UMBC And Stony Brook Earn Big Wins, Maine and Albany Cruise on Opening Day

We've been waiting for it all fall, O.K. probably since last March, opening day for the conference-where everyone has a chance to beat anyone and the games do matter. Monday night didn't disappoint with an upset in Durham and some big performances by the league's elite.

Game of the Night:

UMBC 82, @ UNH 76

Apparently UMBC was just biding it's time, hoping that they could catch some America East foes off guard. The Retrievers scored 50 second-half points and took the lead for good with 31 seconds to go on a three from Brian Neller to earn just their second win on the season. After leading for the first 25 minutes, UNH had to play catch up in the second half. They trailed by as many as nine points and took their sole lead of the final 15 minutes on Jordan Bronner's sixth consecutive free throw, only to have Neller knock down his fifth 3-pointer of the day to take the lead and the win.

Break Hangover?

It was the season opener for UNH, they were at home and are still considered a dark horse in the conference, yet they played with minimum effort. Herrion described UMBC as "hungrier" than the Wildcats and said the team's staples were absent.

"We got thoroughly dominated on the glass," Herrion told Al Pike of Foster's Daily Democrat, "and I would say probably in my seven years here at UNH (that's) the worst defensive performance that we've had. ... What you learn in this game, no matter what level you're at, if you don't defend and you don't rebound, you don't win."

UNH is never going to consistently outscore anyone, so for them to not be able to capitalize on their forte and outmuscle UMBC , is just sad and kinda scary going forward. The Retrievers won the rebounding battle 41-32 and gave up 14 offensive rebounds which led to 17 second-chance points.

Offensive Outburst

UMBC's core group of Neller, Chase Plummer and Ryan Cook played extremely well in the opener. Despite not winning an opener since 2008, UMBC had five players in double figures and a sixth with eight points. The Retrievers scored a season-high 82 points, which was just the third time they scored more than 70 this season.

Can they Keep it Up?

A win is one thing, being consistently competitive is another. The Retrievers will be instantly tested with back-to-back home games against Albany and Maine starting Thursday. If the Retrievers can win even one of the two games, they will surprise a lot of people--anything's possible though.

Vermont 59, @ Stony Brook 64

The key to winning the conference is winning your home games and that's the one thing Stony Brook has consistently proven they can do. Al Rapier and Dave Coley led the way with 17 and 15 respectively and the Seawolves dominated the glass (37-29). UVM hit just 34 percent of their shots despite Luke Apfeld's return (18 points, four rebounds in 22 minutes). Key stat of the game: Points in the paint: Stony Brook 28, Vermont 14. With the win the Seawolves have now won three in a row while the Catamounts have dropped two in a row and seven of their past nine. Will be interesting to see where these two teams stand a month from now when they play at Patrick Gym on Feb. 12.

The two blowouts are below the break as Alasdair Fraser and Gerardo Suero made quick work of their AE foes.

Maine 76, @ Binghamton 61

It was the Alasdair Fraser show in Vestal Monday night, as the big man finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. If you add in 15 points, nine assists and six rebounds from Justin Edwards, it becomes a little difficult to figure out how Binghamton or anyone else in the conference, can beat the Black Bears consistently. Maine shot 49 percent from the field in the win and took a lead as big as 18 in the first half before the Bearcats cut the deficit to as few as five points in the second half. Ben Dickinson was the big bright spot for the home fans with 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in his AE debut.

Hartford 63, @ Albany 88

The other undefeated home team had an easy night's work against Hartford as Gerardo Suero got his first taste of America East opponents. Suero turned in a "ho-hum" performance with 24 points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal in 32 minutes. The Great Danes dominated the game outshooting Hartford by nearly 20 percent (55.9-37.7) and collecting 18 more rebounds than the Hawks. It didn't hurt that Mike Black was nearly perfect with 15 points, nine assists and zero turnovers. Andres Torres, Wes Cole and Yolanzo Moore were the only players in double-figures for Hartford and finished with 36 of the team's 63 points.