CAMBRIDGE, Mass. --
With the 2012 America East Championship around the corner, the final
men's basketball weekly awards of the season were announced Monday
afternoon. Albany's Jacob Iati earned America East Player of the Week
for the first time while Ben Dickinson led Binghamton to its first win
and took home Rookie of the Week accolades.
After putting together his best two games as a collegian, Iati (York,
Pa.) has earned Player of the Week honors on the heels of his 22-point
performance at Binghamton Thursday. The effort led his team to a 73-62
win over the Bearcats.
The junior, who eclipsed his career high for the second straight game,
connected on 7-of-10 field goal attempts, including 5-of-7 tries from
downtown. Iati, who will fore go his last year of eligibility to join the
Albany coaching staff, also grabbed four rebounds and had two steals.
Prior to his 20-point showing against Rider on Feb. 18, Iati had totaled
just 53 points in the first 20 games of the season (2.7 ppg). Forced
into the Great Dane lineup because of injuries, Iati has put in 21.0 ppg
over his last two games.
Dickinson (Alexandria, Va.) picked up his second Rookie of the Week
award of the year after averaging 15.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in three
games last week, which included an upset win over then first-place
Vermont.
The freshman forward started his week by racking up a double-double of
16 points and 11 rebounds in Binghamton's 57-53 win over the Catamounts.
The victory was the Bearcats' first of the year and snapped their
27-game losing streak. Dickinson then scored 21 points on 6-of-9
shooting and added five boards in a loss to Albany. He then wrapped up
his week with a 10-point performance in a loss at UNH on Thursday.
Dickinson, who also took home the first Rookie of the Week honor on Nov.
13, ranks 11th among league leaders in scoring (13.0 ppg) and is
eighth in rebounding (6.1 rpg).
Conference Notes
The Honor Roll
Several other America East players had top performances last week:
• Albany's Mike Black scored 21 points in his lone game of the week, a
74-63 win over Binghamton Thursday. He's averaging 20.0 points per game
over his last three games.
• Darryl Partin, America East's second-leading scorer, averaged 19.0 points in two Boston University victories last week.
• Maine's Alasdair Fraser averaged a double-double of 13.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in a pair of games last week.
• Alvin Abreu led New Hampshire to the No. 5 seed for the America East
Championship by averaging 16.0 points and 8.0 rebounds. He registered
his second double-double of the year (17 pts., 12 rebs.) in Sunday's win
over Binghamton.
• Dallis Joyner helped Stony Brook lock up the America East
regular-season title by averaging 12.5 points and 6.0 rebounds in two
wins last week.
It's Tourney Time
It came down until the final day of the season, but the tournament seeds
and matchups for the 2012 America East Men's Basketball Championship
were finalized on Sunday. Stony Brook earned the top seed for the
upcoming tournament with a 55-48 win over Maine. The 2012 America East
Men's and Women's Basketball Championship presented by Newman's Own will
be held March 1-4 in West Hartford, Conn. The first round will be
played on Thursday, March 1, while four quarterfinal games are scheduled
for Saturday, March 3 and two semifinal contests slated for Sunday,
March 4. The championship game will take place on Saturday, March 10 at
the highest remaining seed. No. 9 Binghamton and No. 8 UMBC will start
things off with the first-round contest on Thursday. The winner of that
game will play No. 1 Stony Brook on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. Fourth-seeded
Albany will take on fifth-seeded New Hampshire at 2:15 p.m. No. 2
Vermont battles No. 7 Maine at 6:05 p.m. while No. 3 Boston U. and No. 6
Hartford close out the quarterfinal contests at 8:15 p.m. The four
quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinal round on Sunday,
March 4. The two semifinal winners will then decide the 2012 America
East men's basketball champion on Saturday, March 10 on the campus of
the highest remaining seed at 11:02 a.m.
Stony Brook Secures Title
Sunday's win gave Stony Brook (20-8, 14-2 AE) its second regular-season
title in three years. It also gave the Seawolves the coveted No. 1 seed
for the conference tournament and an automatic at-large bid should it
not reach the NCAAs. The Seawolves ran off 12 wins in their last 13
games and 15 in their last 17 to reach the 20-win mark for the just the
second time in the program's Division I history.
Being First Matters
While the team that wins the conference tournament gets crowned league
champion and receives the league's automatic berth, earning one of the
top seeds is crucial. 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.
Furthermore, the top seed has won 19 of the 32 tournaments while the
home team has won 25 of the previous 28 title games played at school
site.
Bearcats Upset Things
Heading into the week, Vermont was in position to capture the
tournament's No. 1 seed. That was before Binghamton's 57-53 upset win
over the Catamounts on Tuesday, which knocked UVM out of first place and
ultimately gave it the championship's No. 2 seed. The win snapped
Binghamton's 27-game losing skid and was its first of the year.
Students First
Albany's Logan Aronhalt was named Capital One Academic All-American by
CoSIDA on Thursday. Aronhalt, a second-team selection, has a 3.78 GPA in
human biology and ranks fifth in the league scoring 14.2 points per
game. Two weeks ago, Aronhalt was named an All-District selection along
with Maine's Andrew Rogers, who carries a 3.86 GPA in kinesiology and
physical education and ranks sixth in assists (3.5 apg).
Tourney TV Info
Fans who can't make it to Hartford will still be able to catch all the
action. The first round and quarterfinal contests will be streamed live
in HD on America East All-Access at www.AmericaEast.com for free.
Partnering with Pack Network, America East will also provide live video
streaming for iPhones. The semifinals will air live on ESPN3, as well as
on WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and
through ESPN on Xbox LIVE. ESPN2 will televise the championship game
nationally on March 10.
Brown Extended
Albany head coach Will Brown received a contract extension on Friday,
Feb. 24. The longest tenured head coach in America East, Brown is
completing his 11th year at Albany. During that time, he has led his
program to 147 wins, two America East titles and as many NCAA
appearances. This year, the Great Danes head into the America East
Championship as the No. 4 seed, the sixth time in Brown's tenure that
they've been fourth or better.
Success in BrackeBusters
With all nine America East teams participating in BracketBusters for the
first time, the league went 5-4 in this year's. It's the third time in
the last five years that the league has produced a winning
BracketBusters record. Albany, Hartford, New Hampshire, Stony Brook and
Vermont won its games while Binghamton, Boston U., Maine and UMBC fell.
The group went 2-0 against the Colonial Athletic Association, improving
the league's record to 7-4 against the CAA this year, 3-3 against the
MAAC and 0-1 vs. the Big South.
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 22-3 overall at
home this year while the top three teams in the league standings (Stony
Brook, Vermont, Boston U.) are a combined 22-2 at home in conference
play. The Seawolves, who are a perfect 13-0 at home this year and won 14
straight there overall, and Catamounts both went a perfect 8-0 in home
conference games this year.
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 21.7 ppg. Boston
University's Darryl Partin is second in the conference and ranks 19th
nationally (19.7 ppg).
Milestone Watch
Three America East standouts continue to charge up the league's all-time
scoring list. Maine's Gerald McLemore is the league's active leading
scorer with 1,657 career points, which ranks 27th all-time. UNH's Alvin
Abreu ranks 35th all-time with 1,556 points, while Stony Brook's Bryan
Dougher falls right behind in 36th place with 1,552 points.
Pair of Coaches Make History
Two America East coaches have made history this season. First, Vermont's
John Becker broke a 90-year program mark by winning his 16th game. The
Cats added three more to that total, giving Becker 20 so far in his
first season in Burlington, establishing 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 increasing his conference win total to 149. That moved
him ahead of Tom Brennan (147) and within three of Dennis Wolff (152)
for the most in league history all-time.
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 over 60
percent percent of its scoring from freshmen. Additionally, eight of the
league's top 20 scorers are freshmen or sophomores, led by UMBC's Chase
Plummer, who ranks fourth.
Team Notes
Albany Great Danes (18-13, 9-7 AE)
Albany finished out the regular-season with a win over Binghamton, 74-63
... The Great Danes locked up the No. 4 seed for the America East
Championship and will face the No. 5 seed New Hampshire in the
tournament quarterfinals on Saturday, March 3. ... Jacob Iati (York,
Pa./ York Catholic) has relished the opportunity of getting more playing
time having scored a career-high 22 points versus Binghamton ... Iati
in his last two games started has scored 20-plus points for the first
time in his career ... In the past three games he has started, the
junior guard has hit 14 three-pointers which is one more than he hit all
of last season in 29 games played ... Gerardo Suero (Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic/ Our Savior New America) returned to action against
Binghamton recorded his second career double-double with 15 points and
11 rebounds, shooting 10-of-12 from the free-throw line ... Mike Black
(Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick), the only starter remaining to have
started all 31 games, tallied 21 points and three assists in the win
over Binghamton ... The Great Danes finished above .500 (18-13) for the
first time in five seasons and are currently riding a two-game winning
streak heading into the conference tournament.
Binghamton Bearcats (1-28, 1-15 AE)
Binghamton went 1-2 on the week. The Bearcats snapped their winless
streak with an inspired 57-53 win over then league-leading Vermont at
the Events Center ... the team shot 45 percent, built a 10-point
halftime lead and hung on down the stretch against the Catamounts ...
Binghamton then pushed Albany to the closing minutes in an 11-point loss
two nights later and closed out the regular season with an 11-point
setback at New Hampshire... The team played most of the second half of
the Albany game and the entire UNH game without its leading scorer,
sophomore guard Robert Mansell (Philadelphia, Pa./Cheltenham), who went
down with an injury... Freshman forward Ben Dickinson (Alexandria,
Va./Gonzaga) produced a double-double against Vermont and averaged 15.7
points and 5.7 rebounds in the three games... Junior guard Jimmy Gray
sealed the win over the Catamounts by making two free throws in the
closing seconds... Binghamton will carry the No. 9 seed into the America
East tournament and meet No. 8 UMBC for the second straight year. The
Bearcats will hope to replicate last year's first-round game when they
drilled a tournament record 17 three-pointers en route to a 91-65 win.
Boston U. Terriers (16-15, 12-4 AE)
Defending conference champion Boston University will enter the the
upcoming America East tournament as the No. 3 seed on a two-game win
streak after earning a 73-52 win at UMBC and 64-55 victory over Hartford
... Senior Darryl Partin (Seattle, Wash./La Salle) led the Terriers in
scoring in both contests with 17 points against the Retrievers and a
game-high 21 points vs. Hartford ... Leading 23-17 with 6:32 remaining
in the first half, Boston U. scored the game's next nine points and went
into the locker room ahead, 36-20 ... The Terriers extended the lead to
as high as 23 (59-36) before the final outcome ... Game marked the
first time they held an opponent under 30 percent shooting this season
(.295) ... Senior Patrick Hazel (Jamaica, N.Y./Marquette) finished with
10 points, seven rebounds, one block and one steal ... With the block,
he moved into sole possession of second-place all-time at Boston U. in
career blocks with 115 ... On Saturday, after honoring the five seniors,
the Terriers finished on a 6-0 run over the last 2:47 to sweep the
Hawks ... Playing in his final regular season game at Boston U., Matt
Griffin (Narberth, Pa./Rider) tallied eight points, five rebounds and
five assists ... the Terriers will next face America East tournament
host Hartford for the third straight year and fourth time in the last
five seasons on Saturday (March 3) at 8:15 p.m. ... Boston U. will try
to repeat as league champion for the first time in program history.
Hartford Hawks (8-21, 7-9 AE)
Hartford went 0-2 in the final week of the regular season, first falling
to Stony Brook in West Hartford on Tuesday (74-50) before narrowly
dropping a 64-55 decision at Boston University on Saturday ... A pair of
rookies paced the Hawks in the losses as Yolonzo Moore II (Austin,
Texas/Akins) and Mark Nwakamma (Leander, Texas/Leander) averaged 11.0
and 10.5 points per game, respectively ... Hartford was outrebounded by
its opponents, 72-37, on the week and combined to shoot just 36.7
percent compared to 54.0 percent by its opponents ... On Tuesday,
Hartford trailed by just three at half time but Stony Brook shot a
blistering 78.9 percent in the second stanza to charge ahead on Senior
Night ... Veteran Genesis Maciel (Los Angeles, Calif./Compton
Centennial/Worcester Academy) netted 12 points, all in the first half on
three-pointers ... At Boston University, the Hawks cut an 11 point
second half deficit to just two points but could not complete the
comeback ... Moore finished with 17 points, tying a career-high, while
Andres Torres (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Colegio Adianez) handed out six
assists ... The senior point guard combined for 11 on the week and is
now third in Hartford history with 323 ... the Hawks and Terriers will
meet again this season in the quarterfinal round of the America East
Championships on Saturday evening at 8:15 p.m. at Chase Arena ... The
two teams will be meeting in the tournament for the third straight
season and fourth in the last five.
Maine Black Bears (12-16, 6-10 AE)
Maine defeated New Hampshire on Senior Day 71-58 before falling at Stony
Brook in a hard fought contest 55-48 ... Against the Wildcats, Alasdair
Fraser (Falkirk, Scotland/Falkirk Clark Eriksson Fury) has his seventh
double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds ... Gerald McLemore (San
Diego, Calif./Worcester Academy) added 16 points while freshman Justin
Edwards (Whitby, Ontario/Anderson CVI) had 13 points and three assists
... Against Stony Brook, the Black Bears came back from a 15-point first
half deficit to make it a one-point game late in the second half, but
could not quite overcome the Seawolves ... Fraser had his eighth
double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds...Edwards added
12 points, three rebounds and three assists ... Should McLemore's
maintain his 92.4 percent free throw percentage, he will break Skip
Chapelle's program record of 87.4 percent set during the 1961-62
season...Edwards has 23 games of at least 10 points and at least three
rebounds and/or three assists this season ... Maine continues play on
Saturday against the #2 seed Vermont in the America East Championship.
UMBC Retrievers (5-24, 3-13 AE)
UMBC dropped league contests to Boston U. and at Vermont to conclude the
regular season ... Forward Chase Plummer (Plainview, N.J./St. Patrick)
has currently scored the second-most points for any sophomore in UMBC's
26-year Division I history with 429 ... Peter Mulligan scored 447 in the
2001-02 campaign ... Plummer also became the fifth player (7th
occurance) in 26 seasons to post 400 points and 200 rebounds in a season
... His 113 free throws made are now sixth in UMBC's Division I era ...
Plummer's streak of 11 consecutive games in double figures ended when
he recorded 8 at Vermont on Feb. 25 ... He did not get to the free throw
line as UMBC converted just 3-of-6 in the contest ... Junior guard
Brian Neller (Red Bank, N.J./Christian Bros. Academy) hit five
3-pointers vs. the Catamounts, hitting five for the first time since the
Jan. 2 league opener at UNH... He currently has 77 treys on the year,
the sixth-best single season figure in UMBC's Division I history ...
UMBC will meet Binghamton in the first round of the America East
Tournament on Thursday ... Despite an opening round loss to Binghamton
last season, UMBC has an 8-7 all-time America East Tournament record ...
The Retrievers went five consecutive years with at least one victory in
postseason play before a quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Vermont in
2010.
New Hampshire Wildcats (13-15, 7-9 AE)
New Hampshire went 1-1 in its final week of regular season action ...
the Wildcats have won six of their last eight games ... In its most
recent outing UNH took down Binghamton, 58-49, on Sunday afternoon at
Lundholm Gymnasium ... Alvin Abreu (Lynn, Mass./Boys to Men Academy)
earned his second career double-double registering a team-high 17 points
to go along with a career-best 12 rebounds against the Bearcats ... He
was tabbed the America East Player of the Game, adding three assists and
two steals to his line ... He shot 7-of-14 from the floor and 3-of-4
from deep in the contest ... Brian Benson (Rochester, N.Y./Greece
Athena) chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and one steal in 37
minutes ... In the outing prior the 'Cats fell to Maine, 71-58, on
Wednesday night at Alfond Arena ... Abreu collected America East Player
of the Game honors, finishing with 15 points, four boards, three assists
and two steals ... Benson added 14 points and seven rebounds ...
Chandler Rhoads (Berryville, Va./Air Force Academy) and Ferg Myrick
(Philadelphia, Pa./Prep Charter) rounded out UNH's double-digit scorers
with 13 points apiece ... Rhoads chipped with seven boards and five
helpers ... The fifth-seeded Wildcats return to action Saturday, March 3
at 2:15 p.m. when they take on No. 4 Albany in the quarterfinal round
of the America East Championship tournament at Hartford's Chase Arena.
Stony Brook Seawolves (20-11, 14-2 AE)
Stony Brook put a wrap on its most successful regular season in its Div.
I history after winning two games to clinch the regular season
championship outright ... it is SBU's second regular season title in
three seasons ... the team's 14-2 record is the team's best-ever America
East record, surpassing the 2009-10 team's 13-3 mark ... Stony Brook
has now won 11 of its last 12 games and 17 of its last 19 ... the 20-win
regular season is the program's second-ever ... the 2009-10 team won 21
regular season games ... the win at Hartford was Stony Brook's fifth in
its last six road games and seventh in its last nine ... the win over
Maine kept Stony Brook undefeated at home this season ... the Seawolves
have won 14 consecutive home games, a new program Div. I record ... the
streak is tied for the 13th longest home winning streak in the nation
... Stony Brook is one of only 13 teams in the nation that is undefeated
at home this season ... senior Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) had an
outstanding week by averaging 12.5 points and shooting 67 percent from
the field ... he tied a career high with four assists at Hartford ...
junior Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) recorded his fourth double-double
of the year with 11 points and 12 rebounds at Hartford ... senior Bryan
Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored a game-high 17 points at Hartford
and had nine vs. Maine ... he is only 30 points away from breaking Stony
Brook's all-time Div. I scoring record ... Stony Brook will head to the
America East Championship as the No. 1 seed and will play either No. 8
UMBC or No. 9 Binghamton in the quarterfinals.
Vermont Catamounts (20-11, 13-3 AE)
Vermont ended the regular season last week by splitting a pair of games …
The Cats fell to Binghamton on the road on Tuesday and then bounced
back to defeat UMBC 80-49 on Saturday in the regular season finale as
part of Senior Day … the loss to the Bearcats snapped a 10-game winning
streak for Vermont … On Saturday senior Matt Glass (Underhill Center,
Vt./NMH/UMass) scored 18 points to go with eight rebounds to lead UVM
over UMBC … The Cats reached 20 wins for the ninth time in the last 11
seasons after not accomplishing the feat in the first 87 years of
program history … The Catamount senior class earned its 92nd career
victory on Saturday, which are the most in program history and it marks
their fourth straight 20-win season … Vermont has now won nine straight
at home by an average of 18.6 points per game … Of UVM's 20 wins, 14
have been by double figures … The Cats enter the conference tournament
having won 11 of their last 12 overall … Vermont earned the second seed
for the conference tournament and will face seventh-seeded Maine in the
quarterfinals on Saturday starting at 6:05 p.m. in a game that will be
shown on ESPN3 … UVM swept the Black Bears this season, as well as both
of its potential semifinal opponents in Boston U and Hartford.