CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Boston University's John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep) and UMBC's Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) split this week's Player of the Week award after each had outstanding performances, while University at Albany's Anthony Raffa (Strathmere, N.J./Wildwood Catholic) took home his first Rookie of the Week honor after leading his squad to a key road win.
With guards Corey Lowe (suspension), Tyler Morris (injury) and Carlos Strong (injury) all out, Holland scored a game-high 25 points in a 62-61 loss at Albany Wednesday. He followed that with 25 more points to go with eight rebounds in the Terriers' 68-37 win against UNH on Sunday. For the week, Holland shot 67.8 percent (19-of-28), including 8-of-13 of 3-point territory with just two turnovers in 76 minutes of play.
This is the second Player of the Week honor for the sophomore (Nov. 24), who earned Rookie of the Week honors six times as a freshman. He ranks fifth in America East with 15.8 points per game.
Proctor, a senior, continued his torrid streak with 26 points and eight rebounds in a win over Maine on Saturday. A first-team all-conference selection in 2008, Proctor was nearly perfect, hitting 12-of-14 opportunities en route to his 26 points. The undersized power forward at 6-foot-4 also converted both his free throw attempts, had a pair of assists, two blocks and two steals.
The league leader with 8.9 rebounds per game, ranks second in scoring (19.6 ppg), fifth in field goal percentage (.498) and tied for eighth in blocks (0.75 bpg.)
A freshman point guard, Raffa totaled 14 of his 22 points in the second half as he paced the Great Danes to a key 82-77 win at Vermont Sunday. Raffa shot 9-of-14 from the field and canned consecutive key 3-pointers to give his team the lead for good midway through the second half. In a 62-61 win over Boston University Wednesday, Raffa, Albany's team leader averaging 11.4 points per game, had just four points, but tied a career-high with eight rebounds.
Conference Weekly Notebook
The Rest of the Best
Albany's Tim Ambrose (19 points, 11 rebounds) and Will Harris (14 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles in a 62-61 win over Boston University Thursday... Binghamton's D.J. Rivera had a huge game of 29 points and 12 rebounds in a 91-83 overtime win over Vermont Thursday... Hartford's Jaret von Rosenberg lit up for 24 points and a career-high eight rebounds against Hartford on Saturday... UMBC's Jay Greene handed out a season-high 11 assists against Maine Saturday and is just seven shy of 600 for his career... Dane DiLiegro pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds in New Hampshire's win over Hartford Wednesday. That total is the most in America East this season and the most in the league game since Marqus Blakely pulled down 20 against the Hawks Feb. 20, 2007... The Seawolves' Tommy Brenton recorded his third career double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds against Binghamton Monday... Vermont's Colin McIntosh tied his career-best with 25 points versus Albany Sunday.
Sign for the Season?
America East Conference play completed its first full week of action Sunday and all indications points to an unpredictable season. To show how much can change from the fall, the team picked lower in the preseason coaches' poll has won five of 11 games this season (Albany over Boston U. and Vermont, Binghamton over Vermont, New Hampshire over Hartford and Stony Brook over UMBC). In contrast the teams picked in the upper third of the league are just 2-4 so far.
? Binghamton (picked fifth) is 3-0 in conference play for the first time in program history
? Albany (picked sixth) is 2-1 in league play and matched its best 16-game start (10-6) as a Division I program
? Stony Brook (picked ninth) upset defending champion UMBC in its season opener and got off to its best start as a Division I program.
Injury Report
There was some bad news on the injury front for two teams last week. Hartford's Joe Zeglinski was pronounced out for the season with an ankle injury he suffered on Dec. 9 against Brown. A first-team all-conference selection a year ago, Zeglinski was leading the Hawks with 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game at the time of his injury. Boston University lost of pair of regular guards for the season. Tyler Morris and Carlos Strong will both miss the remainder of the year with knee injuries.
Double-Double Duos
Albany's Tim Ambrose (19 points, 11
rebounds) and Will Harris (14 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded
double-doubles in a 62-61 win over Boston University Thursday. They are
just the second set of teammates to have double-doubles in the same
game this season. UMBC's Darryl Proctor (25 points, 11 rebounds) and
Jay Greene (10 points, 10 assists) accomplished the feat against
Quinnipiac on Nov. 22.
What a Difference a Year Makes
America East is slotted 17th out of 31 conferences in the latest RPI, which was released by Collegiate Basketball News on Monday. The ranking is an 10-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. Albany(105), on the heels of two straight wins, is the top-ranked team, followed by Binghamton (109) and Vermont (155).
Non-Conference Highlights
America East teams have compiled an impressive resume in non-conference play this season. The nine conference members are...
? Teams have combined for 55 wins in 112 non-league games (.491) after winning just 43 in 117 contests last season (.367)
? 51-33 (.607) in games against non-BCS conference (including Atlantic 10) schools
? Seven wins over teams from the Top 13 conferences in the nation according to Collegiet Basketball News.
BIG EAST - Binghamton 66, at Rutgers 56 (12/6/08)
BIG XII - UMBC 66, at Nebraska 64 (12/23/08)
Vermont 84, Colorado 59 (12/30/08)
MOUNTAIN WEST - Stony Brook 67, at Air Force 64 (12/31/08)
ATLANTIC 10 - Vermont 83, George Washington 72 (12/28/08)
WCC - at New Hampshire 58, Santa Clara 54 (1/4/09)
Team-By-Team Weekly Notebook
Albany (10-6, America East 2-1) got back on track last week with victories over America East preseason favorites Boston University (62-61) and Vermont (82-77)... The Great Danes have matched their best 16-game record as a Division I program... UAlbany posted its third consecutive win at UVM’s Patrick Gymnasium on Jan. 11 after suffering 10 straight losses in the facility... freshman guard Anthony Raffa (Strathmere, N.J. / Wildwood Catholic) tied a career-best with 22 points, including 14 in the final period... Raffa, who has scored in double figures 10 times this season, made consecutive 3-point field goals to give his team the lead for good with 14:02 remaining... UAlbany shot 48.1 percent from the field, the second-best figure of the year, and made a season-high eight 3-pointers... head coach Will Brown recorded his 100th career win in a come-from-behind 62-61 triumph over Boston U. on Jan. 8... The Great Danes tied the program’s Division I mark with their third one-point victory of the season... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y. / Our Savior New American) made two free throws with 12.3 seconds remaining to provide the winning points... Ambrose broke out of a two-week scoring drought with 19 points and a career-best 11 rebounds... The 6-foot guard added 17 points, eight rebounds and a career-best five assists at Vermont... Virginia transfer Will Harris (Corona, N.Y. / Brewster Academy) has stepped up his play against conference opponents... Harris became the second UAlbany player to record consecutive double-doubles against a Division I opponent with 14 points and 10 rebounds against Boston U... Harris and Ambrose are the fifth UAlbany duo to record double-doubles in the same contest... Harris, who is averaging 17.0 points and 9.7 rebounds in league action, struck for 20 points (15 in first half) and nine rebounds at Vermont... In that contest, Harris and Raffa were the first Great Danes to net 20-plus points in the same game since Dec. 30, 2006... Louis Barraza (Phoenix, Ariz. / Trevor Browne) had 11 points off the bench vs. Boston U., his first time in twin figures since Nov. 17th... UAlbany is 12th nationally in rebounding margin (+9.0 pg)...
Binghamton (10-5, 3-0 America East) extended its win streak to six before absorbing a non-conference loss at Utah Valley. The Bearcats won both of their AE games to remain perfect at 3-0 in league play. The six-game win streak tied for the longest in the program’s eight-year Division I tenure... The 10-5 start is the best start to a season in 15 years. The team’s 3-0 AE start is also the best in its eight-year AE membership... In back-to-back televised home games, Binghamton edged Stony Brook and Vermont. Despite playing five of seven home games while students are on break, Binghamton is averaging a league-best 3,056 in attendance... Junior guard D.J. Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti HS/St. Joseph’s Univ.), the leading scorer in the America East, continued to post gaudy offensive numbers. Rivera averaged 20.7 points in the three games, and ranks 14th in the nation in scoring average. He poured in 29 points with 12 rebounds and six steals in the overtime win over Vermont and has scored 20 or more points in 11 of 15 games as a Bearcat. In conference play, Rivera is averaging 23.0 points and 6.7 rebounds and is shooting 50% from the field... his stellar play by averaging 23.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in the two games. Junior guard Emanuel Mayben (Troy, N.Y./Troy/Hudson Valley CC) averaged 13.0 points on 50% shooting in the three games. Mayben has found his shooting stroke with 7-of-11 marksmanship from beyond the arc... He has scored 20 or more points in a school-record seven straight games and in 10 of his first 12 games at Binghamton... Junior guard Malik Alvin (Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz HS/Chipola College) averaged 11.0 points and 4.3 assists. He netted a season-high 19 points in the win over Vermont... Senior guard Dwayne Jackson (Akron, O hio/Walsh Jesuit) averaged 10.7 points in the three games and played a big role in the Stony Brook win. He scored five points in the final 1:50 and produced a pivotal steal to help clinch the win.
Boston University (6-8, 1-1 America East) split two games last week, defeating New Hampshire, 68-37, on Sunday after losing a tough 62-61 decision at Albany on Thursday ... Before the Albany contest, team lost both junior Carlos Strong (Portland, Maine/Deering) to a season-ending leg injury at the Holy Cross game on Jan. 2 and classmate Tyler Morris (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) to one as well during a practice ... Junior Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) did not play against the Great Danes either due to a one-game suspension ... Sophomore John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./ carried the offensive load in the two games, scoring 25 points each for a total of 50 after contributing 46 in the previous five contests ... Terriers led for most of the game against UA, including a 61-57 lead with 47 seconds remaining in regulation before UA went on a 5-0 run to win ... With the win over UNH, head coach Dennis Wolff has won 15 straight home games against the Wildcats and also his last seven conference home openers ... Team jumped out to a 16-2 run and built the lead to as large as 36 in the second half ... The 37 points were the fewest recorded by a team since UNH fell 52-29 in 2007 at The Roof ... Terriers next host Vermont on Wednesday on a NESN telecast and then visit Binghamton on Saturday.
Hartford (5-11, 1-1 America East) dropped games at New Hampshire and Yale last week. The Hawks fell 55-47 at UNH before losing 71-63 at Yale... Senior guard Jaret von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) led the team in scoring for the week at 19.5 ppg. He scored a game-high 24 points against Yale and added a career-high eight rebounds in 40 minutes. He also went 15-of-16 from the free throw line for the week... It was discovered last week that junior guard Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) will miss the rest of the season with a tendon tear in his left ankle. Hartford's leading scorer (15.3 ppg) and rebounder (5.5 rpg) suffered the injury against Brown on December 9... Sophomore Andres Torres (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Adianez) has moved into the starting lineup in Zeglinski's absence and is averaging 8.7 ppg over six starts. He scored 14 points at Yale and added a career-high five steals... The Hawks return to conference play this week at home against Maine on Wednesday, January 14. Hartford will then visit defending champ UMBC on Sautrday, January 17.
Maine (5-10, 1-2 America East) defeated Stony Brook in New York by the score of 64-54 before falling in a heartbreaker at UMBC, 61-59...Against Stony Brook, Maine was led by Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./MCI) who had 12 points, six assists and four rebounds...Malachi Peay (Brooklyn, N.Y./Campus Magnet) had a career-high 12 points to go with four rebounds and two steals...Maine had two other players in double-figure scoring as Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine) went for 11 points, five assists and four rebounds and freshman Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch/Worcester Academy) had 10 points and six rebounds...Maine raced out to a 30-12 first half lead en route to the victory...At UMBC on Saturday night, Socoby nearly won the game, but his last-second three-pointer hit the back iron...Socoby finished with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists...Peay had his second consecutive career-high with 13 points and a career-high eight rebounds in the game...McLemore added five rebounds and five assists...Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner) had nine points and six rebounds...Since coming back from an injury, Peay has grabbed at least four rebounds an notched three career-highs in four games...After notching four rebounds against Stony Brook, Socoby passed the 300 rebounds mark, and now has 306 for his career...Socoby is also just 145 points short of 1,000 for his career...Maine returns to action on Wednesday at Hartford at 7 p.m. and returns to the Alfond Arena for a 1 p.m. game against Albany at Saturday on WABI-TV.
UMBC (7-7, 1-1 America East) senior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) continued his torrid pace, as he scored a game-high 26 points, leading the host Retrievers to a 61-59 victory over Maine at the RAC Arena on Saturday...The Retrievers evened their records at 7-7 overall and 1-1 in America East Conference play... Proctor, who hit 12 of 14 shots from the floor, earned the America East Player of the Week honor for UMBC for the fourth consecutive home game...UMBC extended a 34-26 halftime lead to 11 points at the midpoint of the half, as Proctor’s fast break layup gave the hosts a 51-40 advantage with 9:39 remaining, but the Black Bears chipped away and cut the deficit to 57-55 with four minutes to play... Mark Socoby’s three-pointer at the buzzer was just long and UMBC avenged its only loss at home of the 2007-08 season... Proctor added a team-high eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocked shots in his 40 minutes of work... He is averaging 27 points per game in his last three outings and the 12 made field goals is the most he has garnered in a Retriever uniform...Sophomore forward Rich Flemming (Chester, Pa./Chester) was the only other Retriever in double figures with 11 points and he added seven rebounds in 21 minutes...Flemming scored in double figures in his first six outings, but had been held below that mark in his last six appearances...Senior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) compiled a season-high 11 assists, posting double figure assists for the 11th time in his career...He needs seven assists for 600 in his career and 27 to enter the top five in America East history... The Retrievers continue to struggle from behind the arc, hitting just one of five attempts and are have made only two in their last three contests...The Retrievers are 53 of 63 (84.1%) from the free throw line in the last four games and have moved up to 36th in the nation in free throw percentage... UMBC begins a stretch of eight games in 14 days on Wednesday, Jan. 14 when they travel to New Hampshire.
New Hampshire (5-8, 1-1 America East) went 1-1 last week, notching a 55-47 victory at home against Hartford in their conference opener Jan. 7, and falling at Boston University, 68-37, Jan. 11 ... senior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) led the Wildcats to their win against Hartford with a season-high 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting, including 5 of 10 from deep ... Gibbs also pulled down a season-high eight rebounds in the contest ... Gibbs played in his 100th career game as a Wildcat versus Boston U. ... sophomore center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) tore down own a career-high 17 rebounds, including 10 in the first half ... DiLiegro, who tallied more offensive rebounds (8) than Hartford’s entire team (5), led the Wildcats to a 44-29 rebound advantage ... the 17 boards are also a season-high in America East this season, beating out Stony Brook’s Tommy Brenton, who had 15 against Maryland Eastern Shore on Nov. 14 ... the rebound total is the most anyone in the conference has recorded since Vermont’s Marqus Blakely had 29 at UNC-Wilmington on Feb. 23, 2008, and most in a conference game since Blakely had 20 against Hartford on Feb. 20, 2008 ... sophomore guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) tallied 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals ... sophomore forward Rony Tchatchoua (Douala, Cameroon/Findlay Prep) gave the Wildcats more good minutes with 11 points, six boards, two assists, a block and a steal ... sophomore guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) led UNH with nine points and four rebounds at Boston U. ... Abreu added eight points and four boards against the Terriers ... freshman forward Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece-Athena) played a solid game, especially down the stretch, tallying five points, eight rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal.
Stony Brook (8-7, America East 1-2) went 0-2 on the week, losing at Binghamton on Monday before falling to Maine at home on Thursday ... the 67-60 loss to Binghamton snapped a three-game Seawolves winning streak ... SBU trailed by just one with 2:17 remaining against the Bearcats after a Dallis Joyner jumper but the Bearcats then went on a 8-0 run over the next minute and a half to seal the game ... Freshman Tommy Brenton recorded his third double-double of the season (14 points, 11 rebounds) against the Bearcats ... SBU trimmed a 17-point second half deficit to six with 2:11 remaining against Maine but that is as close as they would get as the Black Bears then scored four straight points to put the game away ... Junior Muhammad El-Amin scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half against the Black Bears ... Brenton recorded six points, 10 rebounds and a season-high four blocks against Maine ... it was the fifth time this season that Brenton has recorded double-digit rebounds ... SBU tied a season-high with six blocks against Maine ... Stony Brook can still match its best start since the 1994-95 season with a victory over Dartmouth on Tuesday ... a victory over the Big Green would also give the Seawolves its most road victories, six, since the 1991-92 season ... the Seawolves enter this week ranked 28th in the nation in scoring defense (59.6 points per game) and 33rd in three-point field goal percentage defense (.298).
Vermont (9-6, 0-2 America East) dropped a pair of conference games last week ... The Cats lost to Binghamton in overtime 91-83 on Thursday ... Junior Maurice Joseph (Montreal, Quebec/Champlain St. Lambert/Michigan St.) led the Catamounts with 17 points ... Vermont had won its last nine conference openers before Thursday ... The Cats are now 1-9 in their last 10 overtime contests ... On Sunday the Cats dropped an 82-77 decision at home to Albany ... Senior Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) led Vermont with 25 points, as he matched a career-high ... McIntosh went 12-for-17 from the floor, grabbed five rebounds and added four blocks ... The last five meetings between the two teams have been decided by a total of 14 points ... While the Cats have had success when scoring 80 or more points, they have not when giving them up as Vermont is 0-6 this season and 2-13 over the last three years when allowing 80 or more ... Vermont returns to action on Wednesday when it travels to face Boston University at 7:30 p.m. in a game that will be televised on NESN ... The Cats will also be at Stony Brook on Saturday (2 p.m.) on MSG.