America East Basketball News & Notes: Big Week for Maine and UMass Lowell

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We are now just three weeks from the season-opening weekend of America East basketball. Last week was a strong week for two members. Both Maine And UMass Lowell went 2-0 and for the Black Bears, their wins were on the road. The River Hawks won their games at home. For the third time this season, UMass Lowell swept the weekly awards. Thirteen non-conference games are on tap this week so let’s see where the league stands.

Speaking of those River Hawks (8-4), they have won three in a row with two games scheduled for this week. They are currently ranked in the top 25 in four team categories. They are tied for sixth in the nation in free throws made with 20, 21st in defensive rebounds at 28.67 per game, ninth in field goal percentage at 50.5% a game, and they are 25th in free throw percentage at 78.18 a game. The River Hawks received 26 votes in this week’s Mid-Major Top 25 poll.

The Maine Black Bears (8-5) took to the road last week and came away with two road wins at Duquesne and Canisius. In the win vs the Dukes, three Black Bears starters finished in double-figures. A J Lopez with 17, Kellen Tynes with 12, and Quion Burns with 10. The Black Bears had 13 steals in the game which featured 8 ties and 13 lead changes. Against Canisius, Burns had 17 and Tynes finished with 15 points and nine assists. Maine was helped out by getting 29 points off the bench with 25 of those points coming from Christopher Mantis (15) and Killian Gribben (10). Tynes is fourth in the nation averaging three steals a game.

Vermont (5-7) welcomed back Nick Fiorillo who had missed the last three games for the Catamounts. He played 33 minutes and led the team in scoring with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, 5-of-7 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Despite the five-point loss to the Red Raiders, it was good to see Nick back on the court if you are a Vermont fan.

Bryant College (6-7) welcomed back one of their own in Earl Timberlake on Saturday. He had missed the last two games for the Bulldogs. At Mohegan Sun on Saturday, Timberlake recorded a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes in a two-point loss to Fordham. The double-double was his fourth of the year and the 24th of his career. He is also five points shy of 1,000 for his career.

In that same game, Bryant’s 6th-year player, Connor Withers, did reach the 1,000-point mark. It came at the 17:59 mark of the second half vs Fordham when Withers hit a 3-point basket to reach the milestone. Withers finished the game with seven points.

It was quite a week for 5th-year senior Max Brooks of UMass Lowell. Not only did he become the AE Player of the Week for the first time this season, but he is also the all-time leader in blocked shots in River Hawks history. Last Wednesday night vs Long Island University, Brooks had a season-high eight blocks against the Sharks. Add one vs Dartmouth on Saturday, and Brooks now has 249 blocks for his career. He surpassed the record held by Leo Parent of 246 which stood for 35 years. His two-game total for the week was 44 points on 19-of-21 shooting 91% on Saturday vs the Big Green. He had 18 rebounds, nine blocked shots, and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Max is tied for third in the nation with 31 blocked shots.

Martin Somerville is the AE Rookie of the Week for the fifth time in the past six weeks. In the two wins last week, Somerville averaged 10 points and 4.5 boards off the bench. During those two games, Martin was 9-for-13 from the free-throw line, had three assists, and zero turnovers in those two games.

Next week we will be back with more from the league.