American East Conference

Vermont Claims 3rd-Straight #AEHoops Regular-Season Crown; Final Weekly Awards Announced

3/4/2019 3:46:54 PM

BOSTON – The men’s #AEPlayoffs picture is coming into full focus with just one regular-season game remaining. Vermont captured its third-straight regular-season title with its win over Stony Brook Saturday. Additionally, five other seeds were solidified with UMBC earning the #3 seed, UMass Lowell #5 seed, UAlbany #6, Binghamton #7 and Maine #8.
 
Stony Brook (11-4), UMBC (11-5) and Hartford (10-5) have already secured #AEPlayoffs quarterfinal home games and will be seeded #2-4. The winner of Tuesday’s Stony Brook at Hartford matchup will be #2 while the loser will be #4, based on the conference’s tiebreak criteria. The full #AEPlayoffs bracket will be announced Tuesday evening.

The 2019 #AEPlayoffs begin Saturday with quarterfinal action at Vermont, Stony Brook, UMBC and Hartford. The top two remaining seeds will host semifinal games on Tuesday, March 12 with the championship game to be held at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, March 16 at 11 a.m. #AEPlayoffs Central

#AEHoops MBB Last Week’s Results
Wednesday,  February 27
New Hampshire 62, at UAlbany 58
Hartford 96, at Binghamton 76
at Stony Brook 78, UMBC 63
UMass Lowell 70, at Maine 61
 
Saturday, March 2
Binghamton 83, at Maine 60
at UMBC 56, New Hampshire 53
at Hartford 82, UAlbany 80
at Vermont 56, Stony Brook 50

#AEHoops MBB This Week’s Schedule
Tuesday, March 5
UAlbany at Binghamton, 7 p.m.
Maine at New Hampshire, 7 p.m.
UMass Lowell at Vermont, 7 p.m.
Stony Brook at Hartford, 7 p.m.

Around #AEHoops

• Vermont captured its third-straight #AEHoops regular-season title on Saturday and ninth in program history.
• It’s only the fifth time a program has won three in a row and just the second time a team has won three consecutive outright crowns (Drexel).
• Vermont, Stony Brook, UMBC and Hartford have all clinched #AEPlayoffs home quarterfinal games. 
• Vermont has won 49 of its last 52 #AEHoops contests.
• The Catamounts have won 20 or more games in 11-straight seasons.
• Vermont (23-6) is ranked #13 in the CollegeInsider.com Top 25 while Stony Brook (23-7) is #20.
• Stony Brook won its 20th game of the season Feb. 9. It’s the Seawolves first 20-win campaign in three seasons and seventh in program history.
• UMBC has earned the #3 seed for the #AEPlayoffs. It’s the first time in program history it has earned top-three seeds in consecutive seasons.
• The Retrievers rank 19th in the nation in scoring defense (63.6 papg).
• Hartford, winner of four in a row and six of its last seven, can earn the #2 seed with a win over Stony Brook Tuesday, which would be its best since 2008.
• UMBC’s Joe Sherburne and UMass Lowell’s Christian Lutete earned CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District honors announced Thursday.
• Vermont’s John Becker earned his 100th career #AEHoops win in just his 120th game Feb. 2 becoming the fastest coach to reach the mark (Bill Herrion, Drexel – 127 games).
• America East teams have nine wins over Power 5/Atlantic 10 & Missouri Valley teams this season, including Stony Brook’s victory at South Carolina on Nov. 9 and Hartford over Boston College on Dec. 31.
• Juniors Anthony Lamb (Vermont) and Akwaski Yeboah (Stony Brook) were both named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List earlier this year. The award is given to the top mid-major player in the country.
• Lamb (21.1 ppg) ranks 30tht in the nation in scoring and has the eighth-best Player Efficency Rating (PER) at 33.1.
• 2018-19 is the 40^th men’s basketball season in America East history.

All season long, #AEHoops home games will air on ESPN3 and ESPN+. View the full schedule

Here are the week #16 men’s basketball award winners:

Player of the Week
George Blagojevic, Hartford – Sr., Forward, Geelong, Australia

• Averaged 27.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in a 2-0 week for Hartford.
• Shot 68 percent from the field (26-for-38).
• Had a career day of 32 points on 16-of-18 shooting in a win vs. Binghamton Wednesday.
• This is Blagojevic’s second #AEHoops Player of the Week honor this season and his career.

Rookie of the Week
Sam Sessom, Binghamton – Fr., Guard, Philadelphia, Pa.

• Averaged 23.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in a 1-1 week for Binghamton.
• Shot 53 percent from the floor (17-for-32).
• Tied program record with 34 points vs. Hartford Wednesday.
• This is Sessoms’ league-best seventh #AEHoops Rookie of the Week honor, tied for the third most in conference history.

Weekly Award Winners
Nov. 12 – Player of the Week: Akwasi Yeboah, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Sam Sessoms, Binghamton
Nov. 19 – Co-Players of the Week: Akwasi Yeboah, Stony Brook & Anthony Lamb, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Alex Rivera, UMass Lowell
Nov. 26 – Player of the Week: Andrew Garcia, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Sam Sessoms, Binghamton
Dec. 3 – Co-Players of the Week: Jason Dunne, Hartford & Akwasi Yeboah, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Cameron Healy, UAlbany
Dec. 10 – Player of the Week: Anthony Lamb, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Sam Sessoms, Binghamton
Dec. 17 – Player of the Week: George Blagojevic, Hartford; Rookie of the Week: Miles Latimer, Stony Brook
Dec. 24 – Co-Player of the Week: Christian Lutete, UMass Lowell & Anthony Lamb, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Sam Sessoms, Binghamton
Dec. 31 – Co-Player of the Week: Christian Lutete, UMass Lowell & Andrew Garcia, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Jules Moor, Stony Brook
Jan. 7 – Co-Player of the Week: J.R. Lynch, Hartford & Anthony Lamb, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Sam Sessoms, Binghamton 
Jan. 14 – Player of the Week: Anthony Lamb, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Robin Duncan, Vermont 
Jan. 21 – Player of the Week: Christian Lutete, UMass Lowell; Rookie of the Week: Jose Placer, UMBC
Jan. 28 – Player of the Week: Caleb Stewart, Binghamton; Rookie of the Week: Antonio Rizzuto, UAlbany
Feb. 4 - Player of the Week: Andrew Fleming, Maine; Rookie of the Week: Cameron Healy, UAlbany
Feb. 11 - Player of the Week: Anthony Lamb, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Sam Sessoms, Binghamton
Feb. 18 - Player of the Week: Anthony Lamb, Vermont; Rookie of the Week: Adam Lulka, UAlbany
Feb. 25 - Player of the Week: Akwasi Yeboah, Stony Brook; Rookie of the Week: Cameron Healy, UAlbany
March 4 - Player of the Week: George Blagojevic, Hartford; Rookie of the Week: Sam Sessoms, Binghamton
 
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