BOSTON - After an exciting 2015-16 regular season came to an end on Saturday, the stage is for the start of the #AEPlayoffs this week. The top four seeds- #1 Stony Brook, #2 Albany, #3 Vermont and #4 New Hampshire- will host quarterfinal contests on Wednesday.
Albany's Greig Stire earned the last America East Player of the Week award of the season while Vermont's Ernie Duncan picked up Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour accolades for the second time this season.
Read more about the weekly award winners and conference notes below:
Player of the Week
Greig Stire, Albany - So., Forward, Albany, N.Y.
- Averaged a double-double of 17.0 points and 12.5 rebounds in two Albany wins last week.
- Shot 60.9 percent from the floor (14-of-23).
- Recorded first career double-double of 16 points and a career-best 15 rebounds in win over UMass Lowell Wednesday.
- Scored a career-high 18 points and added 10 boards in a win over Hartford Saturday.
Rookie of the Week presented by Under Armour
Ernie Duncan, Vermont - R-Fr., Guard, Evansvile, Ind.
- Averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in wins over New Hampshire and Stony Brook.
- Helped Vermont hand Stony Brook its first home loss by matching his career high with 23 points Saturday.
- Shot 8-for-12 from the floor, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point land and added six rebounds and three assists.
- This is his second award of the season (11/16).
Notes
- The 2015-16 #AEPlayoffs begin Wednesday with four quarterfinal contests.
- Top-seeded Stony Brook, which won its fourth regular-season title in the last seven years, will host #8 UMBC at 7 p.m.
- #2 Albany, whose 24 wins is their most in the regular season in their Division I history, will host #7 Hartford at 7 p.m.
- #3 Vermont, winner of five in a row including a win at Stony Brook Saturday, will host $6 Maine at 7:30 p.m.
- #4 New Hampshire, whose 36 wins over the last two years on their most in a two-year span in program history, host #5 Binghamton at 7:30 p.m.
- America East ranks 23rd out of 32 Division I conferences in RPI, according to the Feb. 29 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
Feb. 29 - Player of the Week: Greig Stire, Albany; Rookie of the Week: Ernie Duncan, Vermont