BOSTON -- The 2011 America East Men's Basketball champion will be crowned on Saturday when No. 2 Boston U. plays host to No. 5 Stony Brook at 12 noon in a game which can been seen on ESPN2. It marks the 24nd-straight year that the conference championship game will be televised nationally. The Terriers are seeking their first title since 2002 while the Seawolves are going for their first-ever conference crown. The winner will receive the league's automatic NCAA bid.
The Terriers, who are appearing in the title game for the second straight year, have won 10 straight games heading into Saturday's contest. Boston U. held their first two tournament opponents to 54.5 points and only 37 percent shooting. Senior John Holland scored a game-high 17 points in the 69-60 win over UNH in the quarterfinals on Saturday while junior Darryl Partin, a first-team all-conference selection, and freshman D.J. Irving, an America East All-Rookie selection, each added 11 points. In the win over Hartford in the semifinals Sunday, Boston U. scored 10 of the game’s final 14 points to pull away in a contest that featured seven ties and 13 lead changes. Holland, the America East Player of the Year who leads the league averaging 19.0 points per game,again led the way with 16 points and added seven rebounds.
The Seawolves, who are making their first-ever America East title game appearance and looking to be come the first team seeded lower than third to ever win the crown, have won four straight and six of their last eight entering the Saturday's game. Balanced scoring and one of the nation's top defenses led Stony Brook to wins over Albany and Vermont last weekend. The Seawolves, who rank 10th nationally, allowing just 60.6 points per game, held their opponents to average of 54 points in its first two tournament wins. On the offensive end, 11 Seawolves scored at least one point and four averaged at least 7.0 per game. Senior Chris Martin scored a season-high 18 points to lead SBU to a 67-61 win over Albany in the quarterfinals Saturday. Sophomore Leonard Hayes led the way on Sunday, scoring a game-high 20 points and hitting 6-of-7 three-point tries in a 69-47 win over top-seeded Vermont, which was held to its lowest point total of the season.
Beth Mowins (play-by-play) and Mike Kelley (analyst) will call the action for ESPN2.
The winner of the America East Championship game receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. As a result of Vermont's automatic NIT bid, the league is guaranteed to send multiple teams to the postseason for the seventh time in nine years.