America East Basketball News & Notes: Maine on a Bit of a Roll

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As week six of the college basketball season begins, the America East Basketball Conference continues to make noise. Three members of the league find themselves in this week’s Small Conference Week 5 Top-25 poll. Vermont at #4, UMass Lowell at #11, and Maine at #22. In the Mid-Major Top 25 poll, the Vermont Catamounts sit at #15, while the River Hawks received some votes as well. The conference is making itself seen and it will make league play even more fun to watch. Here is how America East looks as week six gets underway.

The league posted eight more non-conference wins and America East has a 52-39 (.577%) record. Seven of the nine teams are at .500 or better. The Black Bears have a four-game winning streak thanks to wins over Boston University and Central Conn. State. The Binghamton Bearcats also won back-back games last week. The schedule is a little light this week with only nine games as schools take time to finish up final exams.

Maine (8-4) is off to a great start. The eight wins are the most non-league wins since the 2009-10 season. Their defense is the best in the league allowing only 63-2 points a game. Their margin of victory is at 7.3 points a game. Maine also has the best turnover margin at 2.92 (Maine has 133, opponents at 168). They lead the league in steals averaging nine a game (108 in 12 games). Guard Kellen Tynes is third in steals at 1.9 a game (23 in 12 games). Jayden Clayton is fifth at 1.7 (20 in 12 games). Clayton is fourth in assists with 4.3 (51 in 12 games), and Tynes is seventh at 3.7 a game (44 in 12 games). The backcourt duo is a big reason why the Maine Black Bears are off to a good start.

The Binghamton Bearcats (6-4) are getting big-time play from Symir Torrence who leads the league in both assists at 5.7 a game (67 assists in 10 games) and in assists/turnover ratio at 2.2 (67 assists to 30 turnovers). He is also eighth in minutes played averaging 31.4 minutes in 10 games. He is eighth in rebounding at 5.9 a game. The team is second in rebounding margin at four a game (389 for the team, 349 for the opponents). They lead the league in assists averaging 15 a game (150 in ten games).

The Bryant College Bulldogs (6-5) are getting solid play from their starting five. Sherif Gross-Bullock is fourth in scoring at 16.7 a game. He leads the league in 3-point FG made 3.1 a night (34 in 11 games). He is fifth in minutes played at 32.2 a game. Earl Timberlake is sixth in assists averaging 4.1 a contest (45 in 11 games), and he is third in assists/turnover ratio at 1.9 (45 assists to 24 turnovers). Daniel Rivera leads in blocked shots at 2.1 a game (23 in 11 games). The team is #1 in opponent FG percentage at 0.378%, and first in team defensive rebounding at 30.7 (338 in 11 games). The Bulldogs are 28th in the country in blocked shots per game at 6.5.

The UMass Lowell River Hawks (6-3) have finally gotten off the road and can look forward to spending some time at home. They are putting themselves in a position to possibly make history come March. Along with their spot in the small conference Top 25 poll, they also have a net ranking of 82. They are the only team in the league that is inside the top 100. Max Brooks has been doing his job as a rim protector as he is 46th in the country with 18 block shots. The team is 29th in the nation in blocked shots at 6.5 a game. Guard Ayinde Hikim leads the league with five 20+point games and he is second in the league averaging 19 a game.

The above .500 record in the early going for the league is doing something else that is good news, it is putting people in the seats. Four teams are averaging over one thousand fans per home game. UAlbany (2,210), Binghamton (2,098), Vermont (1,840), and UMBC (1,554). With conference play set to begin in early January, those numbers should go up.

The AE Player of the Week is Binghamton senior guard Tymu Chenery who had a monster game vs LeMoyne last week. He put up a double-double of 31 points and 12 rebounds in the Bearcats only game of the week. He was 13-of-17 from the field and 5-of-6 from deep. His 13 made 3’s are the most in America East. The AE Rookie of the Week is Ace Valentine of UMBC. He averaged seven points, and 5.5 boards in two road games that were lost by the Retrievers. Against Morgan State, Valentine had eight points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Against Towson, he had six points, nine assists, and two steals. For both players, this is their first weekly award.

We will be back with more from the America East next week.