America East Basketball News & Notes

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There are two weeks to go before the America East Conference tournament gets started. There are no longer any unbeaten teams thanks to Hartford’s surprising win at Vermont on Sunday afternoon. Here’s what else is going on in the conference.

🎥BIG WIN for @HartfordMBB! #AEHoops pic.twitter.com/H5V2paEZOI

— #AEHoops (@AEHoopsNews) February 18, 2018

The conference, by season’s end, has the opportunity to boast three teams with twenty wins. They are Vermont, Albany, and UMBC. There is an outside chance for a fourth team, Hartford which at the time of this writing has 16 wins. The Hawks, with three games left in the regular season, and at least one postseason game to play, could reach twenty wins. It will not be easy but it is doable. Bottom line, the America East Conference could have as many as four teams playing postseason basketball in March.

Speaking of UMBC, after playing 45 seasons in RAC Arena the team and the program open the Event Center on Saturday, February 3, when they play host to Vermont.

Maryland- Baltimore Country has been playing some good hoops of late. They are winners of nine of their last eleven games, and in second place in the league. The team also has the conference’s leading scorer in guard James Lyles who is averaging 20.9 PPG in 24 games for UMBC. His scoring average has him just outside the nation top 25, at number 26.

The Hartford Hawks are another team that is playing good basketball at the right time of year. Counting their big road win on Sunday in Burlington, VT. the Hawks have gone 13-5 since starting the year 3-6. The 16 wins are the program’s most wins since the 2014-15 season. Not bad for a team that was picked to finish eighth in the Preseason Poll. The team is being led by three juniors, John Carroll, Jason Dunne, and J. R. Lynch. Carroll is sixth in scoring at 15.2 a game, fifth in field goal pct at .483 and sixth in rebounding at 6.0 a contest. Dunne is eleventh in scoring at 14.8, first in three-point FG made at 2.9 a game, and tenth in steals with 1.2 a night. Lynch is third in assists at 4.1, second in free throws pct. .864, and second in minutes played 36.1 a game.

Jason Dunne of @HartfordMBB is the #AEHoops Player of the week. He averaged 22.5 pts. & 7.0 rebs. in a 2-0 week for Hartford; which included a win over Vermont that snapped the Catamounts’ 33-game conference win streak. pic.twitter.com/DR65CGpXBq

— America East (@AmericaEast) February 19, 2018

The America East Player of the week is Vermont’s Trae Bell-Haynes. The guard averaged 23.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists per game. It’s the third time this year that Bell-Haynes has earned the weekly award.

The America East Rookie of the week is Stony Brooks Ellijah Olanlyl, who also won the award for the third time this season. He averaged 10.0 PPG, 6.0 boards in a 2-0 week for the Seawolves.

That’s a wrap on another week in America East, so check back with us next week for more News & Notes.