America East Conference Tournament: No. 1 Albany continued its march toward the America East Conference Tournament final with a 79-65 win against No. 8 Maryland – Baltimore County. Senior guard Lucious Jordan led the Great Danes with 22 points, pushing the team to a semifinal match up with No. 5 New Hampshire. Albany led for most of the game, including the entire second half.
New Hampshire advanced to play Albany after beating No. 4 Hartford 66-62. The Wildcats’ got 22 points from sophomore forward Mike Christensen. His biggest play of the game, however, came on defense when he stole the ball with less than 30 seconds remaining and the Wildcats only up by two. He hit two free throws to seal the game as Hartford could not hit clutch shots down the stretch.
No. 2 Binghamton will meet No. 6 Vermont in the American East Conference Tournament semifinals after beating No. 7 Maine 71-62. Senior guard Andre Heard led the Bearcats with 24 points and seven rebounds, including a dunk late in the second half that helped spur a 13-2 run that put away the Black Bears.
Vermont will continue its solid season Sunday thanks to a 64-61 upset victory against No. 3 Boston University in the quarterfinals. The Catamounts were the darling of the America East last season en route to a first-round upset of Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament. They lost the key members of that team, including seniors Taylor Coppenrath and T.J. Sorrentine and coach Tom Brennan, who retired after the season. Against the Terriers, Vermont got 12 points from freshman guard Mike Trimobli and sophomore forward Josh Duell, who came off the bench to shoot 4-of-6 from the field, including two three-pointers.
[3/04/06]
