Maine Sweeps Last Men's Basketball Weekly Awards of 2011

Maine Sweeps Last Men's Basketball Weekly Awards of 2011

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Riding a three-game win streak, Maine has swept the America East men's basketball weekly awards for the week ending Dec. 25. The Black Bears' Alasdair Fraser and Justin Edwards earned Player and Rookie of Week honors, respectively, by leading their team to three wins in a five-day stretch.

Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland) picked up his first career Player of the Week award after averaging 16 points, eight rebounds and 1.3 blocks in that span. A sophomore forward, Fraser started his week off by collecting 12 points and five rebounds in a 77-60 win over Utah Valley U. on Monday. He then had one of his best games of the season, registering his third double-double of the campaign (19 points, 11 rebounds) in a 64-60 win over Eastern Illinois Wednesday. The 6-foot-7 big man finished his week with 16 points and eight rebounds in a 71-58 victory over Brown on Friday.

Fraser is one of four players to rank in the conference's top 10 in both scoring and rebounding. He's ninth in scoring (13.5 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (7.0 rpg). He also ranks second in blocks (1.5 bpg) and fourth in shooting percentage (.532).

Edwards (Whitby, Ontario) earned his fourth Rookie of the Week honor already this season by averaging 16 points, eight rebounds and 4.7 assists in leading Maine to three wins last week.
The freshman guard contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a win over Utah Valley U. on Monday, then had 14 points, nine boards and four helpers in Wednesday's win over Eastern Illinois. Edwards capped the week off by scoring 16 points, grabbing eight rebounds and adding five assists against Brown Friday.

The top scoring freshman in America East, Edwards  ranks fourth among league leaders averaging 17.3 points per game. He's also seventh in rebounding (6.5 rpg), leads the conference in steals, (2.2 spg) and is 10th in assists (2.8 apg). He previously earned three straight Rookie of the Week honors on Nov. 21, 28 and Dec. 5.

Conference Notes
The Honor Roll

Several other America East players had top performances last week:
• Albany's Gerardo Suero averaged 23 points in two wins last week. He scored 25 points in a win at St. Francis, N.Y. Monday and had 21 in Friday's victory over Dartmouth.
• A pair of Hartford freshmen had standout performances last week. Nate Sikma scored a career-high 23 points and added eight rebounds in a loss at Marist Wednesday. Jamie Schneck had the first double-double by a Hawk this season (16 points, 13 rebounds).
• UNH's Ferg Myrick just missed a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a loss at Providence Tuesday.
• Vermont's Luke Apfeld scored a career-high 24 points on perfect 11-of-11 of the floor in Friday's win at Towson. He also had 14 points in a win at Fairleigh Dickinson Wednesday and averaged 19 points for the week.

Albany, Maine, Vermont On a Roll
Albany, Maine and Vermont all started win streaks last week and combined to go 7-0 as a group. The Black Bears won three games in a five-day stretch to improve to 6-4 on the year, posting wins over Utah Valley U., Eastern Illinois and Brown. The Great Danes beat St. Francis, N.Y. and Dartmouth and have won five of their last seven games. The Catamounts snapped a five-game win streak by posting consecutive wins. Vermont downed Fairleigh Dickinson and Towson on the road.

Maine's Woodward Extended

Maine's three-game win streak was not the only good news for Ted Woodward last week. The eighth-year Black Bear head coach received a contract extension that will keep him in Orono through the 2014-15 season. Woodward has led Maine to consecutive top-3 finishes in America East for only the second time in the past 20 years.  He has a 98-125 all-time record at Maine and has led the Black Bears to a 40-30 record since the start of the 2009-10 season, including a 6-4 mark record so far this year. Woodward has also led his program to wins over BCS-Conference schools Boston College and Penn State.
 
Offensive Firepower

America East boasts three of nation's top offensive threats. In fact, the league is the only Division I conference to have three players ranked among the nation's top 20 scorers. Albany's Gerardo Suero, who has scored 20-plus points eight times, leads the league and ranks sixth nationally averaging 21.5 points per game. Boston University's Darryl Partin, who also has eight 20-plus point games, ranks 12th in the country scoring 20.8 points per game while Maine's Gerald McLemore is 19th averaging 20.2 points per game.

Newcomers Continue to Shine
Several newcomers continue to impress as the 2011-12 season approaches the new year. Six of the conference's top 20 scorers, including five freshmen, are newcomers. Albany's Gerardo Suero leads the league and is tied for sixth nationally (21.5 ppg). Four-time America East Rookie of the Week Justin Edwards ranks fourth among America East leaders averaging 17.3 points per game. He's also seventh in rebounding (6.5 rpg), leads the conference in steals, (2.2 spg) and is 10th in assists (2.8 apg). Binghamton's Ben Dickinson is one of just four players to rank in the conference's top 10 in both scoring (7th - 14.1 ppg) and rebounding (8th - 6.3 rpg). Vermont's Four McGlynn (11.0 ppg), and Hartford's Wes Cole (10.4 ppg) and Nate Sikma (10.1 ppg) rank 17th, 19th and 20th, respectively.

Conference Play Around the Corner

League play commences just two weeks from today. The 16-game round-robin schedule kicks off on Jan. 2 with four conference contests. Finishing among the league's top two is crucial for teams with championship aspirations. Only twice in America East's 32 year history has a team finished outside the top two and gone on to win the league title. Delaware captured the crown as the America East Championship's No. 3 seed in 1999 while Holy Cross finished third in the league's inaugural year (1979-80) and went on to win the championship.

Beating the Big Boys
Boston University's win over ACC member Boston College on Dec. 3 was America East's eighth over a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conference school since 2008. Maine beat Penn State out of the Big Ten last season and also knocked off BC in 2010. Boston U. downed Indiana in 2009 and also knocked off Oregon St. of the Pac 12 in the College Basketball Invitational that season. Vermont beat both Colorado, which was then in the Big XII, and Rutgers of the Big East during the 2008-09 campaign while UMBC beat Nebraska  (Big XII) that season.

AE WINS OVER THE "BIG SIX" SINCE 2008
ACC         - Maine 52, at Boston College 51 (1/2/10)
               - Boston U. 75, at Boston College 61 (12/3/11)
BIG EAST  - Binghamton 66, at Rutgers 56  (12/6/08)
                 Vermont 77, at Rutgers 71 (11/22/09)
BIG XII     - UMBC 66, at Nebraska 64  (12/23/08)
                  Vermont 84, Colorado 59 (12/30/08)
BIG TEN    - Boston U. 71, Indiana 67 (11/19/09)
                  Maine 74, at Penn State 64 (12/21/10)
PAC-12     - Boston U. 92, at Oregon State (3/17/10)

America East, ESPN Do Deal
The America East Conference and ESPN announced a new five-year broadcast deal that will significantly increase the league’s number of national appearances on the ESPN family of networks on Nov. 28. The agreement will run through the 2015-16 season. The 2011-12 package will include a minimum of 48 national appearances on ESPN platforms, the most in league history. The deal also includes flexibility that could increase
that total in future years. As part of the agreement, the conference’s men’s basketball championship game will air on ESPN2, the 25th straight year the America East title game will air on ESPN or ESPN2. The women’s championship game will be distributed to regional sports networks via ESPN Regional Television and also be broadcast on ESPN3, ESPN’s multi-screen broadcast channel available through an affiliated internet or video provider online via WatchESPN.com. For the fifth straight year, ESPNU will broadcast a men’s regular-season conference game when Stony Brook hosts Boston U. on Jan. 27 in a rematch of last year’s America East Championship game. Additionally 11 regular-season basketball games, four postseason contests and the men’s lacrosse championship game will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN3, which also includes availability on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and on ESPN on Xbox LIVE.

CBS Sports Network to air Five Games

The America East Conference and CBS Sports Network announced today a national television package including both men’s and women’s basketball games, the first such deal in league history. It will be the first time that multiple conference regular-season games will be televised nationally in one season. CBS Sports Network will broadcast five league contests featuring eight America East schools starting in January. America East previously partnered with the Network to televise two men’s lacrosse games in 2010, including the conference championship game. The package kicks off with a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day men’s matchup between defending league champion Boston University and University at Albany on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. The two teams were picked first and fourth, respectively, in the conference’s preseason poll. Old rivals University of New Hampshire and University of Vermont will meet for the 132nd time in men’s action on Jan. 29 at 12 p.m. The Catamounts will then face Stony Brook University in a get together of the league’s last two men’s regular-season champions on February 12. The preseason favorite on the women’s side, UMBC, and 2011 league champion, Hartford, will square off on Feb. 19 at Chase Arena in the first-ever nationally televised conference women’s game. The final game of the package will feature University of Maine at Stony Brook in men’s action on the final day of the regular season, February 26.

Follow America East On the Go
America East unveiled its mobile app for iphone and andriod devices last week. Now, fans can access America East news, stats, scores, standings and more at any time! Download the AE on the Go iPhone app and get all the latest in America East sports in a simple, interactive interface on your iPhone or Android device. Simply search America East Conference on the itunes store or Android Market and download the app. For just $4.99 upgrade to the premium app and get access to on-demand video including highlights and features on athletes from around the league.

All Nine in BracketBusters

For the first time in league history, all nine teams will participate in Sears BracketBusters, ESPN’s three-day men’s college basketball event pitting potential NCAA Championship hopefuls against each other. The event, which will feature 13 televised contests on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN3, will take place Feb. 17-19 with the matchups being announced Jan. 30. Albany, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont will serve as home teams for the event, while Binghamton, Boston University, Hartford, UMBC and Stony Brook  will be on the road. America East teams have appeared on national television as part of the event in five of the last seven years, including Vermont last year.
 
Back to Hartford
For the third straight season, University of Hartford will be the host of the America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. The tournament, which will be combined for the third straight season, will be held on March 1-4, 2012 at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion on University of Hartford’s campus. The first, quarterfinal and semifinal rounds for both the men and women will be held at the combined tournament, while the title games will again both be held the following weekend at the site of the highest seeds remaining.

Team Notes

Albany Great Danes (7-5)

Albany won both of its games last week to move over the .500 mark ... Mike Black and Gerardo Suero, each had 20-point games and led Albany to a victory over Dartmouth, 82-74, on Friday afternoon at the SEFCU Arena. Suero has now scored 20 or more points in eight of the teams first 12 games and has hit double-digits in all 12 games ... Four UAlbany players finished in double-digits, while Suero and Mike Black netted 23 and 20 points, respectively. There were eight different Great Danes that recorded three rebounds or more in the game ... Albany grabbed the early lead, 21-13, with 12:10 remaining in the first half. Four different Great Danes hit from beyond the arc with Jayson Guerrier coming off the bench and hitting a perfect 2-of-2 from three-point land ... Suero would find teammate Luke Devlin for the layup and the and-one to put the Great Danes up with their largest lead of the half at 17 points, 35-18, with 6:13 left in the half ... Mike Black would end the half with two free throws to give UAlbany a commanding lead, 46-31 ... The Great Danes defense shut down the Big Green's offense for the next two minutes not allowing a field goal and eventually preserving the lead to win the game by a score of 82-74 ... Albany will finish out its non-conference schedule in the state of Maryland with the University of Maryland on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 8 pm then to Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, Dec. 31 at 3:30.

Binghamton Bearcats (0-10)

Binghamton dropped its lone game of the week, 68-44, to CAA member Drexel. The Dragons shot an efficient 55 percent, built a 14-point halftime lead and shot 63 percent in the second half to keep the game out of reach for the Bearcats ... Binghamton trailed 22-18 with 5:32 remaining in the first half before Drexel ended the frame with a 14-4 run to take a 36-22 cushion into intermission. A 20-6 run to start the second half took the steam out of the Bearcats, who managed just six field goals over the final 20 minutes and shot 36 percent for the game ... Drexel outscored Binghamton 40-16 in the paint and turned 14 Bearcat turnovers into 15 points ... Freshman forward Ben Dickinson (Alexandria, Va./Gonzaga) led the Bearcats with 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes. He netted 11 of those points in the second half, thanks primarily to 7-of-9 accuracy from the free throw line ... Classmate Omar Richards (San Diego, Calif./Horizon) chipped in seven points and three boards in 21 minutes ... Sophomore guard Robert Mansell (Philadelphia, Pa./Cheltenham) added six points ... Drexel was Binghamton's fourth straight opponent that was coming off a 21-win (or more) season in 2010-11 ... The Bearcats face a pair of MAAC opponents to end the calendar year ... On Wednesday, Bingahmton will be in Buffalo to face Canisius ... Two nights later, the Bearcats will welcome Manhattan to the Events Center in the team's final game before America East play begins.

Boston University Terriers (4-8)
Boston University suffered its fourth straight loss last Thursday at home against defending Patriot League champion Bucknell, 75-61 ... The Bison shot 64.3 percent in the first half to grab a 46-29 lead at the half and never saw its lead cut below 14 in the second ... The Terriers lost despite shooting 50 percent from the field for the first time since the 2006-07 season ... Starting for an injured D.J. Irving (Chester, Pa./Archbishop Carroll), senior Matt Griffin (Narberth, Pa./Rider) had seven points, a game-high five assists and a team-high four rebounds ... Senior Darryl Partin (Seattle, Wash./La Salle) led Boston U. with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting ... The Terriers will have two games on the road before the end of the year ... They will make their third trip of the month to Philadelphia to face La Salle on Thursday, Dec. 29 and will then go to Quinnipiac on Sat., Dec. 31, at 12 p.m. ... NESN and SNY will broadcast the meeting with the Bobcats ... Quinnipiac will mark the ninth opponent to be coming off a 2011 postseason bid.

Hartford Hawks (0-11)
Hartford dropped a nailbiter in its lone game of the week as it was bested in double overtime, 89-86, at Marist at McCann Arena on Wednesday evening ... Nate Sikma tied a game-best 23 points, a new career-high for the rookie, while senior Andres Torres added 17 ...Freshman Jamie Schneck pulled down 13 rebounds, a career-best, and contributed 16 points, also a career-high, for his first career double-double. Classmate Wes Cole added 14 points, including four three-pointers, three of which came down the stretch to keep the Hawks within striking reach ... Sikma, Schneck and Cole are three of several freshmen contributing for Hartford. Five of the team's top seven scorers are first-year players and freshmen are accounting for 66 percent of the team's scoring ... The Hawks will regroup in Philadelphia after the holidays to prepare for their next contest, a New Year’s Eve matinee at La Salle at 2 p.m.

Maine Black Bears (6-4)
Maine played three games in five days and won all three contest ... the Black Bears defeated Utah Valley 77-60 on Monday, Eastern Illinois 64-60 on Wednesday and Brown 71-58 on Friday ... Freshman Justin Edwards (Whitby, Ontario) led Maine with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists against Utah Valley while Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Worcester Academy) added 19 and Alasdair Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland/Falkirk Clark Eriksson Fury) added 12 points and five rebounds ... Mike Allison (Lynden, Ontario/National Elite Development Academy) scored 11 points and had seven rebounds and six blocks in his first game this season ... Fraser followed that up with 19 points and 11 rebounds against Eastern Illinois while McLemore scored 21 and grabbed six rebounds ... Edwards added 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists ... Edwards had the go-ahead layup to break a tie and McLemore hit two crucial free throws to seal the win ... Edwards scored 17 points, grabbed eight rebounds and gave out five assists at Brown ... Fraser scored 17 and had eight rebounds...Allison scored nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds ... Edwards has scored at least 14 points in nine out of 10 games this season while grabbing at least five rebounds in eight out of 10 ... McLemore is up to 1,381 career points, which ranks him eighth on the all-time scoring list at Maine ... Maine returns to action on Dec. 29 at Florida Gulf Coast.

UMBC Retrievers (1-10)

UMBC shaved a 23-point deficit to 10 points early in the second half, but a torrid shooting display by No. 17 Indiana (12-0) propelled the Hoosiers to an 89-47 victory before 12,665 at Assembly Hall on Dec. 23 ... Three Retrievers- junior Ryan Cook (Laurel, Md./Pallotti) and sophomores Chase Plummer (Plainfield, N.J./St. Patrick) and Quentin Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mount St. Joseph) scored 10 points apiece to lead UMBC ... Plummer added a team-high seven rebounds, while Jones had four assists and three steals against relentless Indiana pressure ... UMBC finished the first half on 9-0 run and trailed, 37-23 at the break ... The Retrievers came out with passion early in the second half and shaved the deficit to 40-30 on a Plummer lay-in just 1:57 into the frame ... But the Hoosiers hit their next 11 shots from the floor, including all seven from behind the arc in a mammoth 33-5 run which gave them a prohibitive 73-35 advantage with 9:52 remaining ... Plummer has scored in double figures in 10 of 11 games this season, matching his total in double digits from this freshman season ... Freshman post Nate Basalyga (Scranton, Pa./The Hill School) hit all three of his attempts from the floor and finished with a season-high six points ... UMBC has posted double digits in offensive rebounds in all 11 games to date ... Freshman Chandler Thomas (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) had over 40 ticket requests for the UMBC-IU game... He and his family hosted a team/staff dinner at his home the night before the game ... The Retrievers close out 2011 with a contest at Niagara University on Wed., Dec. 28 ... UMBC got its first win of the 2010-11 campaign over Niagara, 68-67, in the first meeting between the schools.

New Hampshire Wildcats (4-5)

New Hampshire fell to Providence College, 67-52, on Tuesday evening at the Dunkin Donuts Center ... Sophomore Patrick Konan (Gainesville, Fla./The Rock School) just missed notching his second career double-double with a season-best 17 points and nine boards ... He was tabbed the America East Player of the Game for just the second time this season as he rounded out the evening with two assists in 32 minutes ... He shot 7-of-17 from the floor and 3-of-8 from deep ... Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy) added 13 points and one rebound ... Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) corralled nine boards, and tallied three points and one block ... the Wildcats are back in action on Thursday, Dec. 29 (7 p.m.) when they return home to battle Sacred Heart at Lundholm Gymnasium.

Stony Brook Seawolves (3-6)
Stony Brook was off for the holidays last week and returns to action Wednesday at the start of a three-game homestand ... the Seawolves will host Cornell Wednesday and Rider Friday ... the Seawolves are 1-0 against the Ivy League this season and a win over Cornell would bring their all-time record against the Ivies to 15-15...Stony Brook has not faced Rider since the 2000-01 season ... senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) has been named one of 65 candidates for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard ... Dougher is a three-time candidate for the award ... he is averaging 12.9 PPG this season and has scored in double figures in six straight games ... he also just crossed the 1,300-point mark for his career...he is 288 points away from becoming Stony Brook's all-time Div. I leading scorer...sophomore Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is averaging 13.7 points over his last three games and has eclipsed his career high in scoring in two of those games ... junior Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) sports a 2.54 assist/turnover ratio, which is in the top 50 in the nation ... he also moved into sixth place all-time at SBU in career rebounds (646) ... senior Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) is also poised to move into the top 10 in career rebounds ... he has 574, just 18 away from 10th place, held by Mike Popoko (2003-07) ... Stony Brook has won seven of its last nine home games, including all three this season.

Vermont Catamounts (6-7)
Vermont snapped a five-game losing skid by posting a pair of raod wins last week ... The Catamounts beat Fairleigh Dickinson, 71-53, on Wednesday and Towson, 65-49, on Friday ... Sophomore Luke Apfeld went 11-for-11 from the floor for a career-high 24 points at Towson ... The Catamounts led by as many as 23 in the game, as they pick up their second straight victory and improve to 6-7 on the year ... Apfeld's previous career-high for points was 19 against Marist earlier this season, while his 11-for-11 shooting marked the best single-game performance without missing a shot in school history. The 11 field goals were also the first time a Catamount had double digit makes since Evan Fjeld '11 made 10 in a win over NJIT on November 27, 2010 ... Friday marked the second win over a CAA team this season for UVM, as it also defeated Old Dominion ... Junior Brendan Bald added 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while sophomore Brian Voelkel led the Catamounts with eight rebounds and a new career-best 11 assists. Vermont shot 50.9 percent from the floor for the game and gave up a season-low 49 points to the Tigers (0-12) ... Carissimo added eight points, while junior Ben Crenca pulled down six rebounds as Vermont controlled the boards 32-30. Deon Jones led Towson with 11 points and Marcus Damas added 10, as the Tigers shot only 37.8 percent from the floor for the game ... Vermont returns to action on Friday when it returns home to host Northeastern at a special start time of 4:30 p.m.