America East Basketball News and Notes: Happy Holidays

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We want to wish the fans of America East basketball a very Happy Holiday season!! Conference play is just two weeks away. With that in mind, here is what is happening around the league this week.

For the first time in league history, there are three teams that have won at least five non-conference games. Two of those teams, Vermont and Stony Brook, have a record above .500 and one, the UNH Wildcats, are at the .500 mark. All but one team, the Maine Black Bears, have at least five wins heading into Christmas. There is no clear cut favorite as we reach the holiday, Balance, for now, would be the best way to describe the league. There is still time for someone to break away from the pack. However, it looks like a bunched up league is what fans could be in store for.

The America East Player of the Week is Wildcat So. Nick Guadarrama. In last Wednesday’s victory over Marist, Nick recorded a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds. In New Hampshire’s loss on Sunday to UConn, Guadarrama had 19 points. For the week, he shot 67% from the floor (16-of-24) and for the two games played last week, Nick averaged 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds,and two assists. He is seventh in scoring at 15.8 a game.. He leads the league in rebounding averaging at 8.9 a game. He is also second in Field Goal Percentage at .559 (71-for-127), and is fourth in minutes played at 34.5 per game. This is his first weekly award.

The Rookie of the Week is Hartford forward Miroslav Stafl. On Sunday, he was a key figure in the Hawks comeback win over Cornell. Hartford finished the game on a 23-7 run and Stafl had six points in that run. Included was the go-ahead basket that helped his team to the win. For the game, Miroslav dropped 14 points and four boards in the win over the Big Red. He is third in Field Goal Percentage at .496 (57-for-115).

The best guard in the league may be Binghamton’s Sam Sessoms. He leads the league in scoring at 19.3 a game and is third in steals averaging 1.3 a game (16 in 12 games played). Sam is second in minutes played with 34.8 a night. Sessoms is third in Free Throws Percentage .828 (24-of-29) and is fifth in 3-Point FG Made at 2.3. (28 makes in 12 games).

Vermont is the best defensive team in the league allowing 58.8 points per game in 13 games played so far. They have the best margin as well at 8.4. The Cats are averaging 67.2 points a contest on offense. They are the best 3-Point FG defensive at 0.295 giving up 87 three pointers in 295 attempts. They are second in Turnovers Margin at 0.77 as they average 11.7 a night. Their opponent’s are at 12.5 and second in Assists/Turnovers Ratio at 1.08, 164 assists to 152 turnovers.

Enjoy the Holidays and next week, we will have more from America East.