junior Muhammad El-Amin led the Seawolves with a career-high 27 points against the Peacocks, shooting 9-for-15 from the field including 3-for-6 from three-point range ... El-Amin scored 18 of his points in the first half including 10 in a 13-2 run that pushed the Seawolves lead to 16 ... Sunday’s game was seventh time this season the Seawolves have held their opponents to 60 or fewer points ... Freshman Bryan Dougher tallied 14 points on Sunday against Saint Peter’s and has now scored in double-figures in seven straight games ... Freshman Tommy Brenton added 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals against the Peacocks ... the Seawolves shot a season-high 48.9 percent (22-for-45) from the field on Sunday including a season-best 54.5 percent (6-for-11) from three-point range ... SBU also made 18 free throws on Sunday, the fifth time in its last six games its made at least 18 free throws ... Stony Brook had 10 steals against the Saint Peters, its fifth time this season with at least 10 steals.
Vermont (7-3) won its only game of the week, defeating George Washington 83-72 in the first game of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii on Saturday ... Junior Maurice Joseph (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain-St. Lambert/Michigan State) led four Catamounts in double figures with a career-high 18 points ... Senior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) added 15, while classmate Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) had 14 and junior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) chipped in with his fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and 12 rebounds ... The win was Vermont’s first-ever over a team from the Atlantic 10 conference ... Vermont has now won five of its last six overall ... This is Vermont’s first appearance in the Rainbow Classic, but second trip in the last six years to Hawaii after taking part in the Hilo Shootout during the 2002-03 season ... The game marked Vermont’s first neutral site contest this year ... GW had already defeated America East members Boston University, Binghamton and UMBC this year ... The Catamounts journey marks the longest trip by a Division I men’s basketball team this season, over 5,000 miles ... This year is the 45th and final edition of the Rainbow Classic, as it ends its run as the longest running eight-team tournament in the country ... Vermont will now face Colorado State on Monday at 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in the semifinals and also play again on Tuesday (TBA).