CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Three players that led their respective teams to sweeps last week have been rewarded with America East men's basketball weekly honors. Darryl Partin earned Player of the Week honors while Hartford's Nate Sikma and Vermont's Four McGlynn shared Rookie of the Week honors. The award winners for the week ending Feb. 12 were announced Monday afternoon.
Partin (Seattle, Wash.) picked up his third Player of the Week award of the season after averaging 23.5 points per game in two Terriers wins last week, including one of the finest performances in the league this season.
The senior, who ranks second among league leaders and 15th nationally averaging 19.8 points per game, began his week by scoring 33 points, the most by any America East player this season, in an 81-78 win over Albany Monday. Partin led his team back from a 16-point second half deficit by scoring 25 of his 33 in the second stanza and hit a three-pointer to give his team its first lead with 2:38 to go. For the game, he hit 12-of-17 shots from the floor, including 4-of-7 from three, and also added a pair of steals.
Sikma (Bellevue, Wash.) had his best week as a collegian, averaging 14.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals in a pair of Hartford wins last week. The victories snapped the Hawks' five-game losing skid and moved them into fifth place in the league standings.
The freshman forward started the week by tallying 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 76-70 win over UMBC. He then narrowly missed a double-double, racking up nine points and nine rebounds, to go with three assists and three steals, in a 62-60 win over Binghamton on Sunday. For the season he ranks third on Hartford averaging 8.2 points per game and grabs a team-best 4.2 boards per contest.
McGlynn (York, Pa.) earned his fifth Rookie of the Week honor after leading Vermont to a crucial win over Stony Brook Sunday with a career-best effort.
The freshman guard, who averaged 15.5 ppg for the week, tallied 20 of his career-high 24 points after halftime as the Catamounts outscored the Seawolves 45-27 in second half en route to the win. which drew them even with SBU in the loss column of the league standings. McGlynn, who shot 7-of-12 overall and 4-of-7 from three-point range, scored eight of Vermont's points during a key second half run. Earlier in the week, he had seven points and two steals in a win over Maine. McGlynn, who ranks 14th among America East scoring leaders (12.8 ppg), also earned Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 19, Jan. 9, 23 and 30.
Conference Notes
The Honor Roll
Several other America East players had top performances last week:
• Albany's Gerardo Suero averaged 25.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in three games last week.
• UMBC's Chase Plummer scored a career-high 28 points against Hartford Thursday and averaged 19 points for the week.
• Alvin Abreu averaged 18.3 points in three games last week, two of which were UNH wins.
Crucial Win for the Catamounts
The top two teams in the America East standings, Stony Brook and Vermont, squared off on Sunday with regular-season title implications on the line. The Seawolves would have locked at least a share of the crown and No. 1 seed for the conference tournament with a win, but the Catamounts shot 52 percent after halftime to the Seawolves' 31 percent to earn a 68-49 win and extended their win streak to eight while snapped the Seawolves' eight-game run. The victory also gives UVM the inside track towards the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament as it would be in the top spot with wins in its final three league games.
League Standings Reset
With just three weeks left in the regular-season, pieces are beginning to fall in the conference standings. Vermont (11-2) tied Stony Brook (12-2) in the loss column by on Sunday in even up with the Seawolves in the loss column and means the Cats would be the No. 1 seed for the America East Championship with wins in their final three conference games. UVM has the tiebreaker over both Stony Brook and Boston U. due to its season sweep of the Terriers. SBU, UVM and Boston U. (10-3) will be the top three seeds for the league championship in some order. Albany (8-6) is in fourth and will clinch the No. 4 seed with its next league win or Hartford's next league loss. The Hawks (6-7) controls their own destiny for the No. 5 seed and are a game ahead of Maine (5-8) and UNH (5-8). UMBC (2-11) and Binghamton (0-12) round out the standings.
Conference Position Crucial
While the team that wins the conference tournament gets crowned league champion and received the league's automatic birth, where teams finish in the regular season goes a long way in determining the league champions. 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. In addition, with the conference championship game being played at the highest remaining seed, hosting that game is crucial as the home team has won 25 of the previous 28 matchups played at school site.
Home Sweet Home
Taking care of business at home has been a consistent theme for America East's top teams. Stony Brook and Albany are a combined 21-2 overall at home this year while the top four teams in the league standings (Stony Brook, Vermont, Boston U.) are a combined 18-1 at home in conference play. The Seawolves, who are 12-0 at home this year, have won 13 straight at Pritchard Gym dating back to last season.
Offensive Firepower
America East boasts two of nation's top offensive threats in Albany's Gerardo Suero, who has scored 20-plus points 20 times and leads the league and ranks fifth nationally averaging 22.0 ppg. Boston University's Darryl Partin is second in the conference and ranks 15th nationally (19.9 ppg).
Catamounts Climbing
Vermont has reeled off eight straight wins and 11 in its last 12 games to move into a tied for first place in the loss column of the league standings. The Catamounts, who have won those 11 games by an average margin of 14.5 points, have excelled offensively in wins this season, averaging 73.6 points per game in its 17 wins against just 58.1 points per game in its 10 losses. UVM's defense has been consistent all season and ranks second in America East, allowing just 62.1 points per game.
The 1,500 Club
Two America East standouts surpassed the 1,500-point mark for their careers last week. Stony Brook's Bryan Dougher hit the mark in a 10-point effort at UNH Monday. New Hampshire's Alvin Abreu eclipsed the mark on Thursday with a 21-point outing against Albany. The duo is the 42nd and 43rd players to reach the milestone in league history. Earlier this year, Maine's Gerald McLemore also surpassed the mark. The Black Bear is currently the league's active leading scorer and ranks 30th all-time with 1,608 career points. Abreu is 36th all-time (1,530) and Dougher is 37th (1,529).
Pair of Coaches Make History
Two America East coaches made history last week. First, Vermont's John Becker broke a 90-year program mark by winning his 16th game. The Cats added another to that total, giving Becker 17 so far in his first season in Burlington, establising a new mark for wins by a first-year head coach. The previous standard of 16 was held by Tom Keady, who won 15 games in the 1921-22 season. UNH coach Bill Herrion also made news by winning his 147th and 148th conference wins. That moved him ahead of Tom Brennan (147) and within four of Dennis Wolff (152) for the most in league history all-time.
Student First
Albany's Logan Aronhalt and Maine's Andrew Rogers both earned Academic All-District honors form CoSIDA last week. Aronhalt, a repeat choice, has a 3.78 GPA in human biology and ranks fourth in the league scoring 15.2 points per game. Rogers carries a 3.86 GPA in kinesiology and physical education and ranks fifth in assists (3.7 apg).
Youth is Served
There is a youth movement in America East. No teams regularly start more than two seniors while Albany and Binghamton are two of nine Division I programs without a senior on its roster and Hartford gets 61% percent of its scoring from freshmen. Additionally, eight of the league's top 20 scorers are freshmen or sophomores, led by Maine's Justin Edwards, who ranks sixth.
All Nine in BracketBusters
For the first time in league history, all nine teams will play a game as part of the ESPN Sears BracketBusters pool this weekend. America East teams have appeared on national television as part of the event in five of the last seven years, but did not receive a TV game this season.
America East Sears BracketBusters Pairings
Albany – vs. Rider
Binghamton – at Radford
Boston – at Loyola
Hartford – at St. Peter’s
Maine – vs. Marist
UMBC – at Canisius
UNH – vs. Towson
SB – at Northeastern
UVM – vs. Niagara
Team Notes
Albany Great Danes (16-12, 8-6 AE)
Albany took one of two on the road and dropped one at home last week ... the Great Danes fell to Boston U. by three on Monday, 71-68, then lost to New Hampshire to begin the road trip, 69-64, only to grab an important road win at Maine, 76-68, on Saturday ... With a win against either Vermont or Binghamton, UAlbany will lock up the fourth seed in the America East Tournament ... Gerardo Suero (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/ Our Savior New American) is heating up again, having scored 76 points last week in three games ... Suero is now averaging 22.0 points a game which is fifth best in the nation ... With six more points, Suero will surpass Jamar Wilson (620) for most points scored in a season by one player ... Logan Aronhalt (Zanesville, Ohio/ Zanesville) has moved into 25th all-time in scoring at UAlbany with 1,087 points ... Having not started against Maine, Aronhalt ended his consecutive games started streak at 74 (the longest on the team to this point) ... Mike Black (Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick) dished out 12 assists last week, passing Brian Lillis for 14th all-time in assists at UAlbany with 272 ... With Aronhalt slowing down because of his knee, Jacob Iati (York, Pa./ York Catholic) saw extended minutes last week and recorded his first game started this season at Maine, 13 at UNH and 27 at Maine ... Iati hit two three's in each game, going 4-of-5 from behind the arc ... the Great Danes play two games at home this week, facing off against Vermont on Wednesday then play the Brackbuster game versus Rider on Saturday.
Binghamton Bearcats (0-24, 0-12 AE)
Binghamton played to the final seconds at Hartford before falling short 62-60 in the team's lone game of the week. After seven days off - the team's longest gap since December - the Bearcats hung around with the Hawks until a pair of free throws with eight seconds left sealed the win for the hosts... Freshman forward Ben Dickinson (Alexandria, Va./Gonzaga) scored a game-high 18 points and added team-highs of six reobunds and four assists... Junior forward Javon Ralling (Harlem, N.Y./St. Agnes Boys) added a career-high 15 points in 39 minutes, also a career-high... Binghamton nearly rallied from 14 points down in the second half and 11 down in the final two minutes... In conference play, Dickinson is averaging 13.1 points (3rd highest among freshmen) and 5.9 rebounds (second-highest among freshmen) per game... Sophomore guard Robert Mansell (Philadelphia, Pa./Cheltenham) leads the team with a 15.6 scoring average against America East opponents... Junior guard Jimmy Gray (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) leads the league in steals (2.0/game) and ranks sixth in assists (3.8/game) in league play... Binghamton hosts UMBC Wednesday before traveling to Radford for a Sears BracketBusters game on Saturday. With three home games remaining, Binghamton is looking to claim its ninth consecutive America East attendance crown. The Bearcats are averaging an AE-best 2,771 fans, ahead of Albany (2,661), Vermont (2,422) and the rest of the nine-team league.
Boston U. Terriers (14-13, 10-3 AE)
Boston U. earned wins over Albany and Maine to improve to above .500 for the first time this season and cement its position as one of the top three seeds for the upcoming conference tournament ... For the second consecutive season, the Terriers rallied from 16-point deficit in the second half at Albany for an 81-78 victory ... Senior Darryl Partin (Seattle, Wash./La Salle) posted 25 of his career-high 33 points in the second half and then came back with a team-high 14 points in the 67-54 home win over Maine ... The points are the most by a Terrier since John Holland had 43 on Feb. 20, 2010 at Delaware ... The Terriers earned their sixth straight home win over the Black Bears by holding them to 32.8 percent shooting ... Senior Patrick Hazel (Jamaica, N.Y./Marquette) recorded four blocks against Maine and is now one shy of tying Rashad Bell for second all-time at Boston U. ... The Terriers will next host New Hampshire on Wednesday (Feb. 15) and will then visit Loyola (Md.) on Sunday (Feb. 19) as part of the Sears BracketBusters ... Boston U. is 1-0 all-time vs. the Greyhounds with the win coming on a neutral court during the 1996-97 season.
Hartford Hawks (6-19, 6-7 AE)
Hartford improved its mark to 6-7 in the America East with a pair of league wins last week, starting with a 76-70 victory at UMBC on Tuesday evening ... Four Hawks notched double digit scoring in that game, which snapped a five-game skid, led by rookie Nate Sikma's (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue) 20 points ... Sikma also handed out five assists and grabbed seven rebounds against the Retrievers ... The Hawks shot 52.1 percent at UMBC, a season-best effort ... Veteran point guard Andres Torres (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Adianez) added 12 points and seven helpers in that victory ... Torres continues to climb Hartford's all-time assists list as he tallied nine last week to give him 298 career assists for fourth in program history ... Sikma continued his solid week with nine points and nine rebounds in a 62-60 home win over Binghamton ... Torres led the Hawks with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting including a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch ... Hartford led by as many as 14 in the second stanza, but managed to hang on down the stretch after the Bearcats whittled the lead down to just two points late in the game ... The Hawks have two games scheduled this week, starting on Wednesday with a home match-up with the Maine Black Bears, a clash that will air live on ESPN3 at 7:00 p.m. ... Hartford has won its last four against Maine ... The Hawks wrap-up the week when they meet St. Peter's in the Sears BracketBusters game on Saturday (2 p.m.).
Maine Black Bears (11-13, 5-8 AE)
Maine fell to Vermont 73-63, Boston University 67-54 and Albany 76-68...Against the Catamounts, Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif./Worcester Academy) notched his 10th 20-point performance of the season with 20 points on 5-of-9 shooting from distance while freshman Justin Edwards (Whitby, Ontario/Anderson CVI) notched 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks...At Boston University, Jon McAllian (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from long distance...Mike Allison (Lynden, Ontario/National Elite Development Academy) had his second double-double in four games with 15 points and 10 rebounds...In Orono against the Great Danes, Alasdair Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland/Falkirk Clark Eriksson Fury) returned to the lineup to score 21 points and grab four rebounds...McLemore notched 19 points, while making four three-pointers en route to breaking Kevin Reed's school record for career three-pointers...McLemore now has 313 career three-pointers...Raheem Singleton (Boston, Mass./Monroe Community College) scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds and gave out seven assists...McLemore's 1,608 career points moved him into third place on the all-time scoring list at Maine, once again passing Kevin Reed who had 1,601 points...Edwards has notched 11 games with at least 10 points, five rebounds and three assists while scoring in double figures in 20 games this season...Maine continues play at Hartford on Wednesday on ESPN3 followed by a Sears BracketBuster game on Saturday against Marist.
UMBC Retrievers (3-22, 2-11 AE)
UMBC has been a much tougher out in February, with down-to-wire setbacks in the last four contests... Prior to a tough offensive day vs. UNH, the Retrievers offense had been much improved, averaging 72.5 points per game and shooting 45.1 percent from the floor in the previous four... Sophomore forward Chase Plummer (Plainfield, N.J./St. Patrick) has had been on a tear, averaging 19.7 points per game in his last six contests... He has tied his personal mark by scoring in double figures in eight straight games... Plummer scored all 20 of his first half points vs. Hartford, including a pair of 3-point field goals, in the first 10:39 of play... He finished with a career-best 28 points... UMBC hit 28 of 54 shots (51.9%) vs. Hartford, but missed four of six free throws in the final 4:27... Freshman guard Joey Getz (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Wood) is getting back into the flow after missing 12 games with an injured knee... Getz opened the week with a season-high 11 points vs. Hartford... He tied his season-best with 6 assists and added 6 rebounds vs. the Hawks... Getz added 9 points apiece in games at Stony Brook and vs. UNH... He had 3 steals vs. first-place Seawolves and is averaging 1.4 take-aways per game... Head Coach Randy Monroe suffered a death in his family and did not coach the Retrievers at Stony Brook or vs. UNH... Assistant Coach Aki Thomas directed the team in those two games... After a 40-point home loss to Stony Brook in January, UMBC was within four points of the first-place Seawolves with 2:50 remaining a month later... Junior guard Ryan Cook (Laurel, Md./Pallotti) scored a game-high 19 points vs. UNH... Cook scored 14 in the second half, but fouled out with 90 seconds left after a missed attempt to tie the game... The Retrievers have a pair of games in New York this week, facing Binghamton on Wednesday and taking on Canisius for the first time ever in the Sears BracketBuster contest on Saturday afternoon.
New Hampshire (10-14, 5-8 AE)
New Hampshire posted a 2-1 record in its most recent week of action, notching back-to-back wins for the first time this season ... the Wildcats, who have won three of their last four, opened the week with a 57-48 loss to Stony Brook (Feb. 6) at Lundholm Gymnasium ... Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) scored 14 of the UNH's 28 second-half points, but it wasn't enough as Stony Brook went on to notch its seventh straight win ... After being held to one first-half point, Myrick went 6-for-9 in the second half, including 2 of 4 from 3-point land, to score 15 points ... He also added four rebounds ... Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy), the America East Player of the Game, tallied a game-high 19 points on 8 of 12 shooting, but he was held to seven in the second half ... UNH claimed its first win of the week in a 69-64 decision against Albany on Thursday evening at Lundholm Gymnasium ... Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena) notched a double-double by scoring a career-high 19 points and pulling down 12 rebounds to propel the 'Cats to victory ... Abreu highlighted the evening pouring in a season-high 21 points to surpass Wayne Morrison (1,501) to rank third all-time in program history with 1,510 career points ... The senior co-captain claimed America East Player of the Game honors for his efforts, adding three boards to his line in 40 minutes of action ... He shot an impressive 7-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-6 from deep and 3-for-4 from the free throw line ... Myrick set season-highs in points (19), field goals made (7), assists (4), 3-point field goals made (2) and blocks (1) ... He shot 7-for-12 from the field, 2-for-3 from beyond the arc and 3-for-4 from the stripe ... In its most recent contest, New Hampshire took down UMBC, 66-60, on Sunday afternoon at the RAC Arena ... Benson and Patrick Konan (Gainesville, Fla./The Rock School) both registered double-doubles to lead the Wildcats to victory ... Benson was tabbed the America East Player of the Game, posting a team-high 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds and two blocks ... He shot 6-for-12 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the free throw line ... It is his second straight game with a double-double ... He has registered five double-doubles and 13 double-digit rebounding performances in his career ... Konan earns his second double-double of his career, notching 15 points and 11 boards in 38 minutes .. It is the third time in his career he has corralled 10-plus rebounds in a game ... Abreu was the only other Wildcat to score in double-digits, posting 15 points while also notching four rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block ... He has scored in double-figures in four straight games ... the Wildcats return to action when they take on Boston University on Wednesday, Feb. 15 (7 p.m.) at Case Gymnasium.
Stony Brook Seawolves (17-8, 12-2 AE)
Last week, Stony Brook extended its winning streak to eight games with wins over New Hampshire and UMBC before losing at Vermont on Sunday...despite the loss, the Seawolves have still won 14 of their last 16 games and remain half a game ahead of Vermont for first place in the conference...if the Seawolves win their final two conference games, they will claim a share of the regular season championship...however, they need Vermont to lose one of its last three games to earn the No. 1 seed in the America East Championship...Stony Brook's win over UMBC was its 13th consecutive home victory, matching a program Div. I record that was set during the 2000-01 season...the streak is one of top 20 longest in the nation...the Seawolves have one home game remaining during the regular season...the team has never had an undefeated home season during its Div. I era and only one in the entire existence of the program (1977-78)...senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) surpassed the 1,500 career points mark at UNH and is now just 61 points from the program's Div. I scoring record, held by D.J. Munir...junior Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) has moved into third place all-time at SBU in rebounds with 770...he's 10 away from second place...senior Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) is only a few places behind in sixth with 680...he made 12 of 15 field goal attempts last week to boost his season percentage to 58 percent, moving him into first in the conference...the Seawolves will play at Northeastern Saturday as part of Sears ESPN BracketBusters.
Vermont Catamounts (17-10, 11-2 AE)
Vermont went 2-0 last week and earned the inside track on the America East Regular Season Championship … The Catamounts opened the week with a 73-63 win at Maine on Monday … Senior Matt Glass (Underhill Center, Vt./Northfield Mt. Hermon/UMass) netted a team-high 17 against the Black Bears ... With the victory, Vermont head coach John Becker passed Thomas Keady (15-4 in 1921-22) for the most wins by a first year head coach in UVM men's basketball history … The Catamounts picked up their eighth straight win on Sunday when they topped Stony Brook 68-49 at home … With the win, Vermont now controls its own destiny and can earn the top seed and at least a share of the regular season crown with three more conference victories … Freshman Four McGlynn (York, Pa./Dallastown) netted a career-high 24 points to lead Vermont over the Seawolves … Vermont who held Stony Brook to a season-low 49 points and only allowed the Seawolves to shoot 33.3 percent for the game … The 49 points matched the fewest UVM has given up this season (Towson) and the shooting percentage was the lowest for a Catamount opponent on the year … UVM is a perfect 7-0 at home in league play … Including Sunday’s game, Vermont has only trailed for a total of 3:45 over its last 173:02 played … The Catamounts return to action on Wednesday with a road game at Albany and then host Niagara on Saturday as part of the ESPN BracketBusters series.