CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- For the fourth consecutive year, an America East men’s basketball regular-season contest has been selected to air on ESPNU. This year, the chosen game will feature two teams expected to vie for the conference title when University of Maine visits Stony Brook University on Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011. The contest, which will be the first nationally televised regular-season conference contest for either program, will be played in Stony Brook Arena at 11 a.m.
Stony Brook and Maine are both coming off highly successful seasons after combining to win 41 games and posting first and third-place finishes, respectively, in the league’s regular-season standings. The two teams will return a combined 16 letterwinners, eight starters and four All-America East performers from last year’s squads.
“We have seen great progress from these two programs the last few years and this opportunity represents just another step for them,” said America East Commissioner Patrick Nero. “We are excited and thankful that ESPN will give both teams a national audience to show how good they have become.”
Stony Brook, which will also appear on ESPN on Nov. 16 when it travels to Monmouth as part of the network’s College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, had its most successful season in school history last year. The Seawolves won a Division I program record 22 games, captured the America East regular-season title and made their first-ever postseason appearance when they hosted Illinois in a first-round NIT matchup. The junior duo of Bryan Dougher and Tommy Brenton, the league’s leading rebounder in 2009-10, will lead a talented and experienced group hoping to capture its first America East Championship.
“It is an exciting time for Stony Brook basketball. First we get a chance to open the season on ESPN in the College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon, and now we get to host an ESPN game at our arena,” said the Seawolves’ head coach Steve Pikiell, who was honored as 2010 America East Coach of the Year. “It is a tremendous honor for our program to represent America East and Stony Brook University on national television. The game will be great for Stony Brook, our conference and our fans. We can’t wait to play.”
Maine is coming off a 19-win campaign, its best since winning 20 games during the 2003-04 season. The Black Bears, whose third-place finish was their best since the 1999-2000 campaign, will rely on the all-conference duo of senior Sean McNally and junior Gerald McLemore. McLemore ranked seventh among America East leaders averaging 14.6 points per game last year and became just the third player in league history to sink over 100 three-pointers. Maine’s defense, which was the best in America East last season allowing 62.1 points a game, will lead the pursuit of the program’s first America East title.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for our program to be represented on ESPNU and be televised nationally,” said Maine head coach Ted Woodward, whose team just concluded a tour of Canada and went 5-0 and on the trip.
America East teams were featured seven times on the ESPN family of networks in 2009-10, including Vermont’s 78-58 win over Boston University on ESPNU Jan. 17. The Seawolves’ NIT contest with the Illini was also featured on the network, which is available in 72.5 million homes nationwide.
Stay up-to-date on America East basketball news all year long by visiting the conference’s official website, AmericaEast.com, checking out the league’s blog at AExtra.blogspot.com, following America East on Twitter or becoming a fan on Facebook.