America East Basketball News & Notes: Holiday Edition

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We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. For the America East basketball conference, teams are taking this time to be with family before the New Year arrives. The second half of the season will begin with conference basketball and the road to the league tournament will get started on January 2. Here is where the league stands as the new year approaches.

One team is starting to get some attention in the polls and rankings. That team is UMass Lowell (10-4). In the NCAA Net Rankings, the River Hawks are at #165 which is the best in the league. Two other schools are inside the top 200. They are Maine at #174, and Bryant at #177. In the Ken Pom ranking, the River Hawks again are the best at #130, Bryant is at #194, and Maine is at #215. In the Mid-Major Top 25, the River Hawks received 34 votes, which puts them at # 28. The River Hawks enter the holiday break on a 5-game winning streak.

The other team playing really well of late is the Binghamton Bearcats (8-6) who have won six in a row. The Bearcats went 2-0 last week with wins over Mercyhurst and Army. Last Wednesday night, it took a buzzer-beating layup from Chris Walker to give the Bearcats the win, 62-60. The six-game winning streak is the longest since the 2017-18 season. The Bearcats’ last non-league game is Sunday on the road at Marist College.

One reason for Binghamton’s solid play has been the performance of forward Galvin Walsh. He is tied for 20th in the nation with five double-doubles in 13 games. He is joined on the list by River Hawks forward Max Brooks who is tied for 40th with four in 14 games. Walsh is also tied for 4th in the county in defensive rebounds with an average of eight a game.

Two guys who mean everything to their teams are among the leaders in minutes played. Bryant’s Earl Timberlake is 12th in the country with 435 total minutes played. He is averaging 36.2 a game in twelve games. NJIT Tariq Frances is 46th in the nation in minutes played. He has a total of 454 minutes in 13 games for an average of 35 a night.

For the past two years, Maine’s senior guard Kellen Tynes has become one of the best ballhawkers in the conference. At this point, he is #2 in the country in steals with 43 in 14 games. He is eight behind the leader Hayden Gray of UC San Diego who has 51 in 13 games. Tynes is fourth in the nation in steals per game at 3.07 in 14 games. He has helped the Black Bears get off to an 8-6 start.

Two teams that know how to turn shots aside are Bryany and Vermont. Both teams are in the top 50 in blocked shots. The Bulldogs are 34th in the country with 70 blocked shots in 14 games for an average of five a game. Vermont is tied for 47th in the nation with 66 in 14 games for an average of 4.7.

If there is one stat that as a team you may not want to be associated with is fouls per game. The UMass Lowell River Hawks and Vermont Catamounts find themselves in the top 50 of this list. The River Hawks are at #16 in the country and have committed 194 fouls in 14 games, 13.9 a game. They have had seven DQs so far this season. In their last game, which was a win over Boston University, the River Hawks had only nine fouls called on them. Something to keep in mind when close games take place during league play.

Vermont is #39 on this list as they have committed 206 fouls in 14 games for an average of 14.7 a game. The difference is that the Catamounts have only two DQs in those 14 games. Despite being called for more fouls, they have found a way to keep players in the game longer which could be helpful in conference play.

Taking care of the basketball is very important. Most nights it means the difference between winning and losing. The UAlbany Great Danes have been pretty good during that so far. In 14 games played, UAlbany has turned the ball over 144 times, for an average of 10.3 a game. That places them 40th in the country.

A couple of players are showing an ability to knock down shots from deep. UMBC’s Marcus Banks is tied for 14th with 42 makes in 99 attempts and Binghamton’s Ben Callahan-Gold is tied for 37th with 38 made threes in 87 attempts in 14 games.

Now for the weekly awards. For the second straight week, and for the fourth time in seven weeks, the River Hawks have swept those honors. In fact, this week’s winners are the same duo as last week’s winners. Max Brooks is this week’s America East Player of the Week. He led the River Hawks in both scoring and rebounding in their two wins last week. He averaged 19 points, shooting 74% from the field, and added 6.5 boards, six assists, four blocks, and two steals. On Saturday vs the Terriers, Brooks tallied 18 of his 20 points in the second half to help UMass Lowell get the win. Max is second in the nation in field goal percentage at .738 and is 11th in blocked shots per game at 2.5. The award is his second of the year.

Martin Somerville is once again the America East Rookie of the Week. This is the sixth overall award for him. He averaged 16.5 points and 3.5 assists in last week’s wins. He took game-high honors on Saturday with his 22 points off the River Hawks bench. He was 8-of-13 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point land.

That gives you an idea of where the players from America East stand with the rest of the country. Next week it begins. The chase for the regular season title and home court throughout the playoffs.