America East Notebook
The first week of America East play is in the books, and the top of the conference has a look that surely no one expected in the preseason. Tied at 2-0 atop the standings are Hartford and UMBC, while Vermont is 1-0. Also noteworthy is that home and road teams have split thus far, each going 4-4.
The conference has had a number of key players at both ends of the experience scale, as seniors and freshmen seem to dominate the landscape. Boston University has had freshmen play a prominent role throughout the season, while Vermont might have the conference’s top freshman in Joe Trapani and two solid senior post players in Chris Holm (the conference’s top rebounder by far) and Martin Klimes. Albany has been keyed by the senior backcourt of Jamar Wilson and Jason Siggers, while freshman Brett Gifford has started ten games at center. Seniors Steve Proctor and Troy Hailey have helped lead Binghamton, while freshman Lazar Trifunovic has been their best post player. Hartford has one of the top freshmen in Joe Zeglinski. Maine is led by senior guards Kevin Reed and Jon Sheets, while redshirt freshman Junior Bernal has shown a lot of potential.
It all adds up to an improvement for the conference thus far (reflected in more non-conference wins this year), and one that should continue in the foreseeable future as the young talent matures.
Brown Suspended
Albany did not have head coach Will Brown in Saturday’s 83-72 loss at Binghamton. Brown was suspended for the game due to a violation of the conference’s Ethical Conduct policy for comments made about the team’s early schedule. The Great Danes play five games in ten days, including four in eight starting on Tuesday. Brown will be back with the team in Tuesday’s game at UMBC.
Team Notebooks
Albany (8-6, 1-1 America East)
The Great Danes split last week’s opening America East games and are at the beginning of the aforementioned tough stretch of games. Jamar Wilson, the conference’s leading scorer, led the way in the win over New Hampshire on Wednesday with 20 points. His primary support has come from improving forward Brent Wilson and senior guard Jason Siggers, who has done well since moving into the starting lineup. As more depth develops outside of the starting lineup, especially up front, they will get better and remain a contender for the top.
Albany starts its stretch of four games in eight days this week with road dates at UMBC (Tuesday) and Vermont (Saturday) sandwiched around a home game against Maine on Thursday.
Binghamton (8-6, 1-1)
The Bearcats have been a streaky team, putting together two three-game winning streaks with a three-game losing streak in between them. The perimeter has been a source of strength, with juniors Mike Gordon and Richard Forbes and seniors Steve Proctor and Troy Hailey leading the way, while freshman Lazar Trifunovic has been the top post player thus far and has garnered a Rookie of the Week honor. In Saturday’s win over Albany, Forbes led the way with 25 points. The Bearcats’ main questions are up front, where Ian Milne has played in just five games due to injury and only Trifunovic and Duane James average more than 20 minutes per game.
This week, the Bearcats begin a stretch of four games in eight days with a home game against Boston University (Thursday) sandwiched around road dates with Stony Brook (Tuesday) and Maine (Saturday).
Boston University (3-10, 0-1)
It’s been an up-and-down season with flashes of potential at times for the Terriers, one of the least experienced teams in the country. Dennis Wolff’s team starts three or four freshmen each time out, and the growing pains are evident. Uncharacteristic of recent Terrier teams, this one has struggled at the defensive end, where opposing teams are shooting nearly 45 percent from the field against them.
In Saturday’s double-overtime loss at Hartford, the Terriers committed 23 turnovers, another trouble spot as only Vermont turns it over more among America East teams. On the bright side, Corey Lowe had 23 points with some clutch shooting in the second half, while Carlos Strong showed some of the potential he first showed in the early part of the season with 18 points on 6-7 shooting from long range. Lowe and Tyler Morris have been the best of the freshmen, while Scott Brittain has moved into the starting lineup.
The Terriers have two home games (Maine on Tuesday and New Hampshire on Saturday) along with a road game (Binghamton on Thursday) this week.
Hartford (8-6, 2-0)
The Hawks are probably the most pleasant surprise thus far, with a winning overall record and a 2-0 start in conference play. With the heavy personnel losses from last season, this looked like a major rebuilding year, but new head coach Dan Leibovitz has already made noticeable progress building this program. Not only do they have an 8-6 overall record, but after Saturday’s double-overtime thriller against Boston University, the Hawks are 2-0 in overtime games and 5-1 in games decided by five points or less.
The Hawks won their first two America East games with a senior and a freshman leading the way in scoring. Senior Bo Taylor had a game-high 15 points as they held on for a 62-60 win at Maine last Wednesday, while freshman Joe Zeglinski was Mr. Clutch on Saturday en route to 22 points in their win over Boston University.
Hartford begins a stretch of four games in eight days on Thursday when they travel to New Hampshire, followed by a home date Saturday with Stony Brook.
Maine (5-9, 0-2)
The Black Bears have hit a rough patch, ending the week with four straight losses after losing their first two conference games at home. Their struggles begin at the offensive end, where they have been streaky shooting the ball and have more turnovers than assists. They have yet to win when allowing more than 70 points in a game, meaning that they have to win low-scoring games. Their defense has been fine to this point, for the most part.
Maine led at the half in each of their last two games, and by the same score (35-30). Hartford simply took better care of the ball on Wednesday, turning it over just four times to win despite four Black Bears scoring in double figures. New Hampshire shot nearly 47 percent from the field on Saturday to spoilt a 23-point, nine-rebound effort from Reed.
It doesn’t get any easier this week for the Black Bears, who first hit the road to play at Boston University and Albany before returning home to host Binghamton on Saturday.
New Hampshire (4-10, 1-1)
The Wildcats had their struggles in non-conference play, especially at the offensive end. They have rebounded to win three of five, splitting last week’s conference openers. Only two teams are shooting worse and only Vermont has a worse turnover margin, and the Wildcats are also getting beat badly on the glass.
Seniors Blagoj Janev (13.7) and Jermaine Anderson (13.4) and junior Mike Christensen (13.7) are carrying this team’s scoring load. The three combined for 42 of their 52 points in the loss at Albany on Wednesday, then Christensen’s career-high 28 points led the way in their win over Maine as the three combined for 62 of their 73 points (Janev and Anderson each had 17).
The Wildcats finally get to return home after an eight-game road trip, hosting Vermont (Tuesday) and Hartford (Thursday) before hitting the road again to take on Boston University on Saturday.
Stony Brook (5-9, 0-2)
The non-conference slate was a bit up and down for this developing squad, which ended the week with their second three-game losing streak of the season. They had a nice road win at Penn State to highlight non-conference play.
Last week, the Seawolves led at the half in each game, but didn’t get the job done defensively in the second half. Leading scorer Ricky Lucas had 18 in Wednesday’s loss at Vermont, while Mike Popoko and Mitchell Beauford led the way against UMBC. The Seawolves have had issues at the point, where they are last in the conference in assists and assist/turnover ratio.
The Seawolves host Binghamton on Tuesday before traveling to Hartford on Saturday.
UMBC (6-9, 2-0)
Since joining America East, the Retrievers have had their struggles away from home, but that may be changing. After sweeping the opening week, they are 2-0 on the road in conference play and 5-6 overall. Junior Brian Hodges has become the kind of go-to guy he looked like he could be as a freshman, leading the team in scoring in nine of the last 11 games and scoring over 15 per game on the season. Floor leader Jay Greene has developed into one of the top playmakers in the conference, as the sophomore is second in assists and assist/turnover ratio. The frontcourt, a question mark entering the season, has been better than expected. Senior Mike Housman, who is second in the conference in rebounding, leads the way, while freshman Justin Fry has worked his way into the starting lineup.
The Retrievers get a chance to come home this week for games against Albany (Tuesday) and Vermont (Thursday).
Vermont (9-5, 1-0)
Vermont finished a good non-conference run at 8-5, then started America East play with an 80-69 win over Stony Brook on Wednesday. They are the only team in the conference with a positive scoring margin thus far and look every bit a contender behind the excellent play of Mike Trimboli, who leads the conference in assists, stud freshman Joe Trapani, who is third in scoring and led the way with 23 points against Stony Brook, and Chris Holm inside. One possible area of concern is taking care of the ball, as no team turns it over more than the Catamounts.
The Catamounts have a challenging slate this week, as they hit the road to play New Hampshire on Tuesday and UMBC on Thursday before returning home to take on Albany on Saturday.
