ALBANY, N.Y. - For the seventh time, the America East men's basketball championship game will be a rematch of the previous year as top-seeded Albany and third-seeded Stony Brook will meet to determine the 2015 league champion on Saturday at 11 a.m. at SEFCU Arena. The winner will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, where America East teams have won eight games all-time, including two in the last three years.
The matchup features two of the top teams in the conference as their 46 combined wins are the most by championship game participants since 2007. Great Danes are seeking their fifth title all-time, including their third in a row, which would place them in elite company as only three other programs have won three straight titles. The Seawolves are making their fourth championship game appearance in five years, but still in search of their first title.
The game will be televised nationally with Bob Picozzi and Tim Welsh on the call. Westwood One will also broadcast the game on national radio with Brandon Gaudin and former Vermont coach Tom Brenna on the call. Here are notes on the teams and the matchup:
No. 1 Albany Great Danes
- Albany is making its third-straight title game appearance and fifth all-time.The Great Danes have won eight-straight tournament games, the fourth-longest streak in league history.
- Albany is 8-1 all-time in tournament games held at SEFCU Arena.
- The Great Danes have won five straight and 18 of their last 19 games.
- Albany captured its first America East regular-season title since the 2005-06 season this season.
- Will Brown's 16 America East Championship wins are tied for second most on the league's all-time list (Dennis Wolff).
- Sam Rowley earned first team all-conference honors after averaging 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest in the regular season.
- He was joined by Evan Singletary (first-team), Peter Hooley (second team) and Ray Sanders (third team) as all-leaguers.
No. 3 Stony Brook Seawolves
- Stony Brook is making its fourth championship game appearance in the last five years.
- Stony Brook has eclipsed the 20-win mark for the fourth-straight year and fifth time in the last six.
- The Seawolves have won eight games in a row, the longest streak in the league.
- Ten of Stony Brook's 14 tournament wins have come in the last six years with just four coming in their first eight years in the league.
- Stony Brook's +8.8 rebound margin is second-best in the country.
- Jameel Warney became just the sixth player to repeat as America East Player of the Year and the third to also earn Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
- Warney averages league bests of 16.4 points, 11.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per contest.
The Matchup
- It’s the sixth-consecutive year the two teams will have met in the tournament.
- This will be the 67th meeting all-time between the SUNY rivals.
- Albany holds a 39-27 edge and has won four of the last six meetings.
- Stony Brook is 3-2 advantage vs. Albany in tourney play but the Great Danes have won the last two meetings.
- The two teams split the regular-season series with each winning on the road.
- Albany won the first meeting, 64-47, on Jan. 21 by holding Stony Brook to a season-low 47 points.
- Stony Brook took the second meeting, 59-56, on Feb. 17, Albany's lone conference loss and first defeat in 14 games.
- Sam Rowley averaged 14 points and 10.5 rebounds in the two meetings while Jameel Warney averaged 18.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.0 blocks.
Cleaning up the Glass
- This will be the seventh time in the conference's history that the championship game is a rematch of the previous year. The reigning champion is 5-1 in the rematch game.
- Home teams are 25-6 in America East title games but the road team has won three-straight games.
- Albany is trying to become the first No. 1 seed to win the championship since 2009, the longest drought for the top seed in league history.
- With a win, the Great Danes would become just the fourth program to win five America East titles and the third to do so in a 10-year span.
- This will be the seventh time the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds meet in the conference championship game and the first time since 2000. No. 1 seeds are 5-1 against No. 3 seeds in title games.