America East Basketball News & Notes: Time for Conference Hoops

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At long last we have arrived at the best time of the year if you are a college basketball fan. On Saturday, the America East Conference will begin league play. Four games are scheduled to kick off the 2025 portion of the season. Only NJIT will not be playing in the league on Saturday. The race for the league championship and the #1 seed in the conference tournament begins on Saturday.

The UMass Lowell River Hawks (11-4) begin play riding a six-game winning streak. In the latest Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, the River Hawks are just outside the top 25 at #28. They received 34 votes toward the top 25. In the latest Net Ranking Poll done by the NCAA, The River Hawks are at #164 which is the best in the league. They have the best offense in the league averaging 85.1 points per game. Their margin of victory is at 12 per game and their defense allows 73.1 a game which is good for 5th best in the league. They lead the league in assists per game with 16.6 a night, team defense rebounds with 28.9 a game, as well as combined opponent rebounds at 31.3. As we begin league play, the River Hawks are the team the rest of the league is chasing.

There were some games played on Sunday afternoon. Maybe the best of them took place at Bender Arena in Washington, DC. UMBC (8-7) was on the road taking on American University out of the Patriot League. It would take two overtimes before a winner was declared. The Retrievers, with four starters in double-figures led by Marcus Banks with 28 points and 9 rebounds, came away with a 96-93 victory. UMBC’s 3-point shooting was a key as the team was 7-of-20 (35%). Banks was 6-of-13 from deep and 11-of-20 from the field. The Retrievers did an outstanding job of taking care of the ball turning the ball over only nine times. They had 21 assists on 38 made baskets. This is the kind of road win that can really do wonders for UMBC.

Another Patriot League vs America East matchup took place at The Pit in Orono, Maine. The Black Bears (8-7) hosted the Boston University Terriers. Things were looking good for the home team as they left the floor with a 27-19 halftime lead. But in the second half, it was BU that was looking good. They shot 59% from the floor in the second half, 50% from deep, and 60% from the free throw line to pick up a come-from-behind road win, 59-56. Maine had only two players in double-figures, guard Kellen Tynes with 17 points and off the bench, Christopher Mantis with 12 points in 28 minutes. The second-half shooting did the Black Bears in as they were 9-of-26 for 34.6% and from 3-point range they were 5-of-16 for 31.3%. They were outscored 40-29 in the second half.

UAlbany (8-7) picked up a wire-to-wire win over Stony Brook from the CAA. The 77-70 win was backed by 40 points off the Great Danes bench. Justin Neely with 16 points and 9 boards and Kacper Klaczek with 10 points and 4 boards led the way. Free-throw shooting was also key as UAlbany went 17-of-20 (85%) from the line. On defense, the Great Danes were pretty good too holding Stony Brook to 40% (24-of-60) shooting from the field. The Great Danes also put up 38 points in the paint.

The Binghamton Bearcats (8-7) went on the road Sunday and faced a good Marist College team. The 69-51 loss was based on a second half that saw Marist outscore Binghamton by a 46-24 count. It erased a three-point Bearcat lead at the half. The Bearcats had only one player in double-figures, Ben Callahan-Gold with 10 points. The Bearcats had problems from 3-point range shooting only 5-of-20 (25%), 0-7 in the second half. Meanwhile, Marist shot 63% from the floor in the second half, and 66.7% from deep in the final twenty minutes.

On Saturday we get started. Vermont is at New Hampshire, UMass Lowell is at UAlbany, Maine is at Bryant, and UMBC is at Binghamton. Enjoy America East league play that is about to begin.