BOSTON - First semester final exams take place for America East schools this week and it will be a light slate of games on the court as a result. Just 12 total contests are on the schedule this week.
Last week, six America East standouts had 20-point performances, led by a pair from UMBC's Will Darley and Joe Sherburne. The duo swept weekly awards as a result with Darley earning America East Player of the Week honors and Sherburne taking home Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour accolades.
Read more about the weekly award winners and conference notes below:
Player of the Week
Will Darley, UMBC - Jr., Forward, Timonium, Md.
- Averaged 18.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in a 1-1 week for UMBC last week.
- Shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) from the field.
- Collected 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists at Duquesne Tuesday.
- Recorded career highs of 23 points and 10 rebounds in leading UMBC to a win over Mount St. Mary's Saturday.
Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour
Joe Sherburne, UMBC - Fr., Guard, Whitefish Bay, Wisc.
- Averaged 20.0 and 5.0 rebounds in a 1-1 week for UMBC last week.
- Shot 56.5 percent (13-of-23) overall and 47.4 percent from three-point land (9-of-19).
- Scored a career-high 25 points at Duquesne Tuesday.
- Had 15 points and six rebounds in the Retrievers' win over Mount St. Mary's Saturday.
Notes
- America East ranks 22nd out of 32 Division I conferences in RPI, according to the Dec. 14 College Basketball News RPI Report.
- The ranking is a seven-spot improvement from this time a year ago.
- Six of the conference's nine programs have a better RPI than they did at this time last year (Albany, Binghamton, Maine, UMBC, Stony Brook, Vermont).
- Albany has the league's best RPI (115) and has won five of its last six games.
- UMBC beat Mount St. Mary's on Saturday. The Retrievers have surpassed last season's non-conference win total with four games left on their schedule.
- UMass Lowell's win over Boston College on Dec. 6 was the first by an America East team over an ACC foe since Maine beat the Eagles on Jan. 2, 2010.
- Jameel Warney eclipsed the 1,000 career rebound mark on Tuesday, becoming just the sixth player in league history with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
- Warney became Stony Brook's all-time leading Division I scorer, surpassing Bryan Dougher's 1,609 career point total Saturday.
- Warney’s 12.3 rebounds per game are sixth-best in the nation while his 3.6 blocks per contest rank second.
Weekly Award Winners
Nov. 16 - Player of the Week: Iba Camara, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Ernie Duncan, Vermont
Nov. 23 - Player of the Week: Trae Bell-Haynes, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Issac Vann, Maine
Nov. 30 - Co-Players of the Week: Willie Rodriguez, Binghamton & Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: George Blagojevic, Hartford
Dec. 7 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Devine Eke, Maine
Dec. 14 - Player of the Week: Will Darley, UMBC; Rookie of the Week: Joe Sherburne, UMBC