History Lesson: Men's Basketball Championship

With the first round of the 2013 America East basketball championship just over a week away, we thought it would be a good time to take a look into the history books and pull out some fun facts. America East basketball (formerly the NAC and ECAC) goes all the way back to 1980, though the tournament was not seeded until 1983.

Over the past 30-plus years, some great moments have taken place in our championship. Several coaches that have won America East championships have gone on to win championships at conferences such as the Big East and the SEC or even national championships. Several tournament Most Outstanding Players, including Speedy Claxton and Malik Rose, have gone on to successful NBA careers. What we're trying to say is that the upcoming tournament will be a lot of fun. It's been since 2006-07 since the conference has seen a repeat champion and 2009 was the last time the No. 1 seed won. Anything could happen next week in Albany.

Taylor Coppenrath

Tournament Fun Facts...

• Since 2004, the No. 6 seed has beaten the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals eight times, including the last five years. Two of those No. 6 seeds -- UMBC in 2009 and Vermont in 2006 -- made it to the championship game, becoming the lowest seed to advance that far.
• The No. 1 seed has reached the finals 24 times and won 19 times. However, the No. 1 seed has won the championship just twice since 2007.
• New Hampshire coach Bill Herrion has the most wins all-time in the America East championship, with a lifetime record of 21-12. Herrion once led former America East member Drexel to three consecutive championships.
• Taylor Coppenrath (Vermont) set the all-time championship scoring record with 43 points versus Maine in the 2004 finals.
• Future pro Malik Rose (Drexel) hauled in a record 22 rebounds versus Boston U. in the 1993 quarterfinals.
• Maine's Jeff Sturgeon set the championship assists record with 16 helpers against Niagara in 1983.
• The most combined points in a tournament game came back in 2000 when Hartford beat New Hampshire in 2000 by a score of 117 to 88, combining for 205 points.
• The longest game in tournament history was a triple overtime contest between Vermont and Boston U. in the 1981 quarterfinals. Since the tournament began seeded its participants in 1983, two games have gone into double overtime. Last year Vermont beat Hartford 77-73 and in 1983 Niagara beat Maine 78-76.

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