America East Morning Report: Where is all began 11/11/11

The day began, as so many seasons do, with so much promise. Even the hope of a .500 conference day with a slate of challenging, but winnable day. The sun set on that delusion early as the league went 1-6, bolstered only by New Hampshire's win over D3 Suffolk which shouldn't even count as win. 

The full day's action after the jump!

Hartford Hawks 50 Sacred Heart 70

The Connecticut 6 match-ups of the H(e)arts was the 1st game of Veteran's Day, but hardly a memorable start. More like what you'd expect from a team loaded with freshman and that relies very heavily on three, and doesn't shoot them all that well (5-30 3FG). On the bright side, our highly promoted point Andres Torres doled out plenty of assists (6) -- and we'll euphemistically say he managed to keep an even A/TO ratio (6 TO). And we also tabbed Wes Cole and Corban Wroe as freshman to watch (both logged 15 minutes) but by far the more impressive freshman, and starters apparently, were Yolonzo Moore II (before we get any further, YM TWO? Aren't you Junior until there's a 3rd? Does he have a kid? Very confident he will? Spend his summers on a yacht?) and 6'8 Jamie Schneck filled the massive hole in the middle. Moore led the team in scoring with 12 and Schneck was the only other player in double figures with 11 and 7 boards. And unfortunately have to mention Genesis Maciel scored a measly 6 points....

Albany Great Danes 56 Pittsburgh 89

An abundance of thoughts here. In the short version and happy version: 16. That's the number of free throws Gerardo Suero took as he relentlessly attacked the rim. He only made 9 and finished with 17 points overall, but the aggression was something Albany has desperately been missing, especially with Tim Ambrose taking what assertiveness the team had with him to Europia. Unlike Timmy, at 6'4 and bouncy, he's much more likely to draw charges than offensive fouls. However, the reality is he was often out of control, especially early, Logan Aronhalt couldn't hit a three (1-6) and seemed to turn it over every time he dribbled, Mike Black didn't have much of an impact until the game was out of reach, and Pitt was unbelievable on offense. One player to keep an eye on is Jayson Guerrier. At 6'4, he battled tough inside and was smooth on offense, calmly hitting a three or taking a dribble out of trouble. The team seemed to play it's best when he was on the floor as he providing a more restrained, but confident presence on the floor. Don't be surprised if this team goes very short for long stretches. 

Boston University 74 Northeastern 82

Bean-town thriller ends in dramatic...missed free throws

Free throws, the lack of them in Boston's case, was the name of the game in the crosstown rivalry between BU and Northeastern. The two teams combined for 44 personal fouls. Northeastern would go 22 for 27 from the charity stripe. However, BU would nail down only 13 of 23. The result would be a 82-74 overtime loss for the Terriers -- especially two missed free throws from DJ which the whole game might have hinged on.

Darryl Partin started his 2011-12 campaign strong, nailing down 25 points. Matt Griffin also finished with 11 points, while D.J. Irving finished with 17 points. Irving was devastating late in the 1st half, forcing Northeastern to briefly throw a box-and-1 at him. Besides the free throws, rebounding was a major issue for the Terriers. Patrick Hazel and Dom Morris started off quickly, scoring buckets inside, but as the up tempo game settled, BU was hollow inside -- the Huskies were getting numerous second chance opportunities. Northeastern nailed down 48 rebounds, 18 of which were offensive, while BU walked away with only 27. However, Boston was aggresive on defense, forcing 17 Northeastern turnovers, but they couldn't hang on in No-Tee OT as the shirtless hoard of Northeastern's pulled their team to victory in hostile territory. 

And make sure to check out orenskys' perspective from inside the building. 

-JomoUnranked

Stony Brook 21, Indiana 20

Ok, perhaps that wasn't the final score. But Stony Brook started out on fire, led by 7 quick points by Anthony Jackson off the bench. The fight, however, didn't last long. The Hoosiers exploded near the end of the half and never looked back. The Seawolves were outscored 51 to 38 in the second half and fell to Indiana 96-66 in Bloomington.

Tommy Brenton was all but shutdown, scoring only two points and grabbing five rebounds -- almost all coming in the 1st half. Anthony Jackson led the Seawolves with 14 points on 2-3 shooting from deep and Dallis Joyner's ten points also contributed to the early surge. And don't sleep on Al Rapier. He finished with 9 points and four offensive rebounds.

The Seawolves finished shooting over 40% from the field. However, they were terrible from three-point range, nailing only 5 of 20 from outside. Combined with a defense that allowed Indiana to shoot 65% from the field, the game was over real quick coming out of the half.

-JomoUnranked

UMBC 45, UPenn 59

UMBC can't score...YA DON'T SAY!

A big donut from three point range, 20 turnovers and 33% shooting was all she wrote for the Retrievers. CDLR sat out the game with an injury and the result was a UPenn win 59-45. Chase Plummer was the only Retriever to show up. He finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks (unfortunately he also tabulated six turnovers). The closest Retriever to Plummer in points was Jamar Wertz...with six. Brian Neller's 0-6 from three point land didn't make matters any easier. Retrievers have St. John's on Sunday. Start praying now.

-JomoUnranked

New Hampshire 85, Suffolk University 64

New Hampshire can score...YA DON'T SAY!

O, it was against Suffolk U? Well, nothing like a victory over a D-III school to salvage the night for the AE. Four players finished in double-figures. Brian Benson finished with a superb double-double (17 points and 16 rebounds). Most notable from this game was that Ferg Myrick did not return and that Chandler Rhoads might actually be a player if he keeps up this hot shooting: 3-4 from three. 

Boston College on Monday for the Wildcats. I will be a little more impressed if they win that game.

-JomoUnranked