With just over two weeks left in the America East men's basketball regular season, the first championship seeding pieces began to fall into place after Boston U., New Hampshire and Stony Brook all won home games last night.
The results guarantee that Stony Brook, Vermont and Boston U. will be the top three seeds for the conference tournament in some order. Furthermore, Sunday's matchup between the Seawolves and the Catamounts become paramount for both teams. A Stony Brook win would give it at least a share of the America East regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the championship. A Vermont win would tied it with Stony Brook for first place and the inside track for the tournament's top seed.
Last night, Stony Brook (17-7, 12-1 AE) overcame a sluggish start and beat UMBC (3-21, 2-10 AE), 80-67, for its seventh straight win and 14th in its last 15 games. The Retreivers shot 59 percent in the first half and held a one-point halftime lead but the Seawolves, who have won 13 straight at home, held them to just 35 percent in the second half en route to the. Anthony Jackson scored a team-high 17 points to lead a bench that contributed 38 points on the night. Chase Plummer paced the Retrievers with 18 points and nine rebounds.
New Hampshire (9-14, 4-8 AE) posted its second win in three games by shooting 59 percent after halftime en route to a 69-64 win over Albany (15-12, 7-6 AE). Brian Benson's layup with 1:24 left broke a 61-61 tie and gave the Wildcats the lead for good. Benson tallied his fourth career double-double, scoring a career-best 19 points and adding 12 rebounds. He, Alvin Abreu (21 points) and Ferg Myric (19) combined for 59 of UNH's 69 points. Gerardo Suero led Albany with 20 points, his 19th 20-plus point effort of the year.
Boston U. (14-13, 9-3 AE) kept pace with the top of the league with a 67-54 win over Maine (11-12, 5-7 AE). With the victory, the Terriers remain just one game out of second and two games out of first in the conference standings. Boston U., which has won three straight, held Maine to just 32 percent shooting and 18 points below its season average. Darryl Partin led the Terriers with 14 points, while Mike Allison had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Black Bears.
Recent Results
Thursday, February 9
at Boston U. 67, Maine 54 -- Box Score
at New Hampshire 69, Albany 64 -- Box Score
at Stony Brook 80, UMBC 68 -- Box Score