Hitting the Links: 1/14/2011

With all 18 men's and women's America East teams having a pair of days off from games, the coverage of the court has slowed in the media, at least for the moment. Don't worry though. It will pick up right where it left off once all 18 teams return to the court over the long weekend.

If you look at the schedule for Saturday and Monday, you will see that there are 14 conference matchups. Two of those Saturday games are battles for first place (Boston U. at Albany for the women, Binghamton at Maine for the men), one Saturday game is the preview of the February 10 game at MSG (Boston U. at Albany men) and one Monday game is on AETV (Albany at Stony Brook men).

Until then though, we can get our Link fix from the pitch and the pool...

Jabbi Helps Lead Surprising Bearcats

Following an inconsistent performance during the nonconference schedule which saw Binghamton struggle to a 3-10 record, the Bearcats have hit their stride at just the right time. With three consecutive wins to open America East play, Binghamton is the lone undefeated team in the America East heading into its game at Maine on Saturday.

One of the more remarkable aspects of the Bearcats’ great start in conference is the balance of scoring, as only senior guard/forward Greer Wright averages in double-digits (15.7 ppg). However, as senior forward Mahamoud Jabbi made clear, the recent success is due to the focus being on the team and every player understanding their responsibility.

“I think the team is finally starting to gel,” Jabbi said of the success in America East play. “Guys really know their roles well and we have a certain game-plan that we go out there and we follow.”

With Wright sidelined for the last two games because of an ankle injury, guys like Jabbi and sophomore guard Jimmy Gray have stepped up their production. This ability to find production from a variety of different players is a reflection of the mindset of this team.

“I think we just go out on the court and we play hard,” explained Jabbi. “We are used to a lot of different lineups that we use in practice, which helps us in games. When guys hear their names called they are ready to contribute, so that is the main thing.”

Big Apple Battle Previewed On the Court

On Saturday evening, the Boston U. Terriers men’s basketball team travels to Albany for a conference matchup against the Great Danes. However, it is not the only time the Terriers will head to the state of New York to face the Terriers in the regular season this year.

On February 10, these two clubs will tip off in the Big Apple Battle at Madison Square Garden in New York City. That matchup marks the first time in America East history that two America East teams will play a conference game in MSG, the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”

While the above video is a great way to whet your appetite for the Big Apple, tomorrow’s game serves as the real preview of February’s showdown in the City. It should be a good look at these two clubs, each of which is led by a senior all-conference guard that ranks among America East’s leading scorers. Boston U.’s John Holland leads the league averaging 18.3 points per game. Albany’s Tim Ambrose ranks fourth, scoring 16.2 ppg.

For more on the Big Apple Battle, including game time and ticket information, check out the America East website, linked here.

Hitting the Links: 1/13/2011

Good afternoon, AExtra fans. Today is January 13, the 13th day of the year.

Lucky number 13. You know how some buildings will skip the 13th floor, going straight from 12 to 14, just to be on the safe side? Superstition is a wonderful thing. Well, today there are no games on the America East docket. Is this a case of  triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13) in the America East scheduling? Doubtful. It's not like today is Friday the 13th.

While tonight is an off night for the league, last night featured six games, four women's and two men's, despite the stormy weather throughout the Northeast.

In Baltimore, the two top scorers in America East women's basketball met in a showdown between UMBC and Binghamton. Heading into the game, UMBC's Michelle Kurowski led the league in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game while Binghamton's Andrea Holmes was averaging 14.3 ppg. Just four points separated the two, with Kurowski tallying 218 points and Holmes 214 points through 15 games. Coming out of the game, however, Kurowski put some distance between herself and second-place.

Houapeu selected in MLS draft

After a tremendous senior season for the UMBC Retreivers, which saw him named to multiple All-American teams, Levi Houapeu was selected by the Philadelphia Union with the 41st pick in the MLS draft. This is a great accomplishment for Houapeu, who will join  former America East players Samuel Appiah and Bouna Coundoul in MLS. AExtra would like to congratulate Houapeu and the UMBC program on this great accomplishment. It should be great for America East fans to follow Houapeu and the Philadelphia Union next season.

Binghamton Volunteers at the Magic Paintbrush Project

Before heading into the start of America East play, both the Binghamton men's and women's basketball teams took some time out of their schedule to volunteer at the Magic Paintbrush Project. Here are some clips and interviews from the experience.

Barnies and Mitchell Lead Maine Turnaround

After starting the season 2-5, which included a three-game losing streak, the University of Maine men’s basketball team seems to have turned things around, going 7-2 in their last nine games to push them above .500.

After a 19-point loss to Delaware State University on December 6, the Black Bears won four in a row, including a victory in “The Pit” in the Memorial Gym over Norfolk State and a win at Penn State. The Black Bears last two losses came by a total of five points — quite a difference from earlier in the season where each loss was by eight points or more.

The Black Bears continued their hot streak Wednesday night at the University at Albany, winning in the final minute 66-64. Junior forward Gerald McLemore led the Black Bears with 19 points, and senior forward Troy Barnies chimed in with 18 of his own.

Two key players have stepped up considerably during this stretch, first of which being Barnies, whose play has led him to back-to-back American East Player of the Week awards. Barnies currently leads the Black Bears in points per game at 12.9 and rebounds at 7.3 per game, and is tied for first in steals per game with an average of one theft each contest.

Kurowski Leads UMBC Women's Basketball over Binghamton (Highlights)

By Curtis Schickner, '12

Junior Michelle Kurowski netted thirty points in the Retrievers' 55-38 win over the visiting Bearcats of Binghamton University on Wednesday evening. UMBC moves to 2-1 in America East Conference play this year and improves their overall record to 8-8 on the season.

The win featured several record-setting performances from three different UMBC women. Kurowski notched her fifth career 30-point game and moved into 14th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,044 points. Senior Meghan Colabella grabbed her 500th career rebound and senior Michele Brokans recorded her 300th career assist. The 55-38 victory was also the first time the Retrievers held a team to under 40 points since they contained the BU Bearcats to 37 during the 2006 season.

UMBC's Kurowski and Binghamton's Andrea Holmes were the only two women to score in the double digits; they went 12 for 19 and 5 for 10, respectively. The Retrievers went up early in the contest and never stopped until the buzzer. The Bearcats cut the lead to seven around half time but fell down by 19 in the second half. The two teams combined for 8 three pointers on 31 attempts and shot 38 for 103 (37%) in the game.

Those following the UMBC twitter at the game received a special promotion from Grilled Cheese & Company during halftime from the UMBC mascot, True Grit. Follow all UMBC athletics on twitter @UMBCAthletics and on the UMBC athletics Facebook page.

The UMBC women return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they host the Vermont Catamounts. You can catch every men's and women's home basketball game on www.umbcretrievers.tv!

Hitting the Links: 1/12/2011

While much of the east coast and the America East footprint is buried under a thick layer of snow, we here at AExtra were able to dig up some stories for you to keep busy on your potentially snowed-in afternoon (that is unless you are stuck shoveling).

So without further ado, let's hit some (snow-covered) Links.

The 'Stache is back! This time, it's invading Sports Illustrated!

Marqus Blakely Set to Appear in NBDL Dunk Contest

For all of you America East fans who have missed seeing Marqus Blakely throw down thunderous dunks, be sure to tune into the NBDL Dunk Contest tonight. Blakely, who is a member of the Bakersfield Jam, will be competing against three other participants. In order to wet your appetite, here is a great highlight video from UVM Athletics showing some of his top dunks.

Conley leads Wildcats to big win over Hartford

Tyrone Conley scored a career-high 33 points to propel UNH to a 57-54 win over Hartford Tuesday night, snapping a four game UNH losing streak in the process and giving the 'Cats their first conference win of the season.

Conley shot 10-16 from the field, including 6-10 from behind the arc. With UNH down 30-18 at the break, Conley helped fuel a furious 20-2 Wildcat run to start the second half. Conley scored fourteen points in that run, including four three pointers. His scoring outburst comes in the wake of sophomore Ferg Myrick's season-ending knee injury the previous Tuesday at Boston University

In addition to snapping their own losing skid, UNH broke Hartford's three game winning streak and handed the Hawks (5-11, 2-1) their first America East loss of the season. The Wildcats are now 7-9 on the season and 1-3 in conference play.

In addition to his dazzling shooting display, Conley made the play of the night with UNH up 50-47 with 6:40 remaining in the game. Out on the break, sophomore point guard Chandler Rhoads pushed the ball up the left side of the court and found a streaking Conley on the opposite side for a thunderous alley-oop dunk over a Hartford defender.

Rhoads finished with a solid 10 points and four assists for UNH. Morgan Sabbia led the Hawks with 20 points on 8-13 shooting from the field.

UNH will play next at Stony Brook University in

Sabia Plays Key Role for Hartford

After a slow start to the season, which included a 3-10 record in the non-conference schedule, the Hartford Hawks have been the surprise team at the start of America East play. After a thrilling road victory at Maine, the Hawks followed that up with a dominant 62-42 win over Albany at Chase Family Arena.

One of the keys to the recent success has been the great play of senior forward Morgan Sabia. Sabia was named America East Co-Player of the Week after averaging 18 points and 10.3 rebounds during the three-game winning streak. According to Sabia, the improvement of this Hartford team began months before the season even started.

“Coming into the Summer when we all first got together to train for the Australia trip, Coach Gallagher was really preaching high energy and improving our habits on the court,” the senior forward explained. “So basically over the past three months we have been working towards becoming a good team and a cohesive unit.”

MBB/WBB: Weekly Awards

The America East released the weekly awards for both men's and women's basketball on Monday. Here are the videos that went out along with the release.

Bearcats Best Seawolves Without Greer Wright

Despite being without its preseason All-Conference forward, senior Greer Wright, because of an ankle injury, the Binghamton University men’s basketball team topped Stony Brook 57-50 last night at the Events Center and in front of a television audience, courtesy of MSG-Plus.

Binghamton (5-10, 2-0 America East) and Hartford are the only teams that remain unbeaten in conference play.

The Bearcats were out of sync early on with Wright sidelined. They struggled from the field and didn’t look strong defensively. Following a timeout with about 12 minutes left in the first half, Binghamton turned things around on both sides of the ball and took over the game. After being down 11-6, the Bearcats went on a 16-1 run to open up a 10-point lead.

Hitting the Links: 1/10/2011

Happy Monday, AExtra fans! While it is just the beginning of the week and there is plenty to look ahead at over the next week, let's take a quick look back at the jam-packed weekend that was in America East.

Nine games popped up on the schedule over the weekend: eight pitting conference foes with one team stepping out of conference for a Saturday showdown.

Of the eight conference games, four were men's games and four were women's. The odd thing is that the men's and women's schedules were mirror images of one another. Check it out:

Men's Games, 1/8-1/9
Binghamton @ New Hampshire
Maine @ UMBC
Vermont @ Boston U.
Albany @ Hartford

Women's Games 1/8-1/9
Albany @ Hartford
UMBC @ Maine
Boston U. @ Vermont
New Hampshire @ Binghamton

Underwood Set to Appear on Survivor

After a playing career in which she scored over 1,000 points, former Maine women's basketball player Ashley Underwood is set to face one of the greatest challenges of her life with millions of people watching. That's because Underwood is set to be one of the contestants on the upcoming season of Survivor, which will take place in Nicaragua. Underwood, who played professionally following her career at Maine, has done some work for the America East on TV and also was a contestant in the Miss USA pageant.

This should be an exciting opportunity for Underwood, and AExtra will certainly be tuning in to see how long Underwood can last in Nicaragua. AExtra would like to congratulate Underwood on this tremendous opportunity and hopefully she will be the one to bring the money home.

Boston U. knocks off Vermont

Following the 74-65 home victory over Vermont, Boston University head coach Pat Chambers spoke about picking up this key win. Senior guard John Holland and junior guard Darryl Partin joined Chambers.

Albany Earns 46-43 road victory over Hartford

Albany earned a signature road victory early in America East play, as it traveled to Hartford and picked up a 46-43 victory. Here is some postgame footage courtesy of Hartford athletics.