Hawks Soar Past Wildcats on Senior Day

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—Hartford closed out the regular season on a high note, defeating New Hampshire 62-52 on Senior Day at the Reich Family Pavilion in front of more than 1,800 fans for the second straight home game.

The win was the eighth in the last nine games for the Hawks (14-15, 11-5), who host the America East tournament that begins on Thursday, March 3rd, and put them in a tie for third place in the conference standings.

Senior guard Mary Silvia notched 14 points to help the Hawks close out sixth place New Hampshire (9-19, 6-10). She finished with two from behind the arc to leave her seven three-pointers shy of MaryLynne Schaefer’s single-season school record of 63. Fellow seniors Jackie Smith and Amanda Weaver combined for eight points, four assists and five boards.

“They’ve been three guys that we’ve been able to count on in so many ways on and off the floor for four years,” said coach Jennifer Rizzotti. “There’s no better way to send them out after four years, no better way than to win a championship.”

Retrievers Celebrate America East Regular-Season Championship

After securing its first-ever America East regular-season championship with a victory over Albany, it should come as no surprise that everyone involved with the program was in a celebratory mood. Here is some footage from the press conference and trophy presentation following the game:

Stony Brook Lax Opens Against Top Foe

The last time the Stony Brook Seawolves took to the turf at LaValle Stadium, they were an Elite Eight team standing toe-to-toe with the nation's No. 1 team, the Virginia Cavaliers. The Seawolves lost that game by a single goal, just narrowly missing a trip to the Final Four.

Tomorrow, when the Seawolf laxers return to their home stadium to open their 2011 campaign, they do so as a top-five team in the USILA Coaches' poll, going up against the nation's No. 1 team, the Virginia Cavaliers. This time though, Stony Brook is looking for a different result.

Vermont remains in Mid-Major Top 25, UMBC women just outside the polls

With the America East conference tournament set to begin on March 3, both the regular-season champions are receiving quite a bit of attention in the latest Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. On the men's side, despite seeing a 10-game winning streak come to an end with a tough loss at College of Charleston in BracketBusters, the Vermont Catamounts only dropped to No. 22 in the latest poll. The Catamounts close out their regular-season with a key matchup against Boston University at Patrick Gymnasium. Boston U. enters the game with seven straight wins and will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

After sealing its first-ever America East regular-season championship, UMBC is creeping towards making an appearance in the Mid-Major Top 25. The Retrievers have won six straight games and are now receiving the third most votes of teams outside the rankings. With its regular-season completed, UMBC will return to the court on Friday, March 4 in the Quarterfinal round of the conference tournament.

UMBC Women's Basketball wins first-ever America East regular season crown

The UMBC women’s basketball team (19-10, 13-3 AE) defeated Albany (15-13, 8-7 AE) by a score of 62-55 Wednesday evening at the RAC Arena to claim its first-ever America East regular-season title. The win is the sixth straight for the Retrievers, who will be the top seed in next weekend’s America East Championship in West Hartford, Conn., and will face the winner of the first-round game between Stony Brook and Maine on Friday, March 4.

Hawks Let Win Slip Away in Overtime to Stony Brook

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—The Hartford Hawks lost a pivotal game in the middle of the America East standings, falling to the Stony Brook Seawolves in overtime 79-73 at the Reich Family Pavilion.
The Hawks (9-19, 6-9, 6th place) led by three with five seconds left when Stony Brook’s Leonard Hayes dropped a three pointer to send the game into overtime at 63-63. Hayes finished with 14 points for the visitors.

Senior Joe Zeglinski led all scorers with 24 points, hitting just seven of 20 attempts from behind the arc. Stony Brook (12-16, 7-8, 5th place) held Hartford’s leading scorer without a point the last time the teams met this season, a 34-point loss for the Hawks.

“Once he gets his confidence, he can hit tough shots,” said Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell who has coached against Zeglinski for four years. “Last time out, we didn’t give him any open looks.”

McLemore, Black Bears Spoil Senior Night for UNH

It was supposed to be a night of celebration, as three seniors were playing in their last home game as Wildcats. The stage was set for a rousing victory against arch rival Maine in front of a packed crowd at Lundholm Gymnasium. But UNH's night was instead characterized by disappointment and frustration.

Gerald McLemore scored a game-high 26 points, guiding the University of Maine to a 70-53 trouncing of the Wildcats at Lundholm Tuesday night. Senior Dane DiLiegro, playing in his last home game at UNH, recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Beyond DiLiegro, however, the Wildcats' were dismal offensively, shooting 35 percent from the floor as a team and just 3-20 from behind the arc.

UNH was dominated down on the low blocks, as Maine's front-line often overpowered UNH. Maine out-rebounded the Wildcats while scoring almost twice as many points in the paint. The Black Bears shot 49 percent from the field, scoring the most points (70) UNH has allowed in 15 games.

MBB/WBB: Weekly Awards

MBB: John Holland of Boston University earned America East Player of the Week. Albany's Luke Devlin was named Rookie of the Week.



WBB: Erin Brown of UMBC earned America East Player of the Week and Binghamton's Jasbriell Swain was named Rookie of the Week:

Hawks Lose Heartbreaker as UMBC Sweeps

WEST HARTFORD, Conn.—Hartford lost its annual PinkZone breast cancer awareness game in a heartbreaker to UMBC, 53-48 in front of more than 1,800 fans on Sunday. The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Hawks and continued UMBC’s four-game win streak that has them sitting atop the America East.

Leading all scorers was UMBC junior Erin Brown with 22 points on 8-13 shooting, including four from behind the arc. The team’s top scorer this season, guard Michelle Kurowski contributed 10 points, while Michele Brokans notched 11 and added six assists. All three played the full 40 minutes for the Retrievers (18-10, 12-3).

The Hawks (12-15, 9-5) led until six minutes into the second half, when Brokans’ three-pointer gave the visitors their first lead of the game and the momentum that carried them to victory.

Bearcats Let Seven-Point Halftime Lead Slip Away to Albany

VESTAL, N.Y. -- The Binghamton University men's basketball team was looking to ride the momentum of its emphatic end to its nine game losing streak as the team returned home to the Events Center Sunday for a matchup against SUNY rival, Albany. After the first half it seemed the Bearcats were ready to start a new streak, one of a winning variety. But a second half slump led to the evaporation of a seven-point halftime lead, and the Great Danes pulled out a 57-54 victory.

Down three points, the Bearcats (7-20, 4-10 America East) inbounded the ball in the offensive half with 7.2 seconds left in the game. Senior Mahamoud Jabbi got a look from 3-point range in the right corner, but the shot was blocked and Albany (14-15, 7-7 AE) gained possession and ran out the clock. Jabbi and the Binghamton bench pleaded for a foul on the shot attempt, but to no avail. The loss is Binghamton's 10th in its last 11 games. Albany ended the game on a 13-4 run en route to its second straight win.

When asked if there was a foul on Jabbi on the game's final play, Binghamton head coach Mark Macon replied "Yes [there] was; I think it was [a foul]. But I'm the coach, I'm supposed to think that. Anytime a guy is shooting and a guy is on his side and comes over the guy, that's a foul. It's a foul ... It's not like the guy is in front of him, the guy's on the side of him."

Taking nothing away from Albany, Macon added "The kids on [Albany] won that game. They won it by three. They won it hitting free throws at the end of the game, they won it making plays at the end of the game."

Maine Falls to Siena

Maine saw a five-point halftime lead disappear, as it fell 71-60 at Siena. Here are some clips from the game courtesy of Siena Athletics:

Boston U Remains Unbeaten in BracketBusters Play

The Boston University men's basketball team continued its impressive play, as it won its sixth straight game with a 70-62 victory over Canisius in BracketBusters play. The Terriers were led by senior guard John Holland, who netted a game-high 28 points.