For the third time in four years, Stony Brook will be America East men's basketball regular-season champions as the Seawolves secured at least a share of the title on Saturday with a win at Maine. The Seawolves also locked up the top seed for the America East Championship for the third time in four years by virtue of holding all possible tiebreakers with Vermont.
Stony Brook (21-6, 12-2 AE) held Maine (11-17, 6-9 AE) to just 35 percent shooting en route to a 69-53 win, its eighth win in its last nine games. Tommy Brenton stuffed the stat sheet, scoring 13 points, added a career-best 20 rebounds and handing out seven assists. Alasdair Fraser paced Maine with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Saturday's action saw Vermont and Albany post impressive non-league wins over teams near the top of the MAAC standings while Boston U. and UNH picked up league wins.
At 1 p.m. Sunday, Stony Brook (20-6, 11-2 AE) can earn at least a share of the America Esat regular-season title for the third time in four years with a win at Maine (11-16, 6-8 AE). The Seawolves have 10 true road wins on the year, while the Black Bears are tough at home, where they're 8-3 this season.
On Saturday, Vermont (18-9) shot a sizzling 58 percent from the field en route to an 87-79 win over Canisius in an ESPN Ramada Worldwide BracketBusters contest that aired on ESPN3. Ethan O'Day scored a career-high 22 points to lead five Cats in twin figures. In the other non-league contest, Albany (20-9) beat Fairfield, which had won seven of its last eight coming in, 58-50, to lock up its first 20-win season since the 2006-07 campaign. Sam Rowley and John Puk each had 13 to pace the Great Danes.
The wins mean America East teams will finish the regular-season with a 55-63 combined non-league record, a 15-win improvement from last season.
In league action Saturday, Boston University (16-11, 11-4 AE) stayed hot, beating UMBC (6-21, 4-10 AE), 68-59 for its sixth-straight win and 10th in its last 11 games. Maurice Watson Jr. paced the Terriers with 19 points and six assists, while Chase Plummer's 18 points and eight boards paced UMBC. The Terriers' D.J. Irving recorded his 1,000th career point as well.
Additionally, New Hampshire (8-18, 4-10 AE) outscored Binghamton (3-24,,1-13 AE) by 20 points in the second half en route to a 68-56 win over Bearcats Saturday to avenge a loss in Vestal earlier this season. Patrick Konan led the way scoring 18 points, while Jordan Reed had a double-double of 24 points and 16 boards to lead Binghamton.
Recent Results - Sunday, February 24
at Stony Brook 69, Maine 53 -- Box Score | Recap
Saturday, February 23
at Vermont 87, Canisius 79 -- Box Score | Recap | Highlights
Albany 58, at Fairfield 50 -- Box Score | Recap
Boston U. 68, at UMBC 59 -- Box Score | Recap
at New Hampshire 68, Binghamton 56 -- Box Score | Recap | Highlights