CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- With 2011 around the corner and conference play set to begin, two players who helped deliver big wins have earned the final America East men's basketball weekly awards of 2010. Boston University's Darryl Partin (Seattle, Wash./Charis Prep (N.C.)/La Salle) is the Player of the Week and University of Vermont's Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y./Iona Prep) is the Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season. The awards for the week ending Dec. 26 were handed out Monday afternoon.
Partin led the Terriers to their first-ever win over Saint Joseph's by scoring a game-high 29 points in the 85-79 win Tuesday. The junior transfer from La Salle, who had already gone for 32 points earlier this season, shot 10-of-15 from the field overall and canned 6-of-8 three-point attempts. He keyed a 27-6 second half run in which Boston U. erased a 12-point deficit, scoring nine points in that stretch.
Partin, who also tied a season high with three steals in the game, is tied for 11th amongst league leaders averaging 12.5 points per game.
Voelkel earned his fourth Rookie of the Week honor after nearly tallying a triple-double in Vermont's 84-79 win at Iona Wednesday. A freshman forward, Voelkel had seven points, 13 rebounds and nine assists in the Catamounts' win over the Gaels. It's the sixth time this season he has grabbed double-digit boards. For the week, Voelkel averaged 4.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists after tallying totals of two, six and four in those respective categories in a loss at Fairfield Monday.
A native of Pleasantville, N.Y., Voelkel has made a major impact during his first season at Vermont. He leads America East in rebounding (10.0) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.4-to-1) and ranks second in assists (5.1 apg) and steals (1.8 spg).
Conference Notebook
The Honor Roll
Several other America East players had top performances last week:
• Albany's Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) scored in double figures for the 13th consecutive time, netting 19 points in a win at Colgate Wednesday
• Binghamton's Greer Wright (Boynton Beach, Fla./Boca Raton Prep/City College of San Francisco) scored a game-high 19 points in his team's loss to St. Peter's Tuesday.
• John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)) scored 19 points in Boston University's win over Saint Joseph's Tuesday and now leads the league averaging 17.6 points per game.
• Murphy Burnatowski (Waterloo, Ontario/National Elite Development Academy) led Maine to an upset win at Penn State by scoring a game-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
• UMBC's Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows/Siena) continued his strong play at Notre Dame by contributing 15 points, five rebounds and three assists
• New Hampshire's DeAndray Buckley (Romulus, Mich./Romulus) scored a career-high 12 points and added five rebounds, two steals and two assists in a loss at Central Conn. State Wednesday.
• Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I./St. Andrews) scored a career-high 23 points in Vermont's win at Iona Wednesday.
Maine Gets Big (Ten) Win
The Black Bears upset the Big Ten's Penn State, 74-64, in Happy Valley on Wednesday for their second win against a major conference opponent in the last calendar year. Murphy Burnatowski led way with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting for Maine, which has won four straight games. The Black Bears downed Boston College from the ACC, 52-50, on Jan. 2, 2010 and also beat UMass from the Atlantic 10 earlier this season.
Letter Game: AE and the BCS
Maine's win over Penn State was America's East eighth over a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conference school since 2008 and second against a Big Ten program in as many seasons. Boston U. downed Indiana last season also knocked off Oregon St. of the Pac 10 in the College Basketball Invitational in March.
Black Bears Do it With Defense
Maine has gotten back to its defensive ways during its four-game win streak. 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, starting 2-5 and allowing opponents to score 72.5 points per game in those seven games. Maine has fixed the problem during its current win streak, holding opponents to just 57.8 points per game in that span.
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 seven of its last 10 to move over the .500 mark for the first time since Feb. 22, 2009. The Great Danes, winners of six of their last seven, posted a 63-61 victory over Colgate Wednesday.
Cruising Cats Move Up RPI
Vermont moved up to 39th from 52nd in the latest official Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report issued by RPIRatings.com Monday. The Catamounts, whose 8-3 start is one of their best in school history, were also ranked 16th in the Mid Major Top 25 issued on Dec. 20.
League Play Starts Sunday
Six America East teams will open conference play this week. While the league slate is 16 games, the opener is more important than you'd think. Just twice in 31 seasons has a team lost its opener and gone onto to win the league title. On Sunday, Jan. 2, Boston U. travels to Maine at 1 p.m., while New Hampshire visits Albany at 4 p.m. and Stony Brook goes to UMBC at 5 p.m.
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 13th nationally in that category (6.5 apg). He is also contribuing 14.7 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 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 19th place all-time and currently has 1,769 career points. Holland, who passed former Northeastern star Jose Juan Barea, who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks and former Indiana Pacer Norman Richardson earlier this season, scored 19 points in Tuesday's win over Saint Joseph's to pass Colgate great Mike Ferrara. 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 Notes
Albany (7-6) is above the .500 mark for the first time since Feb. 22, 2009 following a 63-61 victory at Colgate on Dec. 22 … The Great Danes, who shot 50 percent or better from the field for the fifth time this season, have won six of their last seven games … UAlbany has been involved in four games decided by two points or less this season … Colgate had won 13 of the previous 15 meetings in a series that dates back to 1915-16 … The Great Danes were 4-9 at this point in the season one year ago … Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) scored in double figures for the 13th consecutive time with 19 points against Colgate … The 6-foot senior made two key free throws with seven seconds remaining to hold off the Raiders, who nearly rallied from a 16-point, second-half deficit … Ambrose climbed four places on the school’s all-time scoring list into the No. 12 position with 1,277 career points … Mike Black (Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick) had 10 points vs. Colgate and has reached twin figures in seven of his last eight games since returning from an ankle injury … Blake Metcalf (Camby, Ind./Plainfield) has been an important figure over the last seven games and is averaging 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds off the bench during that span … Metcalf had 10 points, one off his career-high, at Colgate … Billy Allen (Hamilton, Ohio/Hamilton) added five points in a season-best 26 minutes … UAlbany wraps up non-conference play with road games at Xavier (Dec. 28) and Wagner (Dec. 30) … Xavier and Michigan State are the lone Division I programs to advance to the Sweet 16 at the last three NCAA Tournaments … The Musketeers have won 29 straight at home, the second-longest streak in the nation ... UAlbany basketball team boarded a Yankee Trails bus at 10 pm on Sunday (due to east coast snowstorm and air flight cancellations) ... arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio at 9:45 am on Monday ... distance of trip is approximately 615 miles ... traveled Interstate 90 West through Buffalo, Cleveland and connected with Interstate 71 South in Ohio to Cincinnati.
Binghamton (3-7) lost its only game of the week - a five-point setback to St. Peter's at home. Binghamton dug itself an 18-point hole and couldn't fully recover ... Down 12 at intermission, Binghamton held the Peacocks to six field goals and 20 points in the second half but struggled on its own offensive end, shooting just 31 percent on 9-of-29, and saw its modest two-game win streak snapped ... Senior forward Greer Wright (Boynton Beach, Fla./Boca Raton Prep/City College of San Francisco) tallied a game-high 18 points (11 in first half) but hit just 6-of-20 from the floor ... Senior forward Moussa Camara (Paris, France/The Rock School/Stoneridge) netted 15 points (all in second half) in 24 minutes and senior forward Mahamoud Jabbi (Serrekunda, Gambia/Alfred E. Smith/SUNY Oswego) set a career-high with 14 rebounds ... Binghamton has a tough finish to its non-conference slate with road games at Marshall, Morehead State
and La Salle this week. Marshall and Morehead were postseason teams a year ago and the Atlantic 10 Explorers have six wins thus far this season.
Boston University (5-7) improved to 2-1 against the Atlantic 10 on the season with the earlier win coming against George Washington and the three-point loss coming against La Salle ... Junior Darryl Partin (Seattle, Wash./La Salle) tallied a game-high 29 points and three steals in the victory ... Senior John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)) recorded 19 points to become the league leader in scoring at 17.6 ppg ... He also had three assists and two steals ... He now ranks third all-time in program history with 172 steals and is 28 away from the record ... Junior John Holland (Weymouth, Mass./BC High) posted 11 points and is now just six away from becoming the 31st Terrier to record 1,000 points ... Junior Jeff Pelage (Pompano Beach, Fla./Pine Crest School) made his first start after missing the first 11 games due to injury ... He recorded seven assists in only 10 minutes of action ... The Terriers next have four games in seven days, starting with Quinnipiac on Wednesday at Case Gym ... Boston U. next plays at UMass on Friday before starting conference play at Maine on Sunday.
Hartford (2-8) will return to the hardwood on Tuesday at California after a 17-day layoff ... The Hawks will also visit St. Mary's on their West Coast swing on New Year's Eve ... The Hawks fell at Sacred Heart, 56-55, and at Monmouth, 78-74 in double overtime two weeks ago ... 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 ... 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.
Maine (6-5) defeated the Big Ten's Penn State Nittany Lions by the score of 74-64 ... Murphy Burnatowski (Waterloo, Ontario/National Elite Development Academy) scored a team-high 20 points on a game-high five three pointers while going 6-for-8 from the field ... Terrance Mitchell (Milton, Fla./Faulkner State Community College) added 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from long range while Troy Barnies (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) added 10 points and four rebounds...Maine won the rebounding battle 35-27 while shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and limiting Penn State to 38.6 percent ... It was Maine's first win over a Big Ten team since defeating Northwestern in 1998 ... The win gives Maine a victory over an Atlantic-10 team and a win from one of the top-6 conferences for the second-consecutive season, having beaten UMass earlier this year while defeating Fordham and Boston College last season ... Maine has now outrebounded its last five opponents ... Maine returns to action on Thursday against Columbia.
No. 20 Notre Dame’s superior size and efficiency wore down visiting UMBC (0-12) and the Irish defeated the Retrievers, 93-53, at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on Dec. 22... Junior guard Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows/Siena) scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the first half... Freshman Jamar Wertz (Suffolk, Va./King’s Fork) added 11 points off the bench... The 11 poitns tied a season high for Wertz... UMBC struggled mightily from behind the arc, misfiring on 15 of 19 attempts... Sophomore forward Adrian Satchell (Windsor, Conn./Windsor) corralled a season-best nine rebounds, but UMBC was outrebounded, 53-32... De La Rosa entered last week ranked ninth nationally in assists per game at 6.8 per contest... After hitting at least one 3-point field goal in his first 10 games, grad. guard Travis King (New Haven, Conn./New Hyde Leadership/George Washington) is 0-of-6 in his last two outings from behind the arc... UMBC faces first-time foe Niagara to conclude its non-conference schedule on Dec. 30; then the Retrievers open America East play vs. Stony Brook at the RAC Arena on Jan. 2 ... The Seawolves have taken a 9-8 lead in the series and are riding a four-game winning streak over UMBC.
New Hampshire (5-5) went 0-1 last week, falling at Central Connecticut State, 71-50 ... Freshman DeAndray Buckley (Romulus, Mich./Romulus) led the Wildcats with a career-best 12 points, while tallying five rebounds, two assists and two steals in a career-high 28 minutes ... In his previous contest, Buckley netted a career-high 11 points at Rhode Island ... Senior Tyrone Conley (Burlington, Vt./Burlington) added 11 points and five rebounds ... Junior Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece-Athena) matched his career high with nine rebounds and also blocked a career-best five shots ... The Wildcats are now 0-3 this season in games they have played in the state of Connecticut, while they are 5-2 in all other contests.
Stony Brook (4-6) is off on holiday break and will return to action Wednesday, Dec. 29 against Colgate. ... The Seawolves suffered an 88-62 loss at BIG EAST member Notre Dame Dec. 21 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.
Vermont (8-3) went 1-1 last week in a pair of road games against MAAC opponents ... The Cats opened the week by falling at Fairfield, 67-59 ... Sophomore Brendan Bald (Millersville, Md./Severna Park) tallied a career-high 16 points, while senior Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I./St. Andrews) added 14 ... Sophomore Ben Crenca (Exeter, R.I./Worcester Academy) made his first appearance of the year in the game after being out since February 5 of last season due to an ACL injury ... Vermont bounced back to earn an 84-79 win over Iona on Wednesday night behind a career-high 23 points from Accaoui and a new high of 17 points for Bald ... Senior Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C./Durham Academy) added his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds ... Freshman Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y./Iona Prep) added seven points, 13 rebounds and nine assists ... The Cats led by as many as 21 in the game, as they improve to 4-1 on the year against teams from the MAAC ... Bald has now reached double figures in five straight games, as he is averaging 14.6 over that stretch ... Vermont is now 6-0 this year when scoring 75 or more and has won 63 of its last 66 when topping 80 points ... The Cats return to action this week with a home game vs. Mount St. Mary's on Wednesday starting at 7 p.m.