CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) and Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md./Brewster Academy) each played big roles in leading UMBC to a pair of wins last week and extending their team's win streak to three games.
Greene, the Player of the Week, averaged 29.0 points on the week and poured in a career-high 36 points on 12-of-16 shooting in the Retrievers' 81-76 victory over New Hampshire on Tuesday. He also knocked down 5-of-8 three-point attempts, all seven tries from the free throw line, grabbed seven rebounds, dished out four assists and committed just one turnover in 40 minutes of play.
In an encore performance at Hartford Saturday, Greene scored 22 points and nailed 5-of-6 tries from beyond the arc to lead UMBC to its first-ever win at Chase Arena. The 2008 Most Outstanding Player at the America East Championship, Greene again played all 40 minutes and had three assists to just one turnover.
The league leader is assists at 6.4 per game and assist-to-turnover ratio, Greene is tied for 10th in the league in scoring (13.2 ppg), fifth in 3-point field goal percentage (.392) and second in minutes played (39.3 mpg).
Gilliam a huge second half against Hartford on Saturday and averaged 12.5 points in a pair of wins last week to earn America East Rookie of the Week honors for the third time this season.
A freshman guard, had 14 of his 18 points in the second half, including eight of those in an eight-minute stretch at the beginning of the second stanza to help UMBC expand its halftime lead from four to 13. Gilliam, who added seven rebounds and two assists in the game, shot 6-of-8 from the floor and canned both his three-point attempts. Against UNH on Tuesday, Gilliam had seven points on 3-of-4 shooting.
For the week, Gilliam, who is fourth in the league and tops among guards shooting 54.3 percent from the field, made 9-of-12 attempts last week. He is averaging 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds in 29 minutes per game.
Conference Notebook
The Best of the Rest
Albany's Tim Ambrose scored 28 points at Binghamton Monday, his sixth 20-plus point performance of the season... D.J. Rivera, the league's leading scorer (20.7 ppg), kept the Bearcats rolling with 27 points in a home win over Albany Monday and followed up with 20 points and 12 rebounds in a key win at Boston University Saturday... Boston University's Scott Brittain tied a career high with 20 points against Binghamton Saturday and also pulled down a team-high nine boards... Hartfords' Michael Turners led all scorers with 26 points and added eight rebounds, including the 500th of his career in a last-second loss to Maine Wednesday... Maine's Sean McNally tallied 14 points and eight rebounds in the win over the Hawks... New Hampshire's Alvin Abreu scored 17 of his 20 in the second half in an 82-77 loss at UMBC Tuesday... Muhammad El-Amin had two efficient performances for the Seawolves, tallying 16 points and five rebounds in a win over Albany Wednesday and following up with 14 points and a season-high nine boards in an overtime defeat at Vermont Sunday... Vermont' s Mike Trimboli scored 25 points on his "Senior Day" to lead his team past Stony Brook Sunday.
Tight at the Top
A game and a half separates Vermont (11-3), Binghamton (10-3) and Boston University (9-4) with two weeks remaining in the regular season. In spite of the fact that the Catamounts hold a half-game advantage, the Bearcats control their own fate to claim the top seed for the America East Championship, the right to host the league title game should they advance two rounds and an automatic NIT bid should they stumble in the conference tournament.
Binghamton, winners of five straight and seven of eight overall, has already eclipsed its Division I record for wins in a season with 17. The Bearcats can claim at least a share of the league title, the top seed and everything that comes with it with wins at Hartford Wednesday and against New Hampshire and UMBC at home to close out the season due to its season-sweep over Vermont
The Catamounts, which have run off a string of 10 wins in 11 games, can also claim a share of the regular-season crown with wins in their final two league contests (at UMBC, at Maine).
Boston University is also in the mix, but would need to win its final three games (at Stony Brook, vs Maine, vs Hartford) and have Vermont drop both its remaining contests and have Binghamton lose two of its next three due to a combined 1-3 record against those two schools.
Much Improved From Bottom Up
With still two weeks to go in the regular season, non-league games for four schools and a conference tournament to play, six of the nine member institutions have already equaled or surpassed their win total from last season. It is another sign of overall league improvement as all six school were seeded fourth or lower at last year's championship.
Binghamton (15-15 in 2007-08, 17-8 in 2008-09)
Surpassed Division I program record for wins
Boston University (14-17, 14-11)
With one more win will have 10 league wins for first time in four years
Maine (7-23, 9-16)
Started 3-0 for first time since 1971-72 season
New Hampshire (9-20, 10-14)
Posted double digit wins for just 5th time in 11 years
Stony Brook (7-23, 14-12)
Most wins since joining America East in 2001
Vermont (16-15, 20-7)
Won 20 games for 6th time in 8 years after having zero 20-win campaigns in first 101 seasons.
UVM to play on ESPN2 in BracketBusters
University of Vermont, one of four America East squads named to the ESPNU BracketBusters pool (Boston University, Hartford, UMBC, Vermont) in September, has been tabbed one of the 26 teams to play on national television the weekend of February 20-21. The Catamounts, who were selected out out a poll of 102 teams, will face Mid-American Conference leader Buffalo on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. on ESPN2. Eric Collins (play-by-play) and Bob Valvano (analyst) will have the call. It is the fourth time in five years America East has had a team in a national television BracketBusters game. Vermont traveled to Nevada in 2005 in the featured game on ESPN. Albany also appeared on ESPNU at Virginia Commonwealth in 2006 and Boise State in 2007.
Proctor Scores 1000th at UMBC
Darryl Proctor became the 137th America East player in league history to score 1,000 points as he passed the mark on Saturday at Hartford. Proctor, a transfer from Coppin State, accomplished the feat in just 58 game, the fastest pace of any UMBC in history. The 2005 MEAC Rookie of the Year, Proctor totaled 801 career points in two seasons there. He is the sixth America East player to hit the mark this season. Vermont's Mike Trimboli is the conference's active scoring leader with 1,929 career points and continues to move up the all-time scoring list (See charts below)
America East Active Scoring Leaders
Mike Trimboli (Vermont) 1,929
Darryl Proctor (UMBC) 1,801*
Corey Lowe (Boston U.) 1,256
Tyrece Gibbs (UNH) 1,221
Marqus Blakely (Vermont) 1,160
Jay Greene (UMBC) 1,108
Joe Zeglinski (Hartford) 1,099
Mark Socoby (Maine) 973
*1.000 points at UMBC, 801 at Coppin State
America East All-Time Scoring Leaders
11. T.J. Sorrentine (Vermont '05) 2,013
12. Drederick Irving (Boston U. 88) 1,936
13. Mike Trimboli (Vermont) 1,929
14. Al McClain (UNH '84) 1,861
15. Joe Linderman (Drexel '01) 1,816
RPI Report
America East sustained its 16th position out of 31 conferences in the latest RPI, which was released by Collegiate Basketball News on Monday. The ranking is an 11-spot improvement from last season, when the league finished 27th and just three spots lower than the league's best-ever ranking of 13, which came in 1997. Binghamton (99) moved up another 24 spots after climbing 26 positions the week before to crack the top 100, Vermont (108) and Boston University (147) held relatively steady with the Catamounts moving up three positions and the Terriers sliding down three.
Team-By-Team RPI Ratings
Out of 343 Ranked
Binghamton 99
Vermont 108
Boston University 147
Albany 156
Stony Brook 192
UMBC 199
New Hampshire 237
Maine 266
Hartford 299
Herrion Extended
New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion received a new five-year contract earlier this week. The all-time leader in America East Championships (19), Herrion has led his team to as many wins at last season with at least seven game left to play. He is the conference's active leader with 276 Division I wins and won three league titles as the head coach at Drexel in the mid-90's.
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 57 wins in 114 non-league games (.500) after winning just 43 in 117 contests last season (.367)
? 53-33 (.616) 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 Notebook
Albany (13-13, 5-8 America East) suffered its fifth consecutive defeat, the longest losing streak since December 2005, in a 78-59 home loss to New Hampshire on Feb. 15... The 19-point loss margin was the largest in history of SEFCU Arena which opened for the 1992-93 season ... The Great Danes have dropped five in a row in America East regular-season play, the longest string of losses against conference opposition since the 2003-04 campaign... New Hampshire was the eighth opponent to shoot better than 50 percent this year... Jerel Hastings (Dallas, Texas / South Oak Cliff) netted 11 points, his second-highest total of the season, and tied a career-high with three steals vs. New Hampshire... Hastings scored in twin figures for the fifth time in his career... Will Harris (Corona, N.Y. / Brewster Academy) totaled 18 points and seven rebounds... Harris, who has scored in double figures 18 times this winter, is averaging 16.4 points and 8.4 rebounds in America East play... Brett Gifford (Columbia, Mo. / Rock Bridge) had a career-high 10 points, on 5-of-5 shooting, and grabbed seven rebounds in a 58-47 loss at Stony Brook on Feb. 12... The Seawolves swept the season series for the first time since 2004-05... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y. / Our Savior New American) scored 20-plus points for the sixth time this season with 28 against Binghamton on Feb. 9... Ambrose posted career-highs in 3-pointers made (4), steals (4) and minutes played (36)... UAlbany allowed 88 points against Binghamton, the highest total by a conference opponent since Feb. 2, 2003... Mike Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Sheepshead Bay) matched a career-best with seven assists against the Bearcats... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J. / Camden Catholic), Jimmie Covington (Chicago, Ill. / Morgan Park) and Hastings will be honored on Senior Day against Maine on Feb. 22... Covington has played in 118 games as a collegian, while Connelly has scored in twin figures 33 times during his career...
Binghamton (17-8, 10-3 America East) extended its win streak to five with another 2-0 week. In front of a school-record sellout regular-season crowd of 5,142, the Bearcats toppled longtime SUNY rival Albany. Then with just seven healthy scholarship players, the team fended off host Boston University in the closing seconds to overtake the Terriers in the standings... Binghamton now has 17 wins - the most in its eight-year Division I tenure. The team's eight road wins also are the most at Division I... The Bearcats have won seven of their last eight games - by an average margin of under seven points... Junior guards D.J. Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti HS/St. Joseph’s Univ.) and Emanuel Mayben (Troy, N.Y./Troy/Hudson Valley CC) continue to spark the team. Rivera averaged 23.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals in the two wins. In the process, he broke single-season school records for points (517) and field goals (188). Rivera scored a team-high 27 points against Albany and then produced a double-double with game-highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds at Boston... Mayben drilled 5-of-9 three-pointers in the first half to create an early cushion against Albany and was named the America East Player of the Game after totalling 25 points. He then hit a key three-pointer, made two late free throws and made a perfect feed for the game-winning bucket at Boston... Senior forward Reggie Fuller (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower/Angelina College) averaged 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the two games. He shot 71% from the floor and 78% from the line.
Boston University (14-11, 9-4 America East) eight-game win streak came to an end last week when the Terriers dropped a 75-47 decision at Vermont in a battle for first-place in the America East standings ... Catamounts only led 36-32 at the half after scoring 25 points off turnovers but finished the final 10 minutes of the game on a 23-3 run ... Binghamton visited Case Gym next on Saturday, pulling out a 60-59 victory when junior Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) missed an open jumper in the final second of regulation ... Terriers fell to third-place after the loss ... Trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half and 15 in the second before eventually taking a brief 3-point lead at 5:43 ... Scott Brittain (Oakville, Ont./Iroquois Ridge) tied a career high with 20 points in the contest while also posting a team-high nine rebounds ... Terriers now have one regular season road trip remaining, a visit to Stony Brook on Wednesday (Feb. 18) ... They then return on Saturday (Feb. 21) to host Iona as part of the ESPNU Bracketbusters pool.
Hartford (6-21, 2-11 America East) saw its losing streak stretch to 10 games last week with losses to Vermont, Maine and UMBC. The Hawks fell 71-63 at Vermont on Monday despite rallying back from a 21-point deficit to get within three late in the game. Hartford then had a six-point lead at Maine on Wednesday before falling behind in the final minutes in a 68-63 defeat. Against UMBC at home on Saturday, the Hawks trailed by four at the half but were outscored 46-33 over the final 20 minutes in an 80-63 loss... Senior Michael Turner (Novato, Calif./Marin Catholic/West Valley) led the Hawks in scoring and rebounding for the week, averaging 15.7 points and 8.7 boards over the three games. He tied a career high and led all scorers at Maine with 26 points and added eight rebounds, including the 500th of his career. He also notched a double-double at Vermont with 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds... Turner became the 16th player in school history to join the 500/500 club (500 points and 500 rebounds in a career). He is only the eighth player to reach the milestone in the Division I era and the first since the 2002-03 season... Junior David Bookman (Fort Worth, Texas/Southwest) got the starting nod against UMBC and netted a career-high 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting. He averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 rebounds for the week... Senior Jaret von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) needs only 57 more points to become the 22nd player in school history to score 1,000 points in a career... Hartford will host Binghamton University on Wednesday, February 18 at 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on NESN. The Hawks will then travel to Poughkeepsie, N.Y. on Saturday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. to play Marist College in the ESPNU BracketBusters.
Maine (9-16, 4-8 America East) defeated Hartford, 68-63 at the Alfond Arena on Wednesday evening...The Black Bears were led by their America East Player of the Game Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine) who had 14 points, eight rebounds and a block in 34 minutes to action...Mark Socoby (Houlton, Maine/Bangor) went 4-of-8 from deep en route to a team-high 15 points....Malachi Peay (Brooklyn, N.Y./Campus Magnet) had 12 points, four rebounds, a block and a steal...Junior Bernal (Manhattan, N.Y./MCI) had six assists with only one turnover...Freshman Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch/Worcester Academy) had 10 points and five rebounds...McLemore had a key block and made four free throws down the stretch that cemented the victory...Hartford only had 10 turnovers while Maine only had nine...Each team had 30 rebounds...The Black Bears went an impressive 15-for-17 from the free throw line...McNally has had at least six rebounds in 10 straight games and has scored in double-figures in seven out of the last nine games...Socoby is 27 points shy of becoming the 27th player in program history to 1,000 points...McNally’s 7.4 rebounds per game are the most since Justin Rowe averaged 9.4 during the 2002-03 season...Peay, Bernal and Andrew Rogers (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) were all recently named Maine Scholar-Athlete Award winners...Maine returns to action on Thursday at New Hampshire for a 7 p.m. game that can be seen on the New England Sports Network (NESN).
UMBC (12-13, 6-7 America East) has put together its first rhree-game winning streak of the season and they put together back-to-back 80 points games in wins over UNH (81-76) and Hartford (80-63)... Senior Jay Greene’s (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) 36-point effort vs. New Hampshire set a new career high in scoring for the senior guard... It was the most points scored by a Retriever in an America East game and the second-most point scored by a UMBC player at the RAC Arena...The effort also tied him with Brian Hodges for the fourth highest single-game in scoring in school history and tied him with Boston’s Corey Lowe for the most points in a game by an America East player this season...He followed up with 22 points at Hartford, leading UMBC to its first ever win at Chase Family Arena... He buried five of six from behind the arc and was 10 of 14 for the week... Greene moved into 13th place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list, now with 1,108 points... He played in his 115th game vs. Hartford, four shy of a new school record... Senior forward Darryl Proctor (District Height, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) scored 23 points vs. UNH and 20 at Hartford and hit the 1,000-point mark while at UMBC...He is the fastest in school history to reach that plateau, achieving it in 58 games... Proctor surpassed 1,800 career points (1,801) and needs five more to amass the most points for a player who has competed at UMBC (two seasons)... Proctor scored in double figures against UNH for the 100th time in his career against the Wildcats... UMBC hit 13 of 21 shots from behind the arc (61.9%) in the two victories and also hit better than 50 percent in back-to-back games for the first time this season... Freshman wing Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md.) scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half at Hartford as UMBC recorded their first double-digit win over an America East opponent this season...Junior Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) did not dress for either game this week, sidelined with a knee injury...Freshman walk-on Brett Burrier (Westminster, Md./Mercersburg Acad.) earned starts in both games and responded with 10 rebounds vs. the Wildcats... Sophomore forward Rich Flemming (Chester, Pa./Chester) returned to the lineup at Hartford after missing eight games with a knee injury... Flemming scored five points and added six rebounds in 16 minutes... UMBC is now 60 of 103 (58.3%) from the floor in the second halves of the last four games... The Retrievers host Vermont on Tuesday and take on Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J. on Saturday in their first ESPNU Bracketbusters appearance.
New Hampshire (10-14, 5-7 America East) split a pair of road games last week, dropping an 81-76 thriller at UMBC on Feb.10 and picking up a solid 78-59 win at Albany on Feb. 15 ... sophomore guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) led UNH to one tough road win and nearly a second last week on 12 of 22 shooting, including 7 of 12 from deep ... at UMBC, Abreu scored 20 points, including 17 in the second half, on 7 of 15 shooting from the floor ... Abreu was also 5 of 8 from behind the arc to go along with three rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes ... Abreu then led the Wildcats to their third road win in the last four attempts by scoring 19 points on 5 of 7 shooting, including 2 of 4 from behind the arc at Albany ... Abreu was also a perfect 7-for-7 from the line to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and three steals ... all 12 of his second-half points came in a five-minute span from 9:50 to 4:50 that helped seal the win ... senior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) did everything he could to help Abreu knock out the Retrievers, tallying 16 points, four rebounds, five assists and two blocks in a full 40 minutes ... Gibbs then netted 16 more at Albany on 5 of 7 shooting from 3-point land to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 36 minutes ... with 1,221 career points, Gibbs is ninth on UNH’s all-time scoring list and just seven points shy of moving into eighth ... sophomore guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) chipped in with six points, four boards and four assists at UMBC, then caught fire at Albany, pouring in 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting, including 4 of 6 from deep ... sophomore center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) posted his third double-double of the season with a career-high 16 points on 7 of 13 shooting to go along with 10 boards at UMBC ... senior guard Eric Gilchrese (Springfield, Ill./Lewis & Clark CC) added 10 points in 16 minutes at UMBC, then recorded 11 and added five assists in 22 minutes at Albany ... with the win at Albany, the ?Cats surpassed their win total from last season and posted their third double-digit win season in the past four years under head coach Bill Herrion, marking just the fourth time in school history that has happened ... the last time UNH attained the feat was from 1982-83 to 1985-86 when the program put together three 10-win seasons in four years under legendary head coach Gerry Friel.
Stony Brook (14-12, 6-7 America East) split a pair of the game this week, defeating Albany on Tuesday, 58-47, before falling at first-place Vermont in overtime, 69-64, on Sunday ... the victory over Albany gave the Seawolves their first sweep of the Great Danes since 2004 ... the victory over Albany gave the Seawolves their most wins, 14, since joining the America East in 2001-02 ... the win against the Great Danes also matched the program’s best start in America East play, 6-6, since the 2002-03 squad also started conference play, 6-6 ... sophomore Chris Martin scored 20 points against Albany, which was his fourth straight game in double-figures ... the game against Albany marked the 11th time this season the Seawolves have held their opponents under 60 points, with SBU posting a 10-1 record in those games ... the overtime loss against Vermont on Sunday was the Seawolves third overtime loss in conference play ... SBU held Vermont to 55 points in regulation on Sunday, which is 22 points below its season average ... senior Demetrius Young recorded his third double-double of the season (20 points, 10 rebounds) against Vermont on Sunday and has now scored in double figures in his last four games ... freshman Bryan Dougher hit two three-pointers against the Catamounts, tying him with Josh Little for the program’s Division I record for made three-pointers in a season ... Dougher is also just four points from breaking the program’s Division I freshman record for points in a season ... freshman Tommy Brenton is just 14 rebounds short of breaking the Seawolves Division I record for rebounds in a season.
Vermont (20-7, 11-3 America East) went 3-0 on the week as the Cats have now won 11 of their last 12 overall and sit in first place in the America East standings with two conferences games remaining ... Vermont opened the week by topping Hartford 71-63 at home ... Junior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) scored 17 points to go with 10 rebounds in the win ... In a battle for first place, Vermont defeated Boston University 75-47 on Wednesday night at home on NESN ... Senior Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) led the way with 17 points and seven assists ... The Cats held BU to only 15 points in the second half ... Sunday was “Senior Day” for four Catamounts who were honored prior to the contest ... Trimboli led the way with 25 points and Blakely added 18 as the Cats earned a gritty 69-64 victory over Stony Brook in overtime ... Vermont has now won 20 games in six of the last eight seasons ... UVM is 11-3 at home this year ... Vermont has now swept Stony Brook, Boston University, Hartford and New Hampshire this season ... The Cats were 0-3 in overtime this year before Sunday ... Vermont is in action twice this week as the Cats are at UMBC on Tuesday in a game that will be televised on Comcast Sports Net Mid-Atlantic and then they host Buffalo on Saturday as part of the BracketBusters series at 1 p.m on ESPN2.