CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- University at Albany's Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) and University of Vermont's Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y./Iona Prep) have repeated as America East men's basketball Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. The awards winners for the week ending Dec. 12 were announced Monday afternoon.
Ambrose earned his second straight Player of the Week honor by averaging 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in a pair of games last week.
The senior guard played a pivotal role Albany's 64-63 win over Central Connecticut Saturday, scoring 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting and making a pair of key plays down the stretch. After his team's 18-point second-half lead had turned into a 60-58 advantage for the Blue Devils, Ambrose anticipated a pass and converted the steal into a layup to tie the score at 60 with 1:02 remaining. He then hit a 10-foot running jumper with eight seconds left to put Albany up 62-60 and secure its fourth win in five games.
The senior guard, who was a third-team all-conference selection in 2009, also had five assists and four steals in the contest. Earlier in the week, he had 15 points and four rebounds in a loss to Yale.
Ambrose has scored in double figures in all 11games this season and ranks fourth among leaders with 17.1 points per game.
Voelkel earned his third Rookie of the Week honor of the young season after averaging 15.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 4.5 steals in a pair of games last week.
A freshman forward, Voelkel had the best game of his career in leading Vermont to a win over Marist Sunday. He tallied career highs of 23 points, 16 rebounds and five steals in the 75-67 win. Voelkel also had eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals in a loss to No. 18/21 BYU Wednesday.
Voelkel, who has started all nine games for the 7-2 Catamounts, currently leads America East in rebounding (10.1 rpg) and steals (2.1 apg) and ranks second in assists (4.8 apg).
Conference Notes
The Honor Roll
Several other America East players had top performances last week:
• Binghamton's Greer Wright (Boynton Beach, Fla./Boca Raton Prep/City College of San Francisco) scored a season-high 28 points in a loss to Hofstra Wednesday. Sophomore Jimmy Gray (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) scored a career-high 18 points against Hofstra and then hit the game-winning basket against Manhattan Saturday.
• Boston University's John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)) scored 21 points in a loss to Harvard Saturday.
• Hartford's Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) had a career day at Monmouth, scoring a career-high 31 points in the double-overtime loss. Senior Milton Burton (Birmingham, Ala./Fairfield Prep/Panola College) tallied his first career double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds.
• Maine's Terrance Mitchell (Milton, Fla./Faulkner CC) scored 22 points in only 14 minutes of action in a win over Norfolk State Sunday
• UMBC's Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows/Siena) posted a double-double of 23 points and 10 assists in a loss to Towson Saturday.
• New Hampshire's Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) tallied 13 points and seven rebounds in a loss to Army Thursday. Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) registered his third double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
• Stony Brook's Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) scored 18 points on six three-pointers in a loss to Sacred Heart Saturday.
Trio of Thrilling Victories
Stony Brook, Binghamton and Albany all won games in thrilling fashion last week. The Seawolves started the trend on Tuesday at Holy Cross. With his team trailing 53-52, freshman Dave Coley drove left from the top of key and exploded to the hoop for a game-winning layup with 2.1 seconds left.
The Bearcats snapped a six-game losing streak in similar fashion Saturday. Trailing 69-68 and with time winding down at Manhattan, sophomore Jimmy Gray scored his first points of the game on a 10-foot jumper with 4.5 seconds left to give his team the 70-69 win.
America East Player of the Week Tim Ambrose earned his award by sealing Albany's 64-63 win over Central Conn. State Sunday. After his team's 18-point second-half lead had turned into a 60-58 advantage for the Blue Devils, Ambrose anticipated a pass and converted the steal into a layup to tie the score at 60 with 1:02 remaining. He then hit a 10-foot running jumper with eight seconds left to put Albany up 62-60 and secure its fourth win in five games.
Black Bears Get Defensive
Maine went 19-11 a year ago and held opponents to 62.1 points per game. That defensive prowess had not carried over to this season until this week. The Black Bears snapped a four-game losing skid with wins over UMass and Norfolk State and held their opponents to 56 and 54 points, respectively. Comparitivley, Maine allowed opponents to average 72.5 points per game in its first seven games and went 2-5 in that stretch.
Growing Great Danes
Albany went 7-25 last season and with just two upper classmen on its roster, the Great Danes were picked eighth in the league's preseason poll. But after an 0-3 start, Albany has won five of its last eight, including four of its last five, and posted a thrilling 64-63 win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday.
Ranking Recognition for the Cats
Vermont was rated 42nd out of 343 teams in the second official Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report issued by RPIRatings.com. The Catamounts were also ranked 14th in the Mid Major Top 25 issued on Dec. 6. Expect the Catamounts to climb a few spots in that poll this week.
Rising Up the Charts
A pair of America East standouts are charging up the league's all-time scoring list and will finish among the all-time greats. Boston University senior John Holland, a two-time first team all-conference selection, moved into 20th all-time and currently has 1,750 career points. Holland passed former Northeastern star Jose Juan Barea, who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks and former Indiana Pacer Norman Richardson earlier this season. Hartford's Joe Zeglinski, a two-time all-league choice, moved up to 21st on the list following his career-high 31 points against Monmouth. The senior guard has 1,736 career points.
Milestone Win for Herrion
New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion picked up his 300th career win on Dec. 4 when his Wildcats beat Colgate, 65-60. Herrion has earned 230 of those wins while coaching at an America East school. He won 167 games and three conference titles at Drexel in the 1990's and has 63 wins in five-plus seasons at UNH.
Catching the Injury Bug
Two of America East's 10 returning all-conference players are out indefinitely. Stony Brook's Tommy Brenton and New Hampshire's Alvin Abreu, both second-team all-league choices last season, both suffered knee injuries that will threaten their seasons. Brenton's happened in September, while Abreu's injury came against Dartmouth Nov. 18.
Team Notes
Albany (5-6) edged Central Connecticut State, 64-63, on Dec. 11 to break an eight-game home losing streak … The Great Danes last won at SEFCU Arena on Jan. 13, 2010, a 76-69 victory over UMBC … The non-conference series with Central Conn. has produced four consecutive down-to-the-wire finishes, including two overtime decisions … CCSU rallied from an 18-point, second-half deficit to take a 60-57 lead with 2:18 remaining … Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) tied the contest at 60 apiece with a steal and layup and gave his team the lead with a 12-foot jumper from left of the lane with eight seconds left … UAlbany claimed its second narrow win this season (Bowling Green, 56-55) and improved to 14-8 all-time as a Division I program in one-point decisions … Ambrose, who has scored in double figures in all 11 games this season, scored 20-plus for the 18th time as a collegian … the 6-foot senior is 16th on the program’s career scoring chart with 1,239 points … Ambrose also had 15 points in a 74-53 loss at Yale on Dec. 6 … The Bulldogs went on a 20-2 run in second half to break open a tight contest … Yale is coached by former UAlbany player and assistant James Jones … John Puk (Waterloo, Iowa / Waterloo West) tied career-highs in points (7) and blocked shots (4), plus drew a charge on CCSU’s Robby Ptacek with 4.6 seconds to play … Luke Devlin (Sydney, Australia/Newington College) grabbed a career-best 11 rebounds … Mike Black (Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick) had 15 points vs. CCSU … Black has reached double digits in five of six games since returning from an ankle injury … UAlbany hosts Mount St. Mary’s in the first-ever matchup between the programs on Dec. 18 … The Great Danes are 28-39 all-time against Northeast Conference opponents.
Binghamton (2-6) split two games during the week, dropping a heartbreaking 89-85 overtime decision to Hofstra before pulling out a 70-69 win at Manhattan in the closing seconds ... The Bearcats had the Hofstra game in hand with a two-point lead and two free throws with 14 seconds left but after missing both foul shots, the Pride tied the game and won it in the extra session ... Binghamton was on the other side of a dramatic finish at Manhattan when sophomore reserve guard Jimmy Gray (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) sank the winning shot with 4.5 seconds left off an inbounds feed. Binghamton was lifted by more than 400 fans, its cheer squad and pep band, all of which made Draddy Gymnasium feel and sound like a home venue ... Senior forward Greer Wright (Boynton Beach, Fla./Boca Raton Prep/City College of San Francisco) averaged 18.5 points during the week and senior forward Mahamound Jabbi (Serrekunda, Gambia/Alfred E. Smith/SUNY Oswego) matched his career-high with 20 points at Manhattan. Playing in front of 50+ family and friends, Jabbi drained a career-high four three-pointers ... After averaging just 46 points per game entering the week, the Bearcats averged 77.5 in the two games. The team shot 48% and hit 25 three-pointers in the two games ... Binghamton hosts Cornell this Saturday.
Boston University (4-7) saw its losing skid increase to four games this past week with an 84-81 loss to La Salle and an 87-71 loss at Harvard ... The two contests mark the first time since the 2001-02 season that BU allowed more than 80 during regulation in back-to-back games ... Harvard marked the seventh opponent to be coming off a postseason bid ... The Terriers led by as many as 12 in the first half against the Explorers and had a chance to send the game to overtime but missed a 3-pointer before the buzzer ... Junior Darryl Partin (Seattle, Wash./La Salle) scored a team-high 20 points against his former school, while senior John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)) posted all 15 of his in the second half ... Holland recorded a game-high 21 points against the Crimson, while junior Jake O'Brien (Weymouth, Mass./BC High) tallied 20 ... Harvard went on a 12-0 run in the early part of the second half to break a 43-43 tie ... O'Brien now has 983 points and is just 17 away from becoming the 31st Terrier to reach the 1,000-point milestone ... Holland moved into second-place all-time at Boston U. in made 3-pointers with 210 but is far away from reaching former teammate, Corey Lowe ('10) ... Terriers have the week off and will next host Saint Joseph's on Tuesday, Dec. 21, at Agganis Arena on NESN.
Hartford (2-8) dropped two heartbreakers this week and now enter a 17-day break for exams and the Christmas holiday ... the Hawks fell at Sacred Heart, 56-55, and at Monmouth, 78-74 in double overtime ... Hartford held double-digit second-half leads in both games ... the Hawks were up 20 with 8:17 to play against Sacred Heart, which got back in the game thanks to 11-of-12 shooting from the free throw line ... both teams hit just one more field goal after the 8:17 mark ... senior Joe Zegilnski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) led the team with 16 points ... junior Genesis Maciel (Los Angeles, Calif./Worcester Academy/Compton Centennial) had 12 points, including two big three-pointers to open the second half after injuring his ankle late in the first half ... At Monmouth, Hartford would hold their hosts scoreless for the first 12:25 of the game, and without a field goal for the first 14:22 as Hartford built 15-0 and 20-3 advantages ... the Hawks held as much as a 13-point lead in the second half, but found themselves down three in the final minute before Zeglinski's three-point play helped force overtime ... Zeglinski finished with a career-high 31 points in the loss ... Only four players scored for Hartford until late in the second overtime, when senior Anthony Minor (Philadelphia, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) added one free throw to become the fifth ... senior Milton Burton (Birmingham, Ala./Fairfield Prep/Panola College) put together his first career double-double, scoring 15 points and adding a career-high 16 rebounds ... Burton had 10 boards (already a career high) before halftime ... senior Morgan Sabia (San Anselmo, Calif./Sir Francis Drake) added 15 points, and Maciel put in 12.
Maine (4-5) fell to Delaware State 75-56 before beating the University of Massachusetts from the Atlantic-10 Conference 68-56 and defeating Norfolk State at home 74-54...Muprhy Burnatowski (Waterloo, Ontario) led the team with 10 points and eight rebounds against Delaware State while Raheem Singleton (Boston, Mass./Monroe Community College) added 11 ... At UMass, Malachi Peay (Brooklyn, N.Y./Campus Magnet) notched 10 points, a team-high five assists, four rebounds and a game-high four steals...Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Worcester Academy) had a team-high 12 points while Terrance Mitchell (Milton, Fla./Faulkner State Community College) added 10 points ... Troy Barnies (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) had a game-high 10 rebounds as the Black Bears outrebounded the Minutemen 44-37 and held UMass to 29.5 percent shooting ... It was Maine's first win over UMass since 1980 and the Black Bears' second-consecutive season beating an A-10 team after beating Fordham last season ... Mitchell scored 22 points in only 14 minutes of action on 7-of-9 shooting as the Black Bears defeated Norfolk State in the Memorial Gym ... McLemore added 12 points as Maine shot 54 percent from the field including 45.5 percent from long range ... The win was Maine's third-consecutive in "The Pit" ... Maine hosts Colgate on Sunday at 2 p.m.
UMBC (0-9) junior guard Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows/Siena) led all scorers with 23 points and posted a double-double with 10 assists, but the visiting Towson Tigers scored 53 second-half points to post a come-from-behind 86-77 victory at the RAC Arena on Dec. 11 ... UMBC fell despite hitting 50 percent (29 of 58) from the floor... The Retrievers set season highs for field goals (29), 3-point field goals (8) and field goal percentage... The Retrievers were done in by being outrebounded, 42-25, and outscored, 18-3, in second-chance points ... Towson made six more free throws (26) than UMBC attempted (20)... UMBC faltered at the free throw line for the second time this season when leading (38-33) at halftime... The Retrievers missed 7 of 12 free throw attempts in the second half vs. Towson and had missed 14-of-25 in the second half (combined just 16-of-37, 43.2%) and overtime in the 71-69 loss at Coppin State on Nov. 23 ... Red-shirt freshman guard Jamar Wertz (Suffolk, Va./King's Fork) scored a season-high 11 points as UMBC's bench contributed 28 points vs. Towson ... Senior guard Bakari Smith (Silver Spring, Md./Blake/Baltimore City CC) got his second and third career starts in games this week and played a career-high 29 minutes vs. Towson... The double-double for De La Rosa was his second this season and third of his career... He now has 212 assists in 39 games (5.4 per game) as a Retriever ... The Retrievers return home to face American on Tue., Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. on MASN and then face Morgan State on Dec. 18 at 4 p.m.
New Hampshire (5-3) went 0-1 last week, suffering a 71-63 defeat at home against Army on Thursday ... the Wildcats dropped to 3-1 at home after losing for just the fifth time in the last 20 games at Lundholm ... The 5-3 start is still the program's best since the 1994-95 season ... the 2-2 road start is also the best since '94-'95 ... Sophomore Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) recorded 13 points and seven rebounds and has now scored in double figures in all eight games this season ... he has also netted double figures in nine straight and 11 of 12 dating back to last season ... Senior Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) recorded his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and also matched his career high with three assists ... After going 15-32 from 2005-06 through last season, the Wildcats are a perfect 4-0 this year in games decided by five points or less ... The 'Cats are the only team in America East with three players in the top 14 in scoring. Ferg Myrick (14.1 ppg) is ninth, while Tyrone Conley (12.3) and Dane DiLiegro (12.0) are 13th and 14th, respectively.
Stony Brook (4-5) split a pair of games, continuing to play well on the road while struggling to find wins at home ... The Seawolves topped Holy Cross, 54-53, in Worcester, Mass. on freshman guard Dave Coley's (Brooklyn, N.Y.) game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds remaining on the clock ... The bucket came after Stony Brook had trailed for the entire second half... The team then suffered a 75-66 loss to Sacred Heart at home despite six three-pointers made by Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) ... The Seawolves are now 3-2 on the road but just 1-3 at home...Dougher leads America East and ranks in the top 10 in the country in three-pointers made at 3.7 per game...he is second all-time at Stony Brook in three-pointers made and is just 28 away from the record ... Al Rapier (Chicago, Ill.) made eight of his 12 shots last week and currently leads the team and America East in field goal percentage at .638...Stony Brook is at the top of the league in field goal percentage defense at 38.8 percent ... The Seawolves have held opponents under 40 percent shooting in five of nine games this season ... Stony Brook plays at Notre Dame Sunday.
Vermont (7-2) went 1-1 last week and improves to 7-2 for the first time since the 1963-64 season ... The Cats dropped a neutral site game against #18 BYU in Glens Falls, N.Y. on Wednesday, 86-58 ... Sophomore Brendan Bald (Millersville, Md./Severna Park) led the Cats by matching a career-high with 14 points ... Vermont shot a season-low 35 percent from the floor, as the loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Catamounts ... UVM bounced back on Sunday by defeating Marist 75-67 ... Freshman Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y./Iona Prep) had a monster game with 23 points, 16 rebounds, five steals and three assists, as the points and rebounds both set new career-highs ... Five Catamounts reached double figures in the game for the first time since they topped UMBC, 77-65, on February 17, 2009 ... After struggling from the line in the first half (6-for-14), Vermont went 22-for-24 in the second half ... Vermont is 5-0 at home this year and has won 29 of its last 34 overall at Patrick Gym … UVM is 3-0 against teams from the MAAC this season ... Voelkel's 16 rebounds were the most for a Catamount since Marqus Blakely pulled down 18 in the America East Championship Game vs. Boston U last season ... Bald added 12 in the game, marking the third straight contest that he has reached double figures ... Vermont is now off until December 20 when it travels to face Fairfield starting at 7:30 p.m.