To kick off our coverage of conference play in America East basketball, the Sixth Man series will be running over the next few weeks. We reached out to the student media at each of our nine institutions for guest posts on men's and women's basketball. Today, we have Dan Levin, a student writer at UMBC, talking about the men's team. A big thanks to Dan for participating!
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| Senior guard Ryan Cook |
When the head coach of your men’s
basketball team resigns just two days before the official start of practice,
it’s not hard to imagine the team collapsing even before they hit the floor.
But former assistant and acting Head Coach Aki Thomas has kept the Retrievers
from doing just that and despite the losing record, this team has the potential
to be very good.
During the non-conference slate we’ve
seen two different Retriever teams. The team we saw in overtime losses to
American and Central Connecticut State is extremely competitive and has the
talent to make a run in the America East. Freshman point guard Aaron Morgan has
at times played above his years and the biggest issue there has been the back
up where sophomores Joey Getz and Jarrel Lane continue to battle injuries.
Junior transfer Brett Roseboro holds down
the middle for UMBC and after struggling out of the gates, has really gotten
his game legs under him. Roseboro sat out last year after transferring from St.
Bonaventure and the year before didn’t get much playing time behind Andrew
Nicholson who was drafted by the Orlando Magic. Now getting serious playing
time in every outing, Roseboro has three double-doubles in his last five games.
Preseason all-conference player Chase
Plummer has had a rough start to the year and UMBC needs him to get going
especially on the offensive end. Picking up his slack is senior Ryan Cook who
leads the America East with 17.8 points per game and stands eighth with seven
rebounds per game. (Editor's note: Cook is now third in scoring with 16.2 ppg and 11th in rebounding with 6.3 rpg).
A fairly veteran team that remains young
at key positions (point guard), UMBC has the ability to make a serious run in
America East play especially with Roseboro in the middle. If Plummer can play
at the level we saw last season, look out for the Retrievers come March.
Box Scores, Recaps and Highlights
Men's Basketball
- Top Performer
- Sam Rowley (Alb.): 21 points (8-9 FG; 5-5 FT), 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
- Big Stat
- Albany's front court was phenomenal in this game, especially on a night when Mike Black and Jacob Iati (3-22 FG) struggled from the field. The Great Danes starting duo of Rowley and John Puk combined for 34 points and Luke Devlin came off the bench and chipped in 12 points as well.
- X-Factor
- It may get lost in the shuffle, but what a game by Taylor Johnston of Binghamton. The lefty came out of the gates on fire, including three treys in the opening five minutes. Johnston ended the night with a career high 22 points.
- Local Media
Linked Up
Speaking of Sam Rowley, he was mentioned as a top performer on ESPN.com last night.
Check out the newest UMBC Coaches' Corner with women's basketball coach Phil Stern.
Former New Hampshire men's basketball coach Jim Boylan has been named the interim coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.
UMBC Athletics' Hall of Famer and former men's lacrosse player Dan Marohl has been named one of three captains for the Baltimore Bombers of the North American Lacrosse League (NALL).
Stony Brook football player Kevin Norrell will play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
What's Next?
Just one game tonight as Vermont will travel to Boston U. for a 7 p.m. start in men's basketball.
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