CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - University of Vermont's Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke's) has been named the America East Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the sixth time in his career, while UMBC's Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md./Brewster Academy) earned his second consecutive Rookie of the Week honor and fourth of the year. The weekly awards were announced on Monday, February 23.
Trimboli, a 6-foot-1 senior guard,.averaged 19.5 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and shot 52 percent from the field to help his team extend its win streak to six. He had a team-high tying 15 points to go with five assists in a 77-65 road win at UMBC on Tuesday and followed up with a game-high 24 points in the win over Buffalo in an ESPNU BracketBusters contest that was televised on ESPN2. Trimboli, who also earned weekly accolades December 15 and 22, also added seven assists and six rebounds Saturday.
America East's active leading scorer with 1,968 points, Trimboli is fifth among scoring leaders (16.3 ppg), second in assists (4.9 apg) and second in steals (1.9 spg).
Gilliam, a freshman guard, recorded a pair of double-doubles to earn his second straight Rookie of the Week award. He averaged 17.5 points and 10 rebounds per game last week. He 18 points and 10 boards against Vermont Tuesday and then had 17 points and 10 caroms at Rider in an ESPNU BracketBusters matchup Saturday.
For the week, Gilliam, who is fourth in the league and tops among guards shooting 54.1 percent from the field, hit 52 percent of his attempts for the week. He has scored in double figures in 9 of his lst 12 games and is contributing 13.1 points per game during that span.
Conference Weekly Notebook
The Best of the Rest
Albany's Tim Ambrose scored 27 points, the fourth time in eight games he has scored at least 26, to lead Albany to its first win in its last six games... Jerel Hastings recorded his first career double-double and established new career highs with 19 points and 10 boards in the win over Maine Sunday... at Binghamton Monday, his sixth 20-plus point performance of the season... D.J. Rivera, the league's leading scorer (20.4 ppg) scored 14 of his 21 points after halftime to lead the Bearcats to a to a 70-69 overtime win against New Hampshire Sunday... Maine's Gerald McLemore scored 15 points against New Hampshire Thursday and also added 14 points at Albany Sunday. He canned 4-of-7 three-point tries against the Great Danes... UMBC's Darryl Proctor had a pair of doubles-doubles last week, scoring 24 points and grabbing 10 boards against Vermont Tuesday and following up with 23 points and 11 rebounds at Rider Saturday... Alvin Abreu averaged 18 points per game last week, including 23 at Binghamton Sunday... Dane DiLiegro eclipsed his career high with 21 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season... Michael Tyree scored a career-high 25 points in a win over Boston University Wednesday on "Senior Day"... Colin McIntosh key a first-half run with 12 of his 18 points in the stanza to lead Vermont back from an early 19-6 deficit against Buffalo Saturday.
Playoff Picture
Entering the final week of the regular-season, Binghamton and Vermont remain tied for first place at 12-3 in league play. The Bearcats, who snuck out a 70-69 overtime win over New Hampshire Sunday, can claim a share of the regular-season title and the top seed for the America East Championship with a win over UMBC at the Events Center on Thursday. Binghamton, winners of a school-record seven straight, would also earn the right to host the league title game should they advance two rounds and earn an automatic NIT bid should they stumble in the conference tournament.
Vermont, which has won six straight and 13 of 14 overall, can earn the regular-season crown and No. 1 seed for a Binghamton loss Thursday and a win at Maine Sunday. Regardelss of Binghamton's outcome, UVM, who will be seeded no lower than second, can earn a share of the league title with a win at Maine Sunday. It would be the Catamounts third regular-season crown in five years.
Boston University is locked into the No. 3 slot no matter what happens the rest of the way. The Terriers, who are 9-5 in league play, hold the tiebreaker over fourth-place Stony Brook due to its win at Binghamton on Jan. 17.
The Seawolves, who have secured their best season since the 2000-01 campaign, remains in the drivers' seat for the No. 4 seed with games remaining at Hartford and New Hampshire. Albany, UMBC and Stony Brook are all tied for fifth at 6-8. The Great Danes travel to Durham and Baltimore to close of their season. Maine (4-10) and Hartford (2-12) currently sit in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
BracketBuster Recap
Vermont overcame a slow start behind 24 points from Mike Trimboli to beat Buffalo 78-70 in a featured ESPNU BracketBusters contest on ESPN 2. The Bulls, who sit in first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division standings, hit 9 of their first 10 shots and jumped out to a 19-6 advantage, but Vermont, which improved 22-7 overall, charged back in large part to senior Colin McIntosh, who had 12 of his 18 in the first half, and took a 41-39 lead to the locker room. The Catamounts came out firing in the second half, hitting 59 percent of their attempts, and grew the lead to as much as 16. Buffalo made a late charge with relentless full court pressure and cut the deficit to five with 53 seconds left, but Trimboli, who also had six rebounds and seven assists, sank four free throws to give UVM the win. Junior Marqus Blakely contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Cats, who have now won 13 of their last 14 games.
The game marks the fourth time in five years that an America East team has appeared among the televised contest in ESPNU BracketBusters, but was the the conference's first victory and first nationally-televised home game in the event. Vermont (at Nevada, 2005) and Albany (at VCU, 2006; at Boise State, 2007) enjoyed the other television appearances.
Boston University, UMBC and Hartford were the other America East teams in action as part ESPNU BracketBusters Saturday. Sophomore John Holland scored 24 points to lead the Terriers to a 63-57 win against Iona at Case Gym. The Retrievers got double-doubles from senior Darryl Proctor (23 points, 11 rebounds) and Chauncey Gilliam (17, 10) and led at halftime, but fell at Rider 71-65. In Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Hartford was held to just 23 percent shooting in a 57-35 loss at Marist.
Much improved from bottom up
With a week to go in the regular season and a conference tournament to play, six of the nine member institutions have already 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, 19-8 in 2008-09)
- Surpassed Division I program record for wins
- In the midst of a school-record 7-game win streak
Boston University (14-17, 15-12)
- With one more win will have 10 league wins for first time in four years
Maine (7-23, 9-18)
- Started 3-0 for first time since 1971-72 season
New Hampshire (9-20, 11-15)
- Posted double digit wins for just 5th time in 11 years
Stony Brook (7-23, 15-12)
- Most wins since joining America East in 2001
Vermont (16-15, 22-7)
- Won 20 games for 6th time in 8 years after having zero 20-win campaigns in first 101 seasons.
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. Vermont, coming off its win over Buffalo in ESPNU BracketBusters, climbed 22 spots to 86, while Binghamton held steady at 99.
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 Notebooks
Albany (14-13, 6-8 America East) moved into a three-way tie for fifth place in the America East standings with an 80-69 win over Maine on Feb. 22... The Great Danes ended a pair of losing streaks with the victory... UAlbany had lost five in a row for the first time since December 2005 and had dropped five straight in conference regular-season play for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign... The Great Danes shot 53.8 percent from the field in the second half, their best one-half performance since Jan. 28, and had a season-low six turnovers... Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y. / Our Savior New American) struck for 27 points and made the go-ahead three-point field goal with 9:18 remaining... The 6-foot sophomore has scored 20 or more points on seven occasions this season... Ambrose tied a career-best with four steals and added four rebounds and four assists to his scoring total... Jerel Hastings (Dallas, Texas / South Oak Cliff) was one of three seniors honored in a pre-game ceremony in his final regular-season home game... Hastings’ mother, Beverly, got to see her son play at SEFCU Arena for the first time and he responded with his first career double-double... Hastings posted career-highs in points (19) and rebounds (10) and was a key figure in a run that pushed the lead to 72-58 with 3:53 to play... Brian Connelly (Audubon, N.J. / Camden Catholic) had 15 points, the 12th time he has scored in twin figures this winter... Jimmie Covington (Chicago, Ill. / Morgan Park) totaled three points and four rebounds in his first start of the year... Covington, a senior who has played in 119 career games, and Connelly were members of the program’s America East championship teams in 2006 and 2007... Brett Gifford scored nine points, one off his career-best total... Mike Johnson (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Sheepshead Bay) handed out six of his squad’s season-high 20 assists... redshirt freshman Billy Allen (Hamilton, Ohio / Hamilton) had a career-high five assists as his team’s bench was limited to eight players due to two injuries and one suspension...
Binghamton (19-8 12-3 America East) pushed its school-record win streak to seven with two more victories - at Hartford and at home over New Hampshire. The Bearcats have now won nine of their last 10 games and the team's 19 wins are the second-most in 63 years of basketball at the university. The Bearcats have secured at least the No. 2 seed for the upcoming America East tournament. The team can claim its first regular season title and the top seed with a win over UMBC on Thursday... Binghamton led from start to finish at Hartford and posted the team's ninth road victory of the season - the most in its eight-year Division I tenure... Then at home in front of a sellout school-record crowd of 5,222, Binghamton edged UNH in overtime. The capacity crowd equaled the largest in school history first established in the 2005 America East quarterfinal victory over Albany. Binghamton has drawn an average of 5,095 for its last three games and the school is well on its way to winning the AE attendance title for the sixth consecutive season... The narrow escape over UNH pushed Binghamton's record to 6-1 in games decided by three or fewer points and kept it unbeaten in overtime (3-0)... Junior guard D.J. Rivera (Philadelphia, Pa./Neumann-Goretti HS/St. Joseph’s Univ.), who continues to lead the league in scoring (20.4 ppg.), shined in crunch time against UNH, scoring 14 points after halftime and producing two steals in the final 1:19 of overtime. He hit a double-double at Hartford and averaged 17.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 4.0 steals for the week... Senior forward Reggie Fuller (Missouri City, Texas/Hightower/Angelina College) pumped in 22 points and 10 rebounds against UNH and is among the AE leaders in field goal percentage, blocks and rebounds... Junior guard Emanuel Mayben (Troy, N.Y./Troy/Hudson Valley CC) knocked down a three-pointer with 26 seconds left against UNH to force overtime and has now reached double figures in six straight games. Mayben is shooting 41% from three-point range in conference play.
Boston University (15-12, 9-5 America East) split two games last week, first dropping a 66-54 decision at Stony Brook in the final regular season road trip of the year and followed that game by defeating Iona, 63-57, in a ESPNU Bracketbuster pool game Saturday at The Roof ... The 15th victory marks the most for the Terriers since the team finished the 2004-05 season 20-9 ... In New York, the Terriers trailed by as many as 15 in the first half before cutting the lead to one in the second ... The Seawolves though held them to 0-of-8 shooting in the final four minutes during a 7-0 run to pull out the victory ... Senior Matt Wolff (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) tied a career high with seven assists and also had a game-high eight rebounds ... In the following game, sophomore John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict’s Prep) scored a game-high 24 points to give the Terriers their second consecutive Bracketbuster victory after they defeated St. Peter’s last season ... Jake O’Brien (Weymouth, Mass./BC High) made two critical blocks in the final 30 seconds to hold off Iona ... Corey Lowe (Newton, Mass./Newton North) tallied eight assists to become just the second player under Wolff to have at least 100 points, rebounds and assists with 431, 106 and 103, respectively ... Terriers conclude regular season with Maine at The Roof on Thursday followed by Hartford on Sunday at 3 p.m. as part of Senior Day at Agganis Arena.
Hartford (6-23, 2-12 America East) dropped a pair of games last week, falling 62-44 at home to Binghamton University on Wednesday before suffering a 57-35 setback at Marist College on Saturday. The Hawks shot just 30 percent for the week and went 8-of-48 from three-point range. Hartford also committed 39 turnovers in the two contests, including a season-high 24 against Marist... Against Binghamton, Hartford never led but cut a double-digit deficit to six with 8:19 to play in the game. However, the Hawks were outscored 14-2 the rest of the way as the Bearcats sealed the win. Senior Michael Turner (Novato, Calif./Marin Catholic/West Valley) led Hartford with 13 points and added four rebounds... The Hawks traveled to Marist for a non-conference matchup in the 2009 ESPNU BracketBusters. Hartford took a first-half lead behind an 11-0 run but didn't score a field goal for the final 10:05 of the stanza. The Red Foxes led 25-17 at the intermission and were never threatened in the second half. Senior Jaret von Rosenberg (Mission, Texas/Sharyland/Collin County) and sophomore Morgan Sabia (San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) each scored eight points to lead the Hawks... Hartford will look to snap a 12-game losing streak this week when it wraps up the regular season with games against Stony Brook and Boston University. The Hawks host the Seawolves in their home finale on Thursday, February 26 at 7 p.m. Turner, von Rosenberg and classmate Clint Kuban (Bethel, Conn./Bethel) will be honored in a pre-game senior day ceremony. Hartford then travels to Boston University for the regular season finale on Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. The game will be played at Agganis Arena.
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) UMBC is fourth in the nation at 10.2 give-aways per game as of Feb. 16, 2009 and 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.31... Last year’s leading scorer Ray Barbosa was just drafted by the Bayamon Cowboys of the National Superior Basketball League in Puerto Rico... He was the sixth overall pick and reported to the Cowboys Friday, Feb. 20... In the 77-65 setback to Vermont, the Retrievers lost for the first time (7-1) while leading at halftime this season... UMBC had won 21 games in a row when leading at halftime, with the last setback occuring at Lafayette on Nov. 20, 2007 (87-74, ot), but also fell at Rider on Saturday (71-65) when leading at the break (38-34)...UMBC was 58 of 101 (57.4%) in second halves over the past four game, but hit just 11 of 32 attempts (34.4%) vs. the Catamounts... double-doubles by senior forward Darryl Proctor (District Heights, Md./Paul IV/Coppin State) (24/10) and freshman wing Chauncey Gilliam (Columbia, Md./Brewster Acad.) (18/10) against Vermont marked the first occurrence of two Retrievers with double-doubles in the same game this season... The duo did it again at Rider, with Proctor recording 23 points and 11 caroms and Gilliam scoring 17 points and matching his season-best with 10 boards... Vermont’s 31 field goals were the most UMBC has allowed in an America East game this season... Proctor’s 548 points this season is the third-most in a single season in school history and the most since Larry Simmons amassed 570 in the 1988-89 season... If senior guard Jay Greene (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) competes in the season’s final two games, he will break the school record for games played with 119... He just tied Skip Saunders (1990-94) for third place on the all-time list for 3-pt. field goals with 231... Gilliam posted back-to-back double-doubles, notching a season high 10 rebounds in both games... He had a streak of six consecutive 3-pt. field goals made, which ended at Rider... Gilliam’s current total of 294 points is the tenth-most for a freshman in school history and the most since Peter Mulligan had a school record 450 in the 2000-01 season... He has scored in double figures in nine of his last 12 games...The Retrievers close the regular season at Binghamton on Thursday and Greene and Proctor will play their final regular season home games vs. Albany on Sunday.
New Hampshire (11-15, 6-8) split a pair of games last week, recording a 63-54 come-from-behind win against Maine on Feb. 19 and dropping a 70-69 heartbreaker in overtime Feb. 22 at Binghamton, the conference’s top team ... sophomore guard Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) scored 13 points, including nine in the second half to help erase a 10-point deficit, on 5 of 11 shooting against Maine ... Abreu also recorded three rebounds, two assists and six steals, which tied D.J. Rivera for most thefts in a game this season by an America East player ... the sophomore guard then poured in 23 points ? with 12 coming in the second half ? on 8 of 18 shooting, including 3 of 7 from behind the arc as he took the conference’s top team down to the wire ... Abreu also added four rebounds and three assists in a career-high 41 minutes ... senior guard Tyrece Gibbs (Brockton, Mass./Thayer Academy) tallied 11 points, two rebounds and three assists against Maine before scoring 20 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 45 minutes at Binghamton ... Gibbs ended the week with 1,252 points and moved into seventh place on UNH’s all-time scoring list ... the co-captain has also played in 113 games, with his next tilt making him the all-time games played leader in program history ... center Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) recorded his fourth double-double of the season against Maine, netting a career-high 21 points on 10 of 14 shooting and ripping down 12 rebounds ... DiLiegro also added seven boards at Binghamton ... sophomore guard Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) tallied 12 points, four rebounds, an assist and two steals at Binghamton ... sophomore forward Rony Tchatchoua (Douala, Cameroon/Findlay Prep) chipped in with four points and five rebounds against Maine and added four points and seven boards at Binghamton ... freshman forward Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece-Athena) posted six points and five boards at Binghamton, while junior forward Radar Onguetou (Yaounde, Cameroon) pulled down eight boards.
Stony Brook (15-12, 7-7 America East won their only game of the week, a 66-54 victory over Boston University on Wednesday night at Pritchard Gymnasium ... senior Michael Tyree scored a career-high 25 points for the Seawolves, including 20 in the first half ... Tyree went 10-for-13 from the field and 5-for-7 from three-point range ... senior Demetrius Young scored 10 points against BU and has scored in double-figures in five straight games and six of his last eight ... junior Muhammad El-Amin scored 11 points in the victory over the Terriers and has now scored in double-figures in all 17 games since joining the starting lineup against Saint Peter’s ... El-Amin is averaging 17.6 points per game over that span ... the victory tied a program record for America East victories, seven, in a season ... it also gave Stony Brook its best ever start in America East play ... freshman Bryan Dougher’s first half three-pointer against BU set the program’s Division I record for made three-pointers in a season, 62 ... Dougher is just three points from setting the Seawolves Division I freshman record for points in a season ... freshman Tommy Brenton recorded seven rebounds against the Terriers and is just seven rebounds short of the setting the program’s Division I record for rebounds in a season ... Bryan Dougher and Dallis Joyner are three of 20 freshman in the country to have started every game ... a victory over Hartford or New Hampshire this week will give the Seawolves their most ever road America East victories.
Vermont (22-7, 12-3 America East) went 2-0 on the week as the Cats have now won 13 of their last 14 overall and sit in first place in the America East standings with one conference games remaining ... Vermont opened the week by topping UMBC 77-65 on the road on Tuesday night ... Seniors Colin McIntosh (Milton, Mass./Northfield Mt. Hermon) and Mike Trimboli (Norwalk, Conn./St. Luke’s) led the Cats with 15 each ... Vermont trailed by nine early in the second half, but outscored the Retrievers 47-28 after the break to earn the win ... The Catamounts shot 56.4 percent for the game and went 8-for-14 (57.1%) from three ... The Cats have now won six straight on the road, with five of the six victories being by double figures ... Tuesday marked the third time Vermont has had five players in double figures, as it is now 3-0 when it happens (at Stony Brook, vs. Boston U) ... Trimboli scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Cats to a 78-70 victory over Buffalo as part of the ESPNU BracketBusters series on ESPN2 on Saturday ... Vermont led by as many as 16 in the second half and held Buffalo to only 32.3 percent shooting after the break ... McIntosh added 18 points and junior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J./Metuchen) went for 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocks ... The Catamounts shot 54.2 percent from the floor for the game and held a 38-33 rebounding edge ... Vermont is now 12-3 at home this year ... Both teams are ranked in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, as the Bulls are 20th and the Catamounts 25th ... The game also marked the first nationally televised regular season game at Patrick Gym and the 13th time that Vermont has appeared on the ESPN family of networks all-time ... Vermont returns to action on Sunday, March 1 when it travels to face Maine in the regular season finale starting at 1 p.m.