America East Basketball News & Notes: A Better Week for the League

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As Thanksgiving week begins, the America East Conference members will spend the holidays playing hoops. Some will have tournaments to play in, while others will have individual games to play. It’s all good though, as the league continues to get ready for league play which is just five weeks away. Let’s look at how last week went for the league.

The UMass Lowell River Hawks headlined last week’s action. On Saturday, they play host to the Quinnipiac Bobcats as part of the 314 Classic that is being run by the St. Louis Billikens of the Atlantic 10. Down by as much as fifteen points late in the first half, the River Hawks came roaring back in the second half behind the play of 5th-year guard Quinton Mincy who scored a career-high 31 points. His effort allowed him to be named Player of the Week for the second time this season but more on that later. Mincy was not the only player that came through during the comeback as freshman guard Martin Somerville added 16 points and five assists. He was named Rookie of the Week for his efforts. The River Hawks are 5-2 and there are reasons why.

They are currently second in the league in assists averaging 15.7 a game. They are first in the league and 44th in the country in field goal percentage at 50%. 5th-year forward Max Brooks is leading the way at 67.4% from the field. Somerville is 24th in the nation in free throw shooting at 94.7%. That leads the league as well. As a team, they averaged 86.7 points per game, also #1. Now they have played a couple of Division III schools. But this team is deep and good, and a force to consider come March. They are 3-0 vs the Metro Athletic Conference with wins over St.Peter’s, Merrimack, and Quinnipiac.

As for the rankings. In the Ken Pom, UMass Lowell is at #125. That is the lowest in the league. Vermont is second at #138. In the Small Conference top 25 poll, the River Hawks are at #3, and Vermont is at #17. Bryant dropped out of the top 25 based on a road loss to Stonehill last week.

There are the struggling teams in the league. One of those is the NJIT Highlanders. They have lost their first six games of the year and it’s rather simple to figure out why. They are last in scoring at 59.7 points per game, last in defense allowing 77.2 points per game, and last in scoring margin at -17.5 points a game. The hill is already pretty steep to climb but the good news for them is it’s only November. There is plenty of time to fix what is wrong.

Another team off to a rough start is the UNH Wildcats at 2-8. The Wildcats have lost two in a row. They too have had troubles on both ends of the floor as they average 65.9 points per game while allowing 75.7 for a margin of victory of -9.8. A bright spot has been the play of Anthony McComb III who is sixth in the league in scoring at 14.4 points per game playing 29 minutes a game.

UAlbany is tied with UMass Lowell on top of the league at 5-2. They have the fourth-best offense in the league at 77.4 points per game and their defense is ranked second-best at allowing 66.4 points a night. Their margin of victory is the best in the league at +11.0. DeMarr Langford Jr. is fourth in field goal percentage at .544 (31-of-57) and Justin Neely is eighth in free throw shooting at .788 (26-of-33).

The Binghamton Bearcats are off to a slow start at 2-5 and have lost two in a row. They are sixth in offense at 66.9 points, allowing 73.6 which is fourth best. Their margin of victory is -6.7. Ben Callaham-Gold leads the league in 3-point field goals made at 3.1 a night (22 in seven games). His percentage of .393 (22-of-56) is good for sixth in the league and his field goal percentage of .491 is 12th best (32-of-71).

Back to the awards winners. For the second time this season, the River Hawks swept them. Mincy averaged 20 points, five rebounds, and 4.5 assists for UMass Lowell last week. His 31 vs the Bobcats was a combination of long-range and in-close shooting. He would follow that up with a second double-double of the season in Monday’s win over Merrimack with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Mincy is leading the league in scoring at 18.3 points a game. This is Mincy’s second Player of the Week honor.

Martin Somerville averaged 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists last week. This is his first Rookie Weekly Award. Not only does he lead the league in free throw shooting but Somerville is tied for ninth in steals with 1.3 a game.

Next week, we will look at how the league did in some of these holiday tournaments going on across the country.