After spending the last seven weeks preparing for conference play, eight America East men's basketball teams begin their league schedules on Monday.
If history proves right, 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 '99, Holy Cross '80).
Four teams will begin 2012 on the right note as Albany hosts Hartford, Binghamton entertains Maine, UMBC visits New Hampshire and Vermont goes to Stony Brook. All four game tip off at 7 p.m.
Stony Brook (5-6) and Vermont (6-8) carries the most intrigue with the two teams picked second and third in the coaches' preseason poll respectively. The Catamounts, who have won 11 of their last 12 league openers, are out for revenge after the Seawolves ousted the reigning regular-season champions from last year's America East Championship in the semifinals, 69-47. Points could be hard to come by in this one as both teams excel defensively. Vermont leads America East limiting foes to just 62.1 points per game and has held opponents to just 51.7 points per game over its last three games. Stony Brook, which has won six straight home games dating back to last year, ranks third (63.4 papg).
Albany (8-6), winner of six of its last nine games, looks to stay hot against Hartford. The program's eight win are tie the most its heading into conference play in its Division I era. The Great Danes are led by the nation's fourth-leading scorer Gerardo Suero, who's pouring in 22.0 points per game and has eclipsed the 20-point mark 10 times in 13 games this year. Albany leads the all-time series, 15-10, but Hartford (0-12) has won five of the last six get togethers. The Hawks, who are in search of their first win, are a young team as freshmen make up five of the team's top seven scorers and account for 65 percent of the team's scoring.
Maine (6-5) has won three of its last four and will look for its fifth straight win over Binghamton (0-12). The Black Bears, who have won their last three league road openers, tout the league's top scoring trio of Gerald McLemore, Justin Edwards and Alasdair Fraser, who combine for 49.3 points per game. McLemore, who alone averages 20.8 ppg, ranks 11th nationally in scoring. The Bearcats, who have won three straight conference openers, hope to replicate last season's start when they began 3-0. Two underclassmen lead Binghamton as Robert Mansell ranks seventh among conference leaders averaging 13.3 points per game while Ben Dickinson is 13th in scoring (12.6 ppg) and 10th inrebounding (5.8 rpg).
New Hampshire (5-6) looks to reach the .500 mark when it battles UMBC (1-11) at Lundholm Gym, where the home team is 4-2 this season. The Wildcats, who beat Colgate 71-64 on Saturday behind a career-high 24 points from Jordon Bronner, have won three of the last four meetings with the Retrievers and swept last year's series by an average of 17.5 points. UNH again ranks near the top of the league defensively, holding foes to 62.5 points per game, which ranks second, and limiting them to 42.9 percent shooting, which is third. UMBC looks to snap a three-game losing skid in league openers Monday. Chase Plummer leads the Retrievers as he's one of just three players to rank in the league's top 10 in both
scoring (10th - 12.8 ppg) and rebounding (2nd - 8.9 rpg).
Stay up-to-date on today's action via the live coverage links below or follow America East on Twitter for constant updates.
Today's Action
Monday, January 2
Hartford at Albany, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video | Albany Audio | Hartford Audio
Maine at Binghamton, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video | Binghamton Audio | Maine Audio
UMBC at New Hampshire, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video | UNH Audio | UMBC Audio
Vermont at Stony Brook, 7 p.m. -- Live Stats | Live Video | Stony Brook Audio | Vermont Audio