America East Basketball News & Notes: A "Nation" was born Sunday

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As the first half of the America East Conference season comes to an end, one storyline became clear. The UMass Lowell River Hawks (17-4, 5-2) are having a season to remember. Last week was a defining week for the team. They played two games, both at home, against two of the better teams in the league to date. When the dust settled after both games were played, it would be the River Hawks that stood tall with impressive wins over both UMBC and Bryant College. Those wins, coupled with their overall mark, have created a fan base called “Costello Nation” on social media. Sunday’s game vs Bryant was played before the first sold-out crowd in the division one history of the program. Good things are happening in Lowell. Let’s take a closer look.

The 17 wins are a program record for wins at the division one level. They are unbeaten at home (11-0), one of three programs across the country that can make that claim. For the sixth straight week, they find themselves ranked in the collegeinsider.com Top 25 mid-major poll at #24. Lowell started their week with a six-point win over the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, 81-75. Then on Sunday, they played what could be said to be one of the best first halves in the country defeating Bryant by a 98-79 score. In each game, the River Hawks shot 50% or better and they would score 50 points in the paint in both games. They are atop the standings in America East and look like the team to beat going forward. This week, Lowell will try to win their first games on the road in season play as they travel to Maine on Wednesday and then to the University of New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon.

One team that still could have a say in all of this is the defending champions the Vermont Catamounts (10-10, 4-2). They are healthy with both Finn Sullivan and TJ Hurley back in the lineup. Hurley and Sullivan returned to the lineup last Thursday night at home vs the Maine Black Bears (7-12, 1-5). Both would finish the game in double figures. Sullivan started and played 30 minutes and scored 13 points (5-of-12, 2-of-8 from deep) while Hurley came off the bench and played 24 minutes also scoring 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, 2-of-2 from deep, 3-of-3 from the foul line. These two would be Vermont’s only double-figures scorer on this night. On Sunday, in their 85-69 win over NJIT, Sullivan was the team’s leading scorer with 28 points on 10-of17 from the field, 6-of-11 from 3-point territory. He was one of three double-digit scores on Sunday. Vermont, one of three teams tied for second place in the league, will head to Binghamton on Wednesday. They return home on Saturday to face UMBC.

Despite the lopsided loss at Lowell on Sunday, the Bryant College Bulldogs (13-7, 4-3) are showing that the move from the Northeast Conference to America East was a smart choice. They lead the league in offense at 83.7 points per game which is also top-15 in the country. They lead in team defensive rebounding at 28.8 per game. They have two of the top-3 scorers in the league. Sherif Gross-Bullock is #1 at 17.1 a game and has scored in double-figures in 18 of 20 games played. Charles Pride is #3 at 15.5 a night. He recorded his first 20+ point game on Sunday in Lowell (27 points), and his sixth double-figure scoring game overall. They play only once this week, Saturday on the road at Binghamton.

The Highlanders of NJIT (5-14, 2-4) have had a rough go of it this season. One player who has been there night after night for his team is Miles Coleman. He is sixth in the league in scoring at 14.5 points per night, eighth in 3-point field goals per game at 1.8 (31 in 17G), and seventh in free throw percentage at .720 (54-of-75), For the Highlanders to turn their season around in the second half, some help for Coleman would be a big step in that direction.

The America East Player of the Week is UMass Lowell’s big man Abdoul Karim Coulibaly. In the 2-0 week for the River Hawks, Coulibaly was a big part of it on both ends of the floor. He recorded double-doubles in both wins over the Retrievers and Bulldogs going a combined 20-of-26 from the floor, with 26 rebounds. That’s come out to an average of 21 points and 13 rebounds for the two games. He now has seven double-doubles on the season with 12 double-digit scoring games. He is shooting over 60 % from the field for the year.

The America East Rookie of the Week is UAlbany Jonathan Beagle for a league-leading sixth time. Albany lost to Binghamton last Thursday night which was their only game. Beagley scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. He was 3-of-5 from the free-throw line as well. For the year, Beagley is averaging 12 points a game, 6.8 rebounds seventh in the league, and fifth in field goal percentage shooting 51.6%.

With the second half looming, the race for the top spot is getting interesting with three games in the loss column separating Lowell in the top spot and Albany and Maine who are tied for last place. Five weeks are left to settle this so good basketball is still left to be played. Next week we will be back with more from the America East Conference.