BOSTON - Entering the final week of the America East men's basketball regular season, Stony Brook has claimed its fourth conference regular-season title in the last seven seasons and will be the top seed for the upcoming #AEPlayoffs. Albany (11-3), New Hampshire (10-4) and Vermont (9-5) have also clinched top four seeds will host quarterfinal games. Those three teams as well as Binghamton (4-10), Maine (4-10), Hartford (3-11) and UMBC (2-12) will have their tournament seeds determined this week.
Vermont's Cam Ward picked up America East Player of the Week accolades while Albany's Joe Cremo is the Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour for the third time this season.
Read more about the weekly award winners and conference notes below:
Player of the Week
Cam Ward, Vermont - Soph., Guard, Marshall, Wisc.
- Averaged 20.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in two Vermont wins last week.
- Played just 24.5 minutes per game in the two contests.
- Shot 76.5 percent (13-of-17) for the week.
- Had 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting in a win over Binghamton Wednesday.
- Tallied a career-high 24 points on perfect 7-fo-7 shooting, including 6-for-6 from three-point land, and added four rebounds and three assists in a victory at UMBC Saturday.
Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour
Joe Cremo, Albany - Fr., Guard, Scotia, N.Y.
- Scored a game-high 16 points in just 14 minutes of action as Albany dealt Stony Brook its first conference loss Wednesday.
- Shot 3-of-5 from the field and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
- Added three rebounds, two assists and a pair of steals.
- This is his third weekly honor of the season.
Notes
- Stony Brook, Albany, New Hampshire and Vermont have secured top four seeds and quar-terfinal hosting rights for the America East Playoffs.
- Stony Brook clinched its fourth America East regular-season title in seven years with its win at Maine Sunday. The Seawolves will be the No. 1 seed for the #AEPlayoffs and hold home court advantage throughout the tournament.
- Stony Brook holds a league-best RPI of 51, the best rating for an America East team this late in the season since Vermont’s 2004-05 squad finished at #25.
- Stony Brook is ranked 12th in the College Insider Mid Major Poll.
- Second-place Albany (10-3) has reached the 20-win mark for the third time in the last four years and is a perfect 12-0 at home this season. The Great Danes's snapped Stony Brook's 18-game win streak Wednesday.
- New Hampshire's 36 wins over the last two seasons are its most over a two-year span in program history.
- America East ranks 23rd out of 32 Division I conferences in RPI, according to the Feb. 22 College Basketball News RPI Report, a four-spot improvement from this time last year.
- Eight of America East’s nine teams have better RPIs than at this time last year.
- America East teams combined for 55 regular-season non-conference wins, the most since the 2012-13 season and 11 more than a year ago.
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
Dec. 21 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Everson Davis, Binghamton
Dec. 28 - Player of the Week: Carson Puriefoy, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Joe Cremo, Albany
Jan. 4 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Joe Cremo, Albany
Jan. 11 - Player of the Week: Mike Rowley, Albany; Rookie of the Week: George Blagojevic, Hartford
Jan. 18 - Player of the Week: Ethan O'Day, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Devine Eke, Maine
Jan. 25 - Player of the Week: Tanner Leissner, New Hampshire; Rookie of the Week: Issac White, UMass Lowell
Feb. 1 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Issac Vann, Maine
Feb. 8 - Player of the Week: Jairus Lyles, UMBC; Rookie of the Week: Issac White, UMass Lowell
Feb. 15 - Player of the Week: Jameel Warney, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Logan Primerano.,UMass Lowell
Feb. 22 - Player of the Week: Cam Ward, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Joe Cremo, Albany