America East Basketball News & Notes: Milestones, Rookies, and the Run to January 3rd

Read Time:3 Minute, 1 Second

January 3rd is fast approaching, marking the highly anticipated start of America East conference play in men’s basketball. While the league’s overall record remains below .500, teams are showing encouraging signs of individual and collective improvement during the non-conference slate. This week, we highlight key milestones, award winners, and also check in on the women’s side of the conference.

Vermont Catamounts (5-4)

The Catamounts, though currently on a skid of four losses in their last five games—three by six points or less—continue to play tough against quality opponents like Liberty and Rhode Island. A major milestone was reached in Sunday’s home loss to Yale (77-74) when guard TJ Hurley became the 41st player in Catamounts history to reach the 1,000-point club with his 19-point effort. Vermont also boasts the reigning AE Player of the Week in forward Gus Yalden. He averaged 18.5 points and 4.3 rebounds last week, including a career-high 27 points in Wednesday’s win over Princeton, and team-highs of 22 points and seven rebounds against the Bulldogs on Sunday.

Bryant Bulldogs (2-6)

The Bryant Bulldogs welcome the AE Rookie of the Week, guard Ty Tabales, who is the first Bryant player ever to earn the league’s Rookie of the Week honor. Tabales averaged 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in a 1-1 week for the Bulldogs, scoring in double figures in both contests. In their home win against Mercy, he had 10 points. In Saturday’s loss to Harvard, Tabales notched a season-high 15 points, featuring six three-pointers, and added season-highs of six assists and four steals. He has now scored in double figures in the team’s last three games, averaging 11.6 points, while leading the team with 2.5 assists per night.

UMass Lowell River Hawks (3-6)

The UMass Lowell River Hawks are bouncing back after a tough 1-4 road trip. They successfully snapped a six-game losing streak with a 75-64 road win at Stonehill on Wednesday afternoon. Despite the prior skid, the River Hawks showed potential by holding a halftime lead in three of those five road games. Freshman JJ Massaquoi continues to be a scoring threat, posting double-figures in five of eight games so far, including a season-high 26 points at Wake Forest.

UMBC Retrievers (5-2)

UMBC’s senior guard Jah’Likai King also reached the 1,000-point milestone. He achieved the mark on November 19 in a road loss at George Washington, needing only four points and hitting the layup just 48 seconds into the second half. Notably, 934 of those points were scored at the Division II level for the University of New Haven before his transfer to UMBC. The Retrievers are off to a strong start at 5-2, remaining perfect at 4-0 at home. They face a tough challenge at Georgetown on Wednesday night.

Women’s America East Spotlight

On the women’s side, a special shout-out goes to Maine’s redshirt senior forward Adrianna Smith. She recorded the first triple-double in Maine’s program history since 2015 in a win over St. Francis, going for 19 points, 13 rebounds (matching a season-high), and 10 assists. Smith also added four blocks in the victory. For the week, she averaged an impressive 15.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.5 blocks, and 2 steals, earning her eighth career AE Player of the Week nod.

We will have more news from the America East Basketball Conference next week as the countdown to conference play continues!