America East Basketball News & Notes: Conference Seeks Turnaround After Rough First Month

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The reality of life in a low-major conference often means a difficult non-conference schedule, and the first month of the America East (AE) men’s basketball season is proving to be a rough stretch. The league holds a cumulative record of 19-38, driven by challenging road games designed to bring in revenue. Only two teams, UMBC and Vermont, are currently above the .500 mark, with seven remaining teams sitting below. Crucially, Maine and UMass Lowell have yet to secure a Division I victory. The simple hope for all nine programs is to perform better in January and February than they have in November and December.

The Winless and the Rebuilding

Two programs are facing particularly difficult starts:

Maine Black Bears (0-6): The Black Bears are currently riding a six-game losing streak, hampered primarily by a struggling offense that ranks last in the league, averaging only 58.2 points per game. Despite the offensive woes, their defense is the best in the conference, limiting opponents to 68.3 points a contest, resulting in a respectable margin of -10.2. Maine also leads the AE in blocked shots (4.0 per game) and boasts the conference’s best three-point defense, holding opponents to just .233 shooting from deep. The presence of talented forward Ace Flagg has helped boost home attendance, with the Black Bears averaging 1,260 fans per home game.
UMass Lowell River Hawks (1-6): The River Hawks are in complete rebuild mode, having returned virtually no production from last year’s roster (zero points, zero rebounds, zero assists). Their lack of continuity shows in their defensive metrics: they are last in the league in Opponent Field Goal Percentage (47.3%) and last in overall defense, surrendering 84 points per game. Offensively, they rank second-to-last in team rebounding (33.4 per game) and have struggled with ball security, ranking second in the league in total turnovers (111).

Defending Champions Stumble

The defending conference champion, the Bryant Bulldogs (1-5), are also facing an expected but tough transition, having replaced not only key players but also their head coach. The results have been disappointing, with the team ranking next-to-last in scoring (56.8 points per game) and last in the league in scoring margin at -15 per night. While their field goal percentage is a league-worst .350, the good news is their success at the charity stripe: they are the conference’s best free-throw shooting team at 80%. However, they rank last in team rebounding (40.5 per game) and second-to-last in both turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio.

Weekly Award Winners

Despite the collective struggles, individual excellence has been recognized:

AE Player of the Week: TJ Hurley (Vermont): Hurley earned his first weekly award of the season after a road loss at Buffalo where he posted 24 points, seven boards, and two steals, including an efficient 8-of-9 performance from the foul line and four three-pointers.
AE Rookie of the Week: JJ Massaquoi (UMass Lowell): Massaquoi earned his first career weekly honor, averaging 18 points, four rebounds, and 1.5 steals for the week, capped by an 18-point, four-rebound, two-assist effort in the loss to St. Peter’s.

Next week, the America East conference enters the final stretch before the holiday break, hoping for better results that will lay the foundation for a more competitive conference season.