America East Basketball News & Notes: Bring on the Postseason

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The America East regular season comes to an end tonight. The only thing left to decide is who will play who when the postseason playoffs begin on Saturday. Those matchups will be announced after the games are done tonight. One thing we know for sure is, the top four seeds have been decided. For the eighth straight season, the Vermont Catamounts (24-6, 14-1) have won the regular season title. It is the eighth straight season for Vermont as the #1 seed in the playoffs. The road to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament could very well go through Burlington, VT again.

UMass Lowell will be the #2 seed. The River Hawks (20-8, 11-4) split their two games last week winning on Senior Night at Costello Athletic Center last Thursday night vs Bryant. Then, they lost to Vermont on Saturday. The path for the River Hawks could be the same as a year ago when they lost in the title game in Burlington.

Bryant is the #3 seed of the postseason. The Bulldogs (18-12, 10-5) rebounded nicely after their loss at Lowell. They took care of NJIT by a 101-82 score. Five Bulldogs were in double-figures led by a double-double off the bench from Daniel Rivera of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The #4 seed is the UNH Wildcats (15-13, 7-8). They enter their final home game of the year on a three-game losing streak. They will have Senior Night on Tuesday vs Vermont. Needless to say, the losing streak comes at the worst possible time. However, UNH is in the same position as a season ago. Senior forward Clarence Daniels gets his final chance at a postseason title. He is tied with Bryant Earl Timberlake with 11 double-doubles on the year.

The Vermont Catamounts ended the year as the best defensive team in the league allowing 62.3 points per game. That number is also ninth-best in the country. The Maine Black Bears (14-16, 6-9) are the only other league team in the top-50 in scoring defense in the country. They allowed 67 points a game, which ranks them 48th in the nation. Vermont is also 27th in the nation in assists/turnover ratio at 1.53 a game. The Catamounts are #9 in the nation in fouls per game. They average 13.6 fouls per game (409 over 30 games) they have not had a player foul out of any game this season. UNH is tied for 35th with an average of 15 fouls per game (420 in 28 games). They also have had five DQs this year. The River Hawks are 43th in the nation averaging 15.1 fouls per game (423 in 28 games). 12 players have fouled out this season.

On the individual side of things, Binghamton’s guard, Symir Torrence, is 24th in the country in assists with 172 in 23 games. Ayinde Hikim of UMass Lowell and Sebastian Thomas of UAlbany are tied for 48th in the country with 148. Torrence is third in the country in assists per game at 7.3. Hikim is 39th in the country at 5.3 a game. Bryant College Daniel Rivera is tied for 14th in blocks with 66 in 30 games. The River Hawks Max Brooks is tied for 22nd with 62 in 28 games.

Brooks is also 19th in the nation in blocks per game with 2.21. Rivera is 22nd at 2.20 a game. Earl Timberlake is 37th in rebounds with 270 on the year. Clarence Daniels is 46th with 260 boards. Hikim is 41st in the nation averaging 35.4 minutes a game. Thomas averaged 35.2 minutes a game which ranks him 50th in the country.

The America East Player of the Week is Vermont’s Aaron Deloney. He scored a career-high 33 points vs the River Hawks on Senior Day at Patrick Gym. He was 8-of-11 from 3-point land and added three steals. It is his first weekly award of the season. The AE Rookie of the Week is Binghamton’s Galvin Walsh. He averaged 13 points, and nine rebounds in a 2-0 week for the Bearcats. In their win over Maine on Thursday night, Walsh went for 19 points and nine boards. In Saturday’s win over the Wildcats, he had a nine-point, nine-rebound game in their road win in Durham, NH. For Walsh, this is his second weekly award.

Saturday is Day 1 of the Jersey Mike’s America East Men’s basketball tournament. If you have the chance, check out what promises to be some great college basketball. Next week we’ll look back at the final night of the regular season and the first day of the playoffs.