CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- University at Albany's Mike Black (Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick) and University of Maine's Alasdair Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland/Falkirk Clark) are this week's America East men's basketball award winners after they each led their teams to blowout victories over the weekend. Black earned Player of the Week recognition, while Fraser took home Rookie of the Week honors. The awards for the week ending Dec. 19 were announced Monday afternoon.
Black led Albany to its fifth win in six games to become the third different Great Dane to earn America East Player of the Week honors this season. It is the fourth straight week an Albany player has won the award.
Black scored 18 points and added five assists, four rebounds and three streals in a 77-57 win over Mount St. Mary's Saturday. The sophomore guard, who shot 7-of-11 from the field, scored 12 of his 18 points before halftime and helped his team grab a 43-28 halftime edge.
An America East All-Rookie choice last year, Black is averaging 13.8 points per game and has scored in double figures in seven of eight games since returning from an injury that caused him to miss four games. Albany went just 1-4 without him.
Fraser earned his first career Rookie of the Week award by leading Maine to its third straight win Sunday. He contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and a pair of blocks in 22 minutes off tbe bench. The freshman forward shot of 5-of-6 from the floor and had four offensive rebounds that led to six second-chance points.
A native of Falkirk, Scotland, Fraser has played in all 10 of Maine's contests and is averaing 7.0 points and 3.6 rebounds in just 20 minutes of action. He ranks sixth among league leaders averaing 1.3 blocks per game and is shooting 64.4 percent from the field.
Conference Notebook
Three is No Crowd
Black joins teammates Tim Ambrose and Logan Aronhalt as just the seventh trio of teammates to earn Player of the Week honors in the same season since the 1998-99 campaign. Five of the six teams, whose players accomplished the feat went on to win America East titles, including the 2005-06 and 2006-07 Albany teams.
The Honor Roll
Several other America East players had top performances last week:
• Albany's Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) and Logan Aronhalt (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) each scored 19 points in their team's win over Mount Saint Mary's Saturday.
• Mahamoud Jabbi (Serrekunda, Gambia/Alfred E. Smith/SUNY Oswego) scored 13 points and hit the game-winning shot against Cornell Saturday.
• Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Worcester Academy) was one of five Black Bears in double-figures in Maine's win over Colgate Sunday and had a team-high 15 points.
• UMBC's Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows/Siena) posted his third double-double of the season in a loss at Morgan State Saturday, scoring 20 points and adding an America East season-high 11 assists. Travis King (New Haven, Conn./New Hyde Leadership/George Washington) also had a game-high 20 points in a loss to American Tuesday
• New Hampshire's Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) tallied 15 points against Rhode Island Saturday.
• Stony Brook's Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) scored a season-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting at #24/23 Notre Dame Sunday.
Binghamton Wins Another Thriller
Binghamton has won back-to-back games after losing six straight and both contests were won in the closing seconds. Senior Mahamoud Jabbi hit an 18-foot jumper with 14 seconds left to give the Bearcats a 69-68 lead against Cornell, a Sweet 16-squad last season, Saturday and held off the Big Red on their next possession for the win. The Bearcats snapped a six-game losing streak in similar fashion just a week earlier. 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.
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 starting 0-3 and 1-5, Albany has won six of its last nine to get to .500 at 6-6. The Great Danes, winners of five of their last six, posted a dominating 77-57 victory over Mount St. Mary's Saturday at SEFCU Arena.
Maine Does it With Defense
Maine has won three straight after starting 2-5. The Black Bears, who went 19-11 a year ago and held opponents to 62.1 points per game, struggled defensively in the early part of the season, allowing opponents to score 72.5 points per game over their first seven contest. Maine has fixed the problem during its current win streak, holding opponents to just 55.6 points per game in that span.
Recognition for Vermont
Vermont was rated 52nd out of 345 teams in the second official Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report issued by RPIRatings.com. The Catamounts. whose 7-2 start is their best since the 1963-64 campaign, were also ranked 16th in the Mid Major Top 25 issued on Dec. 13.
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.
Dishing De La Rosa
UMBC's Chris De La Rosa is picking up where he left off last season. De La Rosa, who led America East with 5.1 assists per game last season, is currently eighth nationally in that category (6.8 apg). He is also contribuing 13.5 points per game.
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.
Rising 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.
Team-By-Team Notes
Albany (6-6) has won five of its last six contests following a 77-57 victory over Mount Saint Mary’s on Dec. 18 … the Great Danes reached the .500 mark for the first time since Nov. 22, 2009 … Albany has posted consecutive home wins for the first time since Feb. 22 and March 7, 2009 … the Great Danes, who shot 60.7 percent in the opening half, finished at 50% or better from the field for the fourth time this season … Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y. / Our Savior New American) extended his double-figure scoring streak to 12 straight with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists vs. Mount St. Mary’s … Ambrose, who had 1,258 career points, needs 17 to move up four spots on the all-time scoring list into the No. 12 position … Logan Aronhalt (Zanesville, Ohio / Zanesville) also had 19 points in his last start … Aronhalt, who like Ambrose is among America East’s top scorers, has reached twin figures in 10 of 12 games this season … Mike Black (Chicago, Ill. / Oak Park Fenwick) had a complete game with 18 points and tying season-highs in assists (5), rebounds (4) and steals (3) … the sophomore guard has scored in double digits in seven of eight contests since returning from an ankle injury suffered in the season opener … Blake Metcalf (Camby, Ind. / Plainfield) added eight points and six rebounds vs. Mount St. Mary’s … Metcalf is averaging 7.2 points and 5.3 rebounds off the bench during his team’s current successful six-game span … John Puk (Waterloo, Iowa / Waterloo West) leads the team in blocks with 18 … Puk’s four uncles all played at Division I FBS football institutions, including two at Minnesota (David, Steve) and one at Stanford (Kevin) … uncle J.J. Puk captained Iowa to a 1987 Holiday Bowl victory.
Binghamton (3-6) won its only game of the week - a nail-biting 69-68 home victory over Cornell. It was the second straight win for the Bearcats after six straight defeats. It also was the team's third consecutive game decided in the closing seconds of regulation or overtime ... Senior forward Mahamoud Jabbi (Serrekunda, Gambia/Alfred E. Smith/SUNY Oswego) drained an 18-foot jumper from the right corner with 14 seconds left for the winning margin. After Jabbi's jumper, Binghamton withstood three Big Red misses in the paint and a few more tips off the rim in a frantic closing six seconds ... The Big Red crafted a 13-point halftime lead after shooting 50 percent in the opening frame ... Cornell, which enjoyed a 42-27 margin on the glass, put up 18 more shots and had a 20-2 advantage in second-chance points ... Binghamton clamped down defensively in the second half, holding Cornell to eight field goals and just 29 percent shooting. Jabbi scored a team-high 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting ... Senior forward Moussa Camara (Paris, France/The Rock School/Stoneridge Prep) added 12 points and six rebounds ... The Bearcats also had three players hit for nine points, including senior forward Greer Wright (Boynton Beach, Fla./Grandview Prep/City College of San Francisco), who shook off an 0-for-4 shooting performance and produced seven assists, five steals and five rebounds ... Sophomore guard Jimmy Gray (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) and freshman guard Robert Mansell (Glenside, Pa./Cheltenham) added nine points as well. Mansell hit 2-of-3 from beyond the arc ... The game was slowed by 39 fouls - 22 in the second half ... The Bearcats host first-time opponent St. Peter's Tuesday night in the team's only game of the week.
Boston University (4-7) took the previous week off to focus on exams and only have one contest this week … Terriers return to Agganis Arena to host Saint Joseph's (3-7) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a NESN telecast … The Hawks mark the third of four Atlantic 10 opponents for Boston U. … Terriers earlier defeated George Washington (76-67) during the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off and fell to La Salle (81-84) at Agganis Arena … Associate head coach Brian Daly played for St. Joe's from 1988-92, while junior Matt Griffin's (Narberth, Pa./Rider) father, John, coached the Hawks from 1990-95 … Senior Junior John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)) leads the Terriers in scoring at 17.5 ppg and is 250 away from reaching 2,000 career points … Junior Jake O'Brien (Weymouth, Mass./BC High) just needs 17 points to become the 31st ever Terrier to reach 1,000.
Hartford (2-8) was off this week as the team prepared for exams and got back to work on the practice court ... The Hawks are in the midst of a 17-day layoff before getting back on the court on December 28 at California ... Hartford last played December 11 at Monmouth, a 78-74 double overtime loss.
Maine (5-5) won its third-straight game with a 78-57 win over Colgate ... Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif/Worcester Academy) led five Black Bears in double-figures as he scored a game-high 15 points to go with five rebounds while Terrance Mitchell (Milton, Fla./Faulkner State CC) scored 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from long range ... Murphy Burnatowski (Waterloo, Ontario/ National Elite Development Academy) scored 13 to go with four rebounds and three steals while freshman Alasdair Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland/Falkirk Clark Eriksson Fury) scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting to go with seven rebounds and two blocks ... The Black Bears have outrebounded their last four opponents, going 3-1 during the stretch ... McLemore is a pair of three-pointers away from 200 for his career.
UMBC (0-11) junior guard Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows/Siena) certainly did all he could this week to try to turn around UMBC's fortunes ... He scored 18 points and added five assists in 38 minutes of action vs. American and was a one-man show at Morgan, with a game-high 20 points and 11 assists ... He produced the field goal or assist on 18 of UMBC's 22 field goals and accounted for 11 of the Retrievers' 12 assists in the game ... The double-double was the third of the season for De La Rosa and the 11 assists tied his career-best ... He has 228 assists in his 41 games as a Retriever (5.56 per game)-- UMBC all-time assists leader Jay Greene averaged 5.60 per game in his 122-game tenure ... Grad. guard Travis King (New Haven, Conn./New Hyde Leadership/Geo. Washington) had an up-and-down week, scoring a game-high 20 points in the 66-53 loss to American, but takling just two shot attempts and drawing the collar in scoring in the 75-62 setback at Morgan State ... The Retrievers allowed a season-low 66 points vs. the Eagles, but hit on only five of 20 field goal attempts in the first half and could dig out of a 35-16 halftime hole... Grad. forward Laurence Jolicoeur (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross/Manhattan) scored in double figures for just the second time in the last nine games with a 13-points effort at Morgan State ... He has hit 16 of his last 17 free throw attempts ... UMBC did have the disadvantage of playing two very fresh teams-American had a nine-day layoff, while Morgan State had 14 days off prior to facing the Retrievers ... UMBC will battle its second ranked Big East opponent in its lone game this week, facing Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. on Wed., Dec. 22.
New Hampshire (5-4) went 0-1 last week, dropping a road game to Rhode Island, 64-52, Saturday afternoon at the Ryan Center ... Despite losing their second straight game for just the first time all year, the 'Cats are off to their best nine-game start since the 1994-95 season ... At 2-3, UNH has its best road record to start a season since that same '94-'95 campaign ... Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter), who netted 10 points in just 12 minutes at URI, has now scored in double figures in all nine games this season ... the sophomore has scored 10-plus points in 10 straight contests and 12 of 13 dating back to last season.
Stony Brook (4-6) suffered an 88-62 loss at BIG EAST member Notre Dame Sunday to drop to 4-6 on the season ... It was SBU's second loss to a BIG EAST team on the season after falling to Connecticut in the season opener ... The Seawolves committed a season-low eight turnovers and had 11 assists in the defeat ... Sophomore guard Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) scored a season-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting ... Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) had a career-high 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting ... He has scored 20 of his 51 season points against BIG EAST teams...Preye Preboye (Springfield, Mass.) had a career-high four assists to go with four points and four rebounds in 16 minutes of action ... Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.), who was in the top 10 in the nation in three-pointers made per game this season, has been nominated for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard ... Stony Brook is off on holiday break and will return to action Wednesday, Dec. 29 against Colgate.
Vermont (7-2) was off last week ... The Catamounts are off to one of the best starts in school history this season, matching the 1963-64 team with a 7-2 mark through their first nine games ... Vermont's only two losses this season have both come against nationally ranked teams, as it led No. 4 Connecticut in the second half before falling and also dropped a neutral site game against No. 16 BYU ... Vermont's next two games are both against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, marking the fourth and fifth squads from the league that the Cats will face this year ... UVM is already 3-0 against MAAC teams after defeating Siena, Loyola and Marist ... Over the last three games sophomore Brendan Bald (Millersville, Md./Severna Park) is averaging 13.3 points per game ... The Catamounts have dominated the boards during their five home games this season, outrebounding the competition by a combined margin of 214-140 ... Vermont is ranked 16th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll released on Monday ... With their tough road schedule to open the season, the Catamounts currently have the 37th-best RPI in the nation according to RealTimeRPI.com ... UVM has a pair of road games this week at Fairfield on Monday (7:30 p.m.) and at Iona on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.).