CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Clutch performances and standout showings have earned a pair of America East men's basketball players the conference's weekly awards this week. The winners for the period ending Feb. 3 were announced Monday afternoon.
UMBC's Brian Neller averaged 15.0 points per game in two UMBC wins last week and hit the game-winning three-pointer in the Retrievers' one-point win over Maine Saturday to earn Player of the Week honors. Reed averaged 17.5 points per contest last week en route to earning Rookie of the Week accolades
Neller (Red Bank, N.J.) hit the game-winning shot, a 25-footer trifecta with 0.5 seconds to play as UMBC rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Maine, 68-67, Saturday. The senior guard, who is Player of the Week for the first time in his career, scored 12 points in that contest to lift UMBC to its sixth win of the season, surpassing last year's total and its most since the 2008-09 campaign. Earlier in the week, he scored a team and season-high 18 points on six threes in UMBC's 61-58 victory at Binghamton Tuesday. Neller has been a key to UMBC's four league wins, as he is tied for 16th among league leaders averaging 11.2 points per game in league play and a conference-best 3.6 three-pointers per game.
Reed (Philadelphia, Pa.) led the league in scoring last week en route to taking home his fourth America East Rookie of the Week award of the season. The freshman guard, who averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals in two games last week, hit the 20-point mark for the eighth time this year, scoring 21 points and added seven rebounds in a three-point loss to UMBC Tuesday. He then had 14 points and six boards in a loss at Albany Saturday. Reed paces America East in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and is second among league leaders in scoring (16.7 ppg).
America East Notes... in 140 Characters or Less - #AEHOOPS
A pair of America East game will appear on ESPN3 and WatchESPN this week (2/6 - Hartford at Binghamton; 2/9 - Stony Brook at Hartford) ... Albany and Vermont will learn its Ramada Worldwide BracketBuster opponent on Monday evening during the selection show of the 13 TV games on ESPNU ... America East has had a TV game as part of the event five times in eight years ... Albany’s Jacob Iati and Vermont’s Luke Apfeld were named to CoSIDA’s Academic All-District I team Thursday ... Eight of America East’s nine teams have better RPIs than at this time last year ... UMBC and Stony Brook had unbeaten weeks ... Stony Brook, winner of eight of its last nine, currently sits in first place atop the league standings ... Stony Brook has the league’s highest RPI (81) and is ranked 24th in latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 ... The Seawolves’ 17-5 record is their best through 21 games in Division I ... UMBC has won three of its last five games ... The Retrievers' six wins are their most since the 2008-09 season ... Three teams (Binghamton, Hartford, UMBC) have surpassed last year’s win totals ... Hartford's 12 wins are its most since the 2007-08 season ... Vermont sits in second place in the league standings at 7-2 ... The Catamounts have won 12 straight games at home in conference play ... UNH’s Bill Herrion is one win shy of becoming the league’s all-time leader in America East wins ... Positioning is crucial as just twice in 33 seasons has a team placed lower than second in the league standings and gone on to win the title ... America East teams entered league play with 53 non-conference wins, an 18-win improvement from last season ... Albany's Mike Black and Stony Brook's Anthony Jackson are nominees for the Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard ... Mike Black hit a layup with 3.2 seconds left to lift Albany to a 63-62 win at reigning Pac-12 regular-season champion Washington on Nov. 13 ... The win was America East’s 10th over a BCS-conference program since 2008 ... The conference office announced on Nov. 29 that Albany's SEFCU Arena will host the 2014 America East Basketball Championship ... America East ranked third out of 31 conferences in the NCAA’s latest APR and GSR rankings in men’s basketball.
2012-13 America East Men’s Basketball Weekly Award Winners
Nov. 12 – Player of the Week: Ryan Cook (UMBC); Rookie of the Week: Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Nov. 19 – Player of the Week: Jacob Iati (Albany); Rookie of the Week: Jordan Reed (Binghamton)
Nov. 26 – Player of the Week: Mark Nwakamma (Hartford); Rookie of the Week: Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Dec. 3 – Player of the Week: Justin Edwards (Maine); Rookie of the Week: Maurice Watson, Jr. (Boston U.)
Dec. 10 – Player of the Week: Mike Black (Albany); Rookie of the Week: Jordan Reed (Binghamton)
Dec. 17 - Player of the Week: Dave Coley (Stony Brook); Rookie of the Week: Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Dec. 24 - Player of the Week: Justin Edwards (Maine); Rookie of the Week: Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Dec. 31 - Co-Players of the Week: Jacob Iati (Albany)/Justin Edwards (Maine); Rookie of the Week: Jordan Reed (Binghamton)
Jan. 7 - Co-Players of the Week: Mark Nwakamma (Hartford)/Alasdair Fraser (Maine); Rookie of the Week: Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Jan. 14 - Player of the Week: Sam Rowley (Albany); Rookie of the Week: Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Jan. 21 - Player of the Week: Clancy Rugg (Vermont); Rookie of the Week: Jameel Warney (Stony Brook)
Jan. 28 - Player of the Week: Tommy Brenton (Stony Brook); Rookie of the Week: Maurice Watson, Jr. (Boston U.)
Feb. 4 - Player of the Week: Brian Neller (UMBC); Rookie of the Week: Jordan Reed (Binghamton)