CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A pair of players from two of the hottest teams in the league have garnered this week's America East men's basketball accolades. University at Albany's Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) earned Player of the Week honors while University of Vermont's Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y/Iona Prep) garnered Rookie of the Week recognition for the second time this year. The awards for the week ending Dec. 5 were announced Monday afternoon.
Ambrose scored 27 points and added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead Albany to its first win over crosstown-rival Siena since 2004 Saturday. The senior guard, who was a third-team all-conference selection in 2009, tallied 15 of those points in the second half to help force overtime and canned the first basket of the extra session. Ambrose made 9-of-18 shots from the floor and converted 8-of-10 attempts from the free throw line in Albany's 88-82 overtime victory over the Saints.
Ambrose has scored in double figures in all nine games this season and ranks fifth among leaders with 16.9 points per game. He has led Albany to its first three-game win streak since January of 2009.
Rookie of the Week
Voelkel earned his second Rookie of the Week honor in four weeks by contributing 4.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in a pair of Vermont wins last week. A freshman forward, Voelkel had five points, a career-best 13 rebounds and four assists in a 27-point win over Dartmouth Wednesday. He followed that performance with four points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and two blocks in a win over Yale Saturday.
Voelkel, who has started all seven games for the 6-1 Catamounts, currently leads America East in rebounding (10.7 rpg) and ranks second in assists (5.9 apg).
Conference Notebook
The Honor Roll
Several other America East players had top performances last week:
• Albany's Logan Aronhalt (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) scored 24 points in a win over crosstown-rival Siena Saturday. Mike Black (Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick) added 16 points, 12 of which came after halftime.
• Binghamton's Greer Wright (Boynton Beach, Fla./Boca Raton Prep/City College of San Francisco) tallied 18 of his 23 points in the second half of a loss to Canisius Tuesday.
• Boston University's John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)) averaged 15.0 points per game last week and had a team-high 20 in a loss at No. 10/11 Kentucky Tuesday.
• Hartford's Anthony Minor (Philadelphia, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) had a career night in Thursday's win over Brown, scoring a career-high 15 points and adding nine rebounds, four steals, four blocks and three assists.
• Maine's Raheem Singleton Raheem Singleton (Boston, Mass./Monroe Community College) scored a career-high 18 points and dished out three assists in a loss at Quinnipiac Monday.
• UMBC's Travis King (New Haven, Conn./New Hyde Leadership/George Washington) scored a team-high 14 points at UConn Friday and has scored in double figures in all seven games this year.
• New Hampshire's Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) averaged 18.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in two wins last week. Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) contributed 20 points and nine rebounds in a win at Colgate Saturday.
• Stony Brook's Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains) scored 26 points in a loss to Lehigh Wednesday.
• Vermont's Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.H./Durham Academy) continued his strong play, averaging 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in a pair of wins last week.
Cats and Dogs Streaking
Vermont, New Hampshire and Albany have combined to go 8-1 since Nov. 27 and currently sit atop the America East standings with respective record of 6-1, 5-2 and 3-4.
Vermont Shooting Lights Out
The Catamounts stretched their win streak to five games with two more wins last week. UVM's 6-1 start is its best since the 1956-57 season. As a team, the Catamounts are 19th nationally shooting 49.5 percent from the field. Individually, UVM is led by senior forward Evan Fjeld, who leads America East in scoring (20.9 ppg) and freshman forward Brian Voelkel, who leads the conference in rebounding (10.7 rpg). Senior guard Joey Accoaui is contributing 13.3 points per game off the bench, which ranks 12th among league leaders.
UNH Doing it with Defense
The Wildcats bounced back from a loss to #7/9 UConn Tuesday with a 65-60 win at Colgate Saturday. The win improved UNH's record to 5-2 for the first time since the 1994-95 campaign. UNH's defense is the reason for its early season success. The Wildcats rank 12th nationally, allowing just 55.7 points per game. In the wake of all-conference guard Alvin Abreu's season-ending injury, sophomore Ferg Myrick has emerged as the team's leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game. Seniors Tyrone Conley and Dane DiLiegro are each tied for 13th among the league's scoring leaders with 12.3 points per game, while DiLiegro is the the conference's second-leading rebounder (9.1 rpg).
Albany Solves Siena, Extends Streak
The Great Danes extended their win streak to three games and snapped a five-game losing skid against bitter crosstown-rival Siena with an 88-82 overtime victory Saturday. Senior Tim Ambrose scored 27 points and added seven rebounds to earn America East Player of the Week honors, while sophomore Logan Aronhalt, the league's second-leading scorer (20.0 ppg) added 24. Albany, which has won four of its last six games after an 0-3 start, has solved its offensive woes. The Great Danes are averaging 73.0 points per game over their last six contests after averaging just 52.0 points per contest over their first three.
Speaking of Siena
Coming into this season, Siena had a 38-game home court win streak. America East teams are 2-0 at the Times Union Center this season. Vermont snapped the Saints' streak on Nov. 13 and Albany stopped a five-game losing skid against its crosstown-rival on Saturday.
Milestone Win for Herrion
New Hampshire head coach Bill Herrion picked up his 300th career win Saturday when his Wildcats beat Colgate, 65-30. 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 67 wins in five-plus seasons at UNH.
Ranking Recogntion for Cats
Vermont was rated 40th out of 343 teams in the first official Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report issued by RPIRatings.com. The Catamounts were also ranked 21st in the Mid Major Top 25 issued on Nov. 29. Expect the Catamounts to climb a few spots in that poll this week.
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 sixth nationally in that category (7.0 apg). He is also contribuing 13.7 points and 5.0 rebounds 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 21st all-time and currently has 1,714 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, climbed all the way up to 23rd last week and trails Holland by just 25 points. The senior guard has 1,683 career points.
Team-By-Team Notes
Albany (4-5) and Siena met for the 50th time in a Capital Region rivalry that dates back to Jan. 5, 1940 … The Great Danes ended a five-game skid in the annual battle with an 88-82 overtime win before 10,753 fans at the downtown Times Union Center … Mike Black (Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick) canned a baseline jumper and made a three-point play after a steal to put his team ahead for good in the extra period … Black had 12 of his 16 points after halftime … The contest featured 18 lead changes, including seven in overtime … the two teams have played five overtime games, including three since the series was renewed in 2001 … UAlbany posted its first overtime win against Siena since Feb. 25, 1967 … The Saints won in OT in both 2005 and 2006 … Tim Ambrose (Brentwood, N.Y./Our Savior New American) accounted for 27 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals … The 6-foot senior moved past Brent Wilson into 16th place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,204 career points … Ambrose scored 20-plus in a game for the 17th time as a collegian … Logan Aronhalt (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) netted 24 points, the fourth time he has toppled the 20-point mark this season … Aronhalt and Ambrose are the 19th tandem to score 20-plus in the same contest at the Division I level … Blake Metcalf (Camby, Ind./Plainfield ) added a career-best 11 points (5-7 FGs) off the bench … UAlbany has won three in a row for the first time since Jan. 2009 … The Great Danes improved to 9-17 in overtime games as a Division I program and last won in OT on March 7, 2009 in the America East quarterfinal round … the UAlbany-Siena series is averaging 11,277 fans per game over the last 10 years.
Binghamton (1-5) saw its losing skid hit five with a 55-45 home loss to Canisius ... The Bearcats dug themselves a 16-point halftime deficit and could not recover, though Binghamton cut its margin to as little as seven in the final minutes ... Senior forward Greer Wright (Boynton Beach, Fla./Boca Raton Prep/City College of San Francisco) netted a game-high 23 points, 18 of those coming in the second half. He converted 10-of-12 free throws and also led the team with six rebounds ... No other Bearcat had more than six points... Binghamton shot just 30 percent for the game and hit just 3-of-18 from beyond the arc ... The game drew 4,302 fans to the Events Center - the highest attendance for a non-conference game in school history. The Bearcats have led the America East in attendance for seven consecutive seasons ... Binghamton hosts CAA member Hofstra Wednesday in the first of six televised games, five of which are at home. Time Warner Cable Sports will broadcast the game.
Boston University (4-5) suffered its first losing streak of the season last week, falling at No. 10 Kentucky (91-57) and at Bucknell (52-49) ... The Terriers only trailed 40-33 against the Wildcats at the half, but UK stormed out to an 18-3 run for the win ... Senior John Holland (Bronx, N.Y./St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.)) tallied 20 points in the program's first visit to Rupp Arena since a 90-49 loss during the 1994-95 season ... At Sojka Pavilion, Boston U. took a 29-19 lead with five minutes left in the first half, but the Bison rallied back to only trail 32-31 at the half ... Both squads shot below 24 percent in the second half ... Receiving three first-place votes in the Patriot League's preseason poll, Bucknell drained a 3-pointer at 1:32 to break a 47-all stalemate and held on for the win ... Junior Jake O'Brien (Weymouth, Mass./BC High) had a game-high 19 points, while freshman Dom Morris (Newark, Del./Friends Central (Pa.)) recorded a season-high 10 points ... Holland also finished with 10 points and now has 1,714 career points ... The Terriers have played seven games away from home, the most through nine contests since playing eight in 2000-01 ... They will play their first of six games at Agganis Arena against La Salle on Thursday (Dec. 9) at 7 p.m. and then drive over to Harvard on Saturday (Dec. 11) for a 2 p.m. tip-off ... The Explorers mark the second of four Atlantic-10 schools on the schedule.
Hartford (2-6) won one of its three games for the week, earning a convincing 58-46 victory over Brown on Thursday night ... The win was the Hawks' only home game in the month of December ... Hartford never trailed in the victory, and won by double digits, accomplishing both things for the first time since last season's home opener against Marist (W, 75-38, Nov. 18, 2009) ... senior Anthony Minor (Philadelphia, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) had a career game against the Bears, putting up personal bests in points (15), rebounds (9), blocks (4) and tying his career high for steals (4) ... Minor led the Hawks in all four categories against Brown ... the Hawks won for the first time in six tries against Brown ... Hartford opened the week with a battle at Yale, falling 81-76 ... the Hawks battled back from a 14-point second-half deficit to cut it to one with just over 35 seconds to play, but could not complete the comeback ... senior Joe Zeglinski (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) led the team with 21 points, all in the second half ... it was Zeglinski's 90th career double-digit game, leaving him one shy of tying the school record ... at Florida State on Sunday, the Hawks led for over 17 minutes of the first half, building a lead as big as nine points before the Seminoles came back to take a one-point halftime lead and eventually won, 60-38 ... The Hawks forced 26 turnovers, five shy of a school record ... Zeglinski was the leading scorer for the Hawks in that game as well, scoring nine points ... Hartford held preseason All-America candidate Chris Singleton to seven points on 2-of-6 shooting.
Maine (2-4) fell to last season's Northeast Conference regular-season champion Quinnipiac 75-67 and to Brown 62-54 ... At Quinnipiac, Raheem Singleton (Boston, Mass./Monroe Community College) scored a career-high 18 points and dished out three assists while freshman Alasdair Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland/Falkirk Clark Eriksson Fury) scored 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting while grabbing four rebounds and blocking four shots ... Fraser did all that while guarding reigning NEC Player of the Year Justin Rutty, and limiting him to 12 points ... Terrance Mitchell (Milton, Fla./Faulkner State Community College) scored 16 points on 3-of-6 shooting and made 9-of-10 shots from the charity stripe in his first game action on the season ... Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Worcester Academy) missed the game due to illness ... Against Brown, Maine was led again by Singleton who had 11 points, six rebounds and four assists while sophomore Murphy Burnatowski (Waterloo, Ontario/National Elite Development Academy) scored 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting ... Fraser snapped his streak of five-straight games to open his collegiate career with at least one block ... McLemore is now just 15 three-pointers away from 200 for his career and is 148 points shy of 1,000 while Sean McNally (Gardiner, Maine/Gardiner) is 217 away from 1,000 ... He notched is 600th career rebound against Quinnipiac and is currently 17th on the career rebound list at Maine ... The Black Bears continue play on Monday against Delaware St., before traveling to UMass on Wednesday ... They return home on Sunday against Norfolk St. for a game in the Memorial Gym.
Penn and UConn became the fourth and fifth teams to shoot over 50 percent from the floor against UMBC (0-7) in seven games... UMBC opponents have hit 194 of 388 field goal attempts (50 percent) on the season and are 55-of-140 (39.3 percent) from behind the arc... The Retrievers hit all 12 free throw attempts in their 71-59 loss at Penn on Nov. 30, the most a UMBC team has converted without misfiring in school history ... The Retrievers have hit 34 of their last 38 attempts from the free throw line (89.5 percent) over the last three games... Grad student guard Travis King (New Haven, Conn./New Hyde Leadership/George Washington) continues to excel for UMBC, posting double figures in pionts in all seven games to date ... Over the last six games, King has hit 33 of 52 shots (63.5%) from the floor and 16 of 27 (59.3%) from behind the arc ... After back-to-back 20 turnover games in setbacks at Duquense and Penn, UMBC cleaned it up and only committed 13 at UConn ... The Retrievers had not suffered back-to-back 20-turnover games since Dec. 12 and 16 of 2006 in losses at George Washington and Marquette ... Grad student post Justin Fry (New Bloomfield, Pa./West Perry) scored a season-high 16 points at Penn... For the week, he hit 11 of 19 shots from the floor and did not commit a turnover in 52 minutes of action... Junior guard Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y./All Hallows/Siena) surpassed the 250-assist plateau with a five-assist effort at U. Conn ... The Retrievers complete their five-game road swing at Rider on Dec. 8, then return home to face Towson on Dec. 11 ... Former Retriever standout guard and three-time America East All-Conference honoree Jay Greene is Director of Basketball Operations at Rider.
New Hampshire (5-2) split a pair of games last week, taking seventh-ranked UConn to the wire before suffering a 62-55 loss at Gampel Pavilion on Nov. 30, and outlasting Colgate in a 65-60 victory at Cotterell Court on Dec. 4 ...The Wildcats are 5-2 for the first time since 1994-95 and just the third time since the 1940-41 season ... They are also 2-2 on the road for the first time since 1994-95 ... Head coach Bill Herrion won his 300th career game at Colgate, becoming the 284th head coach, including the 72nd active, to reach the milestone ... The Wildcats closed out the month of November with a 4-2 record, their first ever four-win November and just their ninth winning November in the last 39 years ... The 'Cats are 4-1 this season when leading at the half ... After going 15-32 since the start of the 2005-06 season, the Wildcats are a perfect 4-0 this year in games decided by five points or less ... At UConn, the Wildcats, who never trailed in the first half, led at the 14:08 mark in the second half and trailed by just one with 8:24 to play in the contest ... the 62-point output was the smallest for the Huskies to that point in the season ... The 'Cats lost despite converting three more field goals, including five more 3-pointers, holding a 39-38 edge in the rebounding department, including 18-12 on the offensive glass, and turning the ball over just 13 times, while forcing 12 turnovers ... UConn sank 18 more free throws after being sent to the line 20 more times than UNH ...Sophomore Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) has now scored in double figures all seven games this year and eight straight and 10 of 11 dating back to last season ... Senior Dane DiLiegro (Lexington, Mass./Worcester Academy) grabbed 10 boards at UConn to move past Matt Acres, who recorded 680 rebounds from 1994-98, and into sixth place on UNH’s all-time list ... DiLiegro also went 12-for-12 at the line against Colgate, matching the school record for free throws made in a game without a miss.
Stony Brook (3-4) lost both of its games last week by a combined four points and has now lost three straight by a combined eight points ... Despite the losses, the Seawolves significantly improved their shooting ... Before last week, SBU was shooting under 34 percent, but the team shot 40 percent against Lehigh and a season-high 49 percent against Columbia...against Lehigh, junior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored a season-high 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting and 5-of-10 from three-point range...he followed up with 13 points at Columbia, including a three-pointer that pushed him into second all-time at Stony Brook in three-pointers made...he now has 187 for his career and is only 35 away from becoming the all-time leader...Dougher is averaging 3.7 three-pointers per game, tops in the league...junior Al Rapier (Chicago, Ill.) scored in double figures in both games last week and was 8-for-13 from the field ... he is shooting 62 percent for the season to lead America East...at Columbia, Rapier also produced a career-high five assists ... Freshman Anthony Mayo (Philadelphia, Pa.) made his first career start Saturday at Columbia and had nine points and three blocks...he finished with five blocks on the week and has at least one block in every game this season...his 13 blocks rank second in America East ... Stony Brook is at Holy Cross Tuesday before returning home to host Sacred Heart Saturday ...Tte Seawolves are looking to avoid their first four-game losing streak since the 2007-08 season.
Vermont (6-1) recorded a pair of wins last week at home over Dartmouth (80-53) and Yale (82-78) to match its best start since the 1956-57 season ... Senior Joey Accaoui (Lincoln, R.I./St. Andrews) netted a career-high 21 points against Dartmouth, while classmate Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C./Durham Academy) added 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks ... The Cats shot 52.5 percent from the floor for the game and led by double digits throughout the second half ... The Catamounts held a 36-8 scoring edge in the paint and turned the ball over a season-low 10 times in the game ... The 27-point margin of victory was the largest for the Cats since they knocked off NJIT, 88-49, last season ... Against Yale, four Cats reached double figures led by 18 points and 10 rebounds from Fjeld ... Accaoui added 17, while both Matt Glass (Underhill Center, Vt./NMH/UMass) and Brendan Bald (Millersville, Md./Severna Park) chipped in with 14 apiece ... Vermont shot a blistering 65.2 percent from the floor after halftime ... Freshman Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y./Iona Prep) pulled down 23 boards and handed out 12 assists in the two wins ... Four of Vermont's six wins this year have been decided by four points or less … UVM has now won 28 of its last 33 at home … This week the Cats travel to Glens Falls, N.Y. to face No. 21 BYU in a neutral site game on Wednesday (7 p.m.) and then return home to host Marist on Sunday (1 p.m.).