CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Hartford's Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) was tabbed the Men's Basketball Player of the Week after averaging 24.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 69 percent from the field in a pair of Hawk wins last week. Boston University's John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep) earned his third straight Rookie of the Week honor for ending February 17. Click here for the complete release in PDF format.
A sophomore guard, Zeglinski scored a career-high 31 points in a win over New Hampshire on Saturday. He set a school record, canning nine three-pointers on just 10 attempts. Overall, he shot 11-of-13 for the contests and also added five rebounds. Zeglinski scored all of his game-high 18 points consecutively in a 53-51 win over Stony Brook on Thursday. He scored the last three points of Hartford's first-half points and followed with the first 15 points of the final frame.
Zeglinski ranks fifth among league leaders averaging 16.1 points per game and third, shooting 41.9 percent from three-point range. He has led the Hawks to five straight wins, the team's longest win streak since the 2003-04 season.
Holland, who also received the honor on November 11, averaged 17.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.67 steals per game to lead the Terriers to a 2-1 week. He scored a career-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting in a win over Binghamton on Tuesday. He contributed 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting a team-high six rebounds in the Terriers' victory at Vermont on Thursday. Holland wrapped up the week with 15 points and five rebounds against first-place UMBC on Sunday.
The freshman guard/forward leads all America East rookies averaging 13.6 points against league foes and is fifth in the league with 6.8 rebounds per contest.
Conference Notebook
Honorable Mention
Several America East players had highlight performances last week. Albany's Jon Iati (York, Pa./York Catholic) scored a season-high 23 points off the bench and hit 6-of-9 three-point tries to key the Great Danes's 74-60 win at Maine on Thursday... Binghamton's Dwayne Jackson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) scored a career-high 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting against Maine on Sunday... UMBC's Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./Allen/James Madison) helped extend his team's win streak to six games with a game-high 26 points in a win over Boston U. on Sunday... New Hampshire's Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark) poured in a career-high 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting. He also added four assists and four steals. . Marqus Blakely (Metchuen, N.J./Metchuen) had another monster week, extending his double-double streak to eight games and averaging 22 points and 15.3 rebounds per game in three outings last week.
Setting the Scene
With two weeks to go in the regular season, UMBC sits alone in first place in the America East standings with a 10-2 record. The Retrievers hold a one-and-a-half game lead over Harford, which sits alone in second place at 9-4. Albany, which hosts UMBC on Wednesday, is one game back of the Hawks at 8-Binghamton has won two straight since dropping four in a row and is fourth at 8-6 with matchups against Albany and at Stony Brook remaining. Boston University has evened its record at .500 and is alone in sixth place. New Hampshire (4-7), Maine (3-7) and Stony Brook (1-10) round out the standings.
Looking Ahead
America East TV will produce just one men's game this week when Boston Univeristy hosts Maine on Wednesday at Case Gym at 8 p.m will also be available on ESPN's Full Court Package and be streamed online in the America East Zone at AmericaEast.com.
Going Streaking
A pair of America East teams are in the midst of long win streaks. UMBC has won five in-a-row, the program's longest run since a six-gamer in the 2001-02 campaign. Hartford has reeled off three in a row, including the program's first win over the Great Danes in their last nine tries. At 7-4, the Hawks are third in the league standings with five games to play. Since losing 4-of-5 and 8-of-10, Boston University has won three straight to even its conference record at 5-5.
Felt Like the First Time
Albany won at Patrick Gymnasium for the first time in regular-season play with a 64-61 win over Vermont on Monday. Of course, the Great Danes downed Vermont 60-59 on the Catamounts' home floor in last year's Ameriac East Championship game.
Stealing the Show
Binghamton recorded 18 steals against Maine on Sunday, the most in a conference game since Towson had 18 against the Black Bears on Dec. 7, 2000. The Bearcats ranks second averaging 7.5 steals per game, while Mike Gordon leads the league with 2.35 swipes per game.
Doing it With Defense
Boston University had won five in a row before losing a close one at UMBC on Sunday to vault itself into the top half of the league standings. The Terriers have done it defensively, allowing just 54.4 points per game during that streak.
Dangerous from Deep
Hartford can shoot the ball and leads the conference hitting 41.3 percent of its three-point attempts. Three Hawks ranks among the Top Four league leaders. Morgan Sabia is setting the pace at 44.9 percent, Brian Glowiak is second shooting 42.3 percent and Joe Zeglinski ranks fourth hitting 41.9 percent of his attempts.
Don't Turn it Over
Coaches always preach, "Don't turn the ball over." UMBC has listened this season. The Retrievers lead the country in fewest turnovers per game with 9.5. They also lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.61). Much of that success can be attributed to junior guard Jay Greene, who ranks among NCAA individual leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.33).
Road Warriors
Maine has won three conference games, all of those victories coming on the road. The Black Bears dealt UMBC its lone home loss of the season on January 12. Maine also knocked off Albany and New Hampshire in their buildings.
1,000-Point Club
New Hampshire senior Mike Christensen will surpassed the 1,000-point milestone for his career. with 11 points at Binghamton on Thursday. Christensen is the 25th player in school history to hit the mark
Snapping a Skid
Stony Brook snapped a 10-game losing streak with its overtime win over Vermont on Sunday. The victory is just the Seawolves second win all-time against the Catamounts in 15 all-time meetings.
Double-Double Machine
Vermont's Marqus Blakely has recorded double-doubles in eight straight games. The streak is the longest at Vermont since Kevin Roberson accomplished the feat in the 1991-92 season.
Back to Binghamton
The America East Men's Basketball Championship returns to Binghamton University’s Events Center on March 7-9, with the title game to be played on March 15 at the higher remaining seed. It is the second time in three years the Events Center has hosted the tournament. It played host to the Women's Championship last season. Reserve your All Session Tournament Pass for the 2008 America East Men’s Basketball Tournament. For more information please call 607-777-3741.
Team-By-Team Notebook
Albany (13-12, America East 8-5) picked up a pair of road victories against Vermont (64-61) and Maine (74-60) last week to ascend from the middle of the pack in the conference standings ... The Great Danes won at UVM’s Patrick Gymnasium for the first time in regular-season play by limiting the Catamounts to 32.8 percent shooting, the second-lowest figure by an opponent this year ... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) had 19 points off the bench, his highest scoring mark since December 17 ... Brent Wilson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Prairie) canned a 3-pointer from the right corner to put his team ahead for good with 2:26 remaining ... Wilson moved to No. 18 on the program’s career scoring chart with 1,128 points ... UAlbany tied a season-high with 10 three-point field goals at Maine and won for the fifth time in its last six road games ... Jon Iati (York, Pa./York Catholic) scored a season-high 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the 3-point arc ... Iati, who posted his highest scoring total since Dec. 30, 2006, reached twin figures for the 50th time as a collegian ... Iati climbed to No. 23 on the all-time scoring list with 1,083 points and No. 3 in career three-pointers with 216 ... Brian Lillis (Urbandale, Iowa/West Des Moines Dowling) extended his double-figure scoring streak to 22 straight games ... Lillis had 10 points and equaled a career-best with seven assists against Maine... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J./Camden Catholic) netted 14 points vs. Maine, his 15th time in double digits this season ... Josh Martin (Philadelphia, Pa /Simon Gratz) handed out five assists against the Black Bears, and has four-plus against five opponents ... Al Turley (Houston, Texas/Westfield) blocked a career-high three shots at Vermont and has two or more blocks on five occasions this season ... UAlbany will play a non-league game at Canisius on Feb. 23 ... The matchup was created from the BracketBusters’ pool...
Binghamton (10-13, America East 6-5) slipped two spots in the standings with two losses during the week ... The Bearcats have now lost three in a row after winning the previous five ... In a five-point loss to Vermont, Binghamton cut a 19-point second-half deficit to two in the final minute but couldn't seize the win ... Three days later, they dug a 20-point second-half hole at league-leading UMBC before rallying to tie the game in the final two minutes. But the Bearcats missed their final five shots and had to settle for the season split with the Retrievers ... Junior forward Reggie Fuller (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower/Angelina College) produced his second double-double of the season with season-highs of 19 points and 12 rebounds ... Fuller is averaging 11.0 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. during the team's current three-game slide ... Junior guard Dwayne Jackson (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) scored 19 points off the bench against Vermont and has bumped his scoring average up to 8.8 ppg ... Senior guard Mike Gordon (Plainfield, N.J./Plainfield) has started 95 consecutive games in his four-year career and leads the league in steals with 2.35 per game.
Boston University (10-15, America East 7-6) went 2-1 last week, with a pair of thrilling games at Vermont and UMBC... In the first game of the week, the Terriers sought revenge on Binghamton for a 69-49 loss earlier in the year... on Tuesday, Feb. 12, Boston U avenged itself with a 79-53 victory at home... Freshman guard/forward John Holland (Bronx, N.Y.) led Boston U with a career-high 25 points... Freshman guard/forward John Holland (Bronx, N.Y.) led four Terriers in double-figures with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting ... Junior forward Max Gotzler (Weilheim, Germany) and sophomore guard Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass.) each added 13 points for Boston U., while red-shirt junior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass.) chipped in 12 points ... Junior guard Marques Johnson (Hazlet, N.J.) tied his career high with seven assists, and Gotzler was the team's leading rebounder with a personal-best six boards. The Terriers came back from a nine-point deficit in the first half to take a 33-30 lead and extended that to double figures when Binghamton went cold from the floor at the start of the second ... The Terriers shot 52.0 percent (26-for-50) for the game and out-rebounded Binghamton, 36-24. Boston U held the Bearcats to 37.5 percent from the floor - 23.1 percent in the second-half - and forced 15 Binghamton turnovers ... The last-second 59-58 win at Vermont on Feb. 14 extended Boston U’s win streak to five games ? the longest since the 2004-05 season ... Sophomore Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont.) led the charge for BU with 16 points and five rebounds ... Lowe was named America East Player of the Game for the Terriers with 13 points and five boards, and Holland added 12 points and a team-best six rebounds ... Boston U. held Vermont scoreless for nearly six minutes at the start of the second half and limited the Catamounts to 2-for-11 shooting during that span to build as many as a 14-point lead midway through the final period. But UVM scrapped and nearly came all the way back as the Catamounts watched their final shot bounce off the rim as time expired ... For the second straight game the contest came down to the wire, but the Terriers couldn’t pull off the magic at UMBC, falling to the Retrievers, 76-73 on Feb. 17 ... Boston U. had four players in double figures, led by Lowe's 21 points. Holland added 15 points, followed by red-shirt sophomore guard Tyler Morris' (Indianapolis, Ind.) 14 points and Brittain’s 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds ... The game was a close one from start to finish .... UMBC gained a nine-point lead early in the first but was unable to create much separation after BU caught up. The Retrievers and the Terriers traded leads for much of the contest, recording seven ties and 19 lead changes ... However, UMBC went 5-for-6 from the line in the final 30 seconds and forced two crucial turnovers to claim the win despite a 3-pointer from Lowe with 1 second left.
Hartford (15-13, America East 9-4) extended its winning streak to five games with victories over Stony Brook and New Hampshire last week ... The last time the Hawks had a winning streak of five games was during the 2003-04 season ... Hartford picked up a road win at Stony Brook on Thursday in a 53-51 final. The Hawks never trailed in the contest but saw a 10-point second half lead shrink in the final minutes ... Junior Warren McLendon (Dublin, Ga./West Laurens/The Citadel) made two clutch free throws with five seconds to play in the game to seal the win ... Sophomore Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) led the Hawks with a game-high 18 points; he scored all of his points consecutively, the first three coming before halftime and then Hartford's first 15 of the second half ... Freshman Morgan Sabia (San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) added 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds ... Hartford used record-setting performances on Sunday to hand New Hampshire an 82-63 defeat ... For the second time this season, the Hawks broke the school record for three-pointers in a game ... The old record of 12 was demolished at North Texas on December 8 when the Hawks made 17 treys. Against the Wildcats the Hawks did one better, connecting on 18-of 27 attempts from long range ... Zeglinski also broke the school record for individual threes made in a game ... He finished with a career-high 31 points on 9-of-10 shooting from long range. Sabia added a career-high 20 points and was 5-of-7 from behind the arc ... Junior Michael Turner (Novato, Calif./Marin Catholic/West Valley) dished out five assists against New Hampshire to bring his season total to a team-leading 103 ... He is the first Hartford player to notch 100 assists in a season since Riyad King in 1999-00 ... He also became the first player in Hartford's 24-year Division I history to record over 200 points, 150 rebounds, 100 assists and 50 steals in a single season ... Junior Jaret Von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) ranks second on the team with 90 assists. With only 10 more assists he would join Turner with 100, and it would be the first time in Hartford's Division I history that teammates would finish with over 100 assists apiece ... Hartford's only game this week is at Vermont on Wednesday, February 20 at 7 p.m. ... The Hawks are 0-4 against the Catamounts under head coach Dan Leibovitz.
Maine (7-18, America East 3-9) has been bitten by the injury bug, as they have only dressed eight scholarship players in the last two games with five of them being freshmen ... The Black Bear freshmen have played over half of the minutes the last two games ... During the Binghamton game, Coach Woodward and his staff wore sneakers as part of Binghamton’s Coaches Vs. Cancer weekend ...Freshman Troy Barnies (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) set a career-high against Binghamton with 10 points ...Freshman Malachi Peay (Queens, N.Y./Campus Magnet) had a career-high with five rebounds against Binghamton while fellow rookie Sean Costigan (South Portlan, ME./Cheverus) ties his career-high with five rebounds...Maine had a conference season-low 11 turnovers against Albany ... Junior forward Phil Tchekane Bofia (Yaounde, Cameroon/Redemption Christian Academy) had the best overall game of his career, as he went for 19 points, five rebounds, three blocks and three steals against Albany ... The Black Bears are playing in back-to-back TV games as their game at Boston University will be on NESN while the Stony Brook game will be shown locally on WABI TV.
UMBC (18-7, America East 10-2) senior guard Ray Barbosa (Allentown, Pa./Allen/James Madison) poured in 26 points, including the eventual go-ahead field goal as UMBC extended its winning streak to six straight with a 76-73 win over a torrid Boston University squad ... The game was played in front of 3,492 fans, the third largest crowd in RAC Arena history ... The Retrievers’ 18 wins ties its third-most in the school’s 22-year Division I history ... The game featured 19 lead changes and neither team led by more than four points in the final 22 minutes of play ... The visiting Terriers took their final lead on a Corey Lowe put-back at 67-65 with 3:39 remaining. But Barbosa hit a jumper, then after a Terrier turnover, hit a bank shot to give UMBC the lead for good at 69-67 with 2:46 to play ... Barbosa hit seven of 13 shots from the floor and 11 of 13 from the charity stripe ... He had scored only four points in UMBC’s 62-40 win at Boston University last month ... Senior post Cavell Johnson (Fort Washington, Md./Notre Dame Acad./James Madison) hit eight of 11 shots and amassed 19 points, while junior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) hit four of five from behind the arc in a 14-point, 40-minute effort... Johnson is now 37 of 53 from the floor (69.8 percent) and has averaged 13.8 ppg since becoming UMBC’s “sixth-man” six games ago... It was Greene’s seventh game playing 40 minutes this season ... The Retrievers hit 25 of 46 shots (54.3%) and seven of 14 from behind the arc... The Retrievers now enjoy a two-game lead in the loss column over Hartford (9-4), but must play three of the final four games on the road, including a contest at Albany on Wednesday... UMBC’s six-game win is its longest since a similar streak in the 2001-02 season... Senior guard Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) did not dress for the fourth straight game (ankle )... UMBC had less than ten turnovers for the tenth time in the last 11 games ... The Retrievers now have regular season series sweeps over Stony Brook, Vermont and Boston University after one series sweep (Binghamton, ’06-’07) in four previous conference seasons.
New Hampshire (7-18, America East 4-9) went 0-2 last week, losing on the road to Binghamton, 56-54, on Feb. 14, and falling on the road to Hartford, 82-63, on Feb. 17 ... Junior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark) tried to offset the hot shooting of Hartford, scoring a career-high 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field and 9-of-10 from the line ... Gilchrese, who matched a career high with three treys in the game, also added four assists and four steals ... freshman guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men) got back on track at Binghamton, netting a game-high 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 5-of-10 from behind the arc ... Abreu, whose five treys set a career high, also recorded five rebounds and a career-high six assists ... Abreu tallied nine points and two steals at Hartford ... Freshman guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) put together a solid week, tallying 13 points, three rebounds, an assist and two steals at Hartford, and recording seven points, two steals and a block at Binghamton ... senior forward Mike Christensen (Reston, Va./Flint Hill) scored 10 points at Binghamton to give him 1,000 for his career ... He also tallied four rebounds and a block and recorded five points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal at Hartford ... Junior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) tallied eight points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks at Binghamton, and posted six points, three rebounds and two assists at Hartford ... Freshman center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) tallied eight points and nine rebounds versus Binghamton ... The ?Cats return to action Wednesday, Feb. 20 when they play host to Stony Brook at 7 p.m.
Stony Brook (5-20, America East 2-11) split their two games this week with Hartford and Vermont, snapping their losing skid on Sunday with a 71-70 overtime victory over Vermont ... Ricky Lucas hit the go-ahead jumper with 2:43 left in overtime as the Seawolves rallied from an 11-point second half deficit on its way to a 71-70 victory over the Catamounts. Lucas’ jumper from the top of the key put Stony Brook up 66-65 and the Seawolves would push their lead to four with 27 seconds left after Michael Tyree hit one of two free throws and Eddie Castellanos hit both freebies. Vermont had a chance to tie down three but Kyle Cieplicki missed a long three and Tyree corralled one of his career-high seven rebounds to secure the victory for Stony Brook ... Paul posted career-highs in points (15) and rebounds (six) for the Seawolves who held Vermont, the top three-point field goal percentage team in the league, to just seven of 32 from behind the arc. The victory was also the just the second for the Seawolves in 15 meetings with UVM ... Trailing by two with eight seconds remaining, Michael Tyree’s three-pointer was just off the mark as the Stony Brook men's basketball team rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit but fell short, losing to the Hartford Hawks 53-51 on Thursday night at Stony Brook Arena. Tyree, the America East Co-Player of the Game, led the Seawolves with 13 points while Emanuel Neto added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Vermont (12-13, 7-6 America East) went 0-3 on the week with home losses to Albany (64-61) and Boston University (59-58), as well falling on the road in overtime to Stony Brook (71-70) ... The Cats have now lost four of their last five games, by a combined total of seven points ... With three double-doubles on the week, sophomore Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) stretched his consecutive streak to eight straight. The last Catamount to have eight in a row was Kevin Roberson ’92 during the 1991-92 season. Blakely averaged 22 points and 15.3 rebounds on the week ... The Cats struggled shooting on the week, hitting only a combined 35.5 percent from the floor and 23.4 percent from three ... Freshman Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I./St. Andrew’s) made his first career start on Sunday at Stony Brook ... Vermont returns home on Wednesday when the Cats host Hartford at Patrick Gym starting at 7:00pm. UVM also travels to face North Carolina-Wilmington if its final non-conference contest of the season on Saturday (7 p.m.).