Yardbarker: Tommy Brenton

Men's Basketball Falls To Rhode Island, 75-58

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:27:00 -0500

Seawolves drop first game of the season.Final StatsKingston, R.I. - Freshman Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) scored a season-high 16 points, including four three-pointers but the Rhode Island Rams shot 48.2 percent on its way to a 75-58 victory over the Stony Brook University men's basketball team on Tuesday night at the Thomas M. Ryan Center. Stony Brook falls to 3-1 with the loss while Rhode Island improves to 3-0."We played with a lot of effort tonight we just weren't able...

Men's Basketball Uses Big First Half To Defeat Wagner, 72-48

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:03:00 -0500

Seawolves improve to 3-0 for the first time since the 1994-95 season.Final StatsStaten Island, N.Y. - Sophomore Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) led five Seawolves in double-figures with 12 points and the Stony Brook University men's basketball team used a 23-0 first half run to defeat the Wagner Seahawks, 72-48 on Saturday night at the Spiro Sports Center. Stony Brook improves to 3-0 with the victory while Wagner falls to 0-2."What a terrific win on the road for our basketball te...

Men's Basketball Defeats Mount Saint Mary College, 87-53, In Home Opener

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:45:00 -0500

Senior Desmond Adedeji scores a career-high 16 points.Stony Brook, N.Y. - Senior Desmond Adedeji (Landover Hills, Md.) scored a career-high 16 points and sophomore Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) came two assists shy of a triple-double as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team defeated the Mount Saint Mary College Blue Knights, 87-53, on Monday night at Pritchard Gymnasium in the Seawolves home opener. Stony Brook improves to 2-0 with the victory while the Blue Knights fall to 0-1...

Men's Basketball Opens 2009-10 Home Schedule On Monday Against Mt. St. Mary College

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:03:00 -0500

Seawolves look to improve to 2-0 on Monday against Mt. St. Mary.Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook University men's basketball team will tip-off its 2009-10 home schedule on Monday night, hosting Mt. St. Mary College at Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Monday's contest will air locally on WUSB 90.1 FM and goseawolves.org with Mike Solano, Jeff Bernstein '92 and Curt Hylton announcing. The game can also be followed via live video streaming and gametracker at goseawolve...

Men's Basketball Wraps up Preseason Practice With First Game at Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:28:00 -0500

Seawolves to open 2009-10 season at Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday at 7 p.m. Stony Brook, N.Y. - Coming off its best season in its ten year Division I history, the Stony Brook University men's basketball team kicks off the 2009-10 season on Friday night, traveling to take on the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Friday's contest will air locally on WUSB 90.1 FM and goseawolves.org with Curt Hylton announcing. The game can also be followed via gametracker ...

Men's Basketball Hosts Fifth Annual Fun Run

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:46:00 -0500

Seawolves begin official practice on Friday, October 16.Stony Brook, N.Y. - A record 70 people participated in the Stony Brook men's basketball team's Fifth Annual Fun Run on Wednesday afternoon. The run served as the final preseason conditioning activity for the Seawolves before official practice for the 2009-10 season begins on Friday, Oct. 16.Stony Brook's Coordinator of Recruiting and Eligibilty, Mathew Franck, finished the four-mile course in first place for the second straig...

Men's Basketball Announces 2009-10 Non-Conference Schedule

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:30:00 -0500

Seawolves will travel to take on St. John's on Dec. 2.Stony Brook, N.Y. - Road contests against Big East opponent St. John's and Atlantic-10 opponents Rhode Island and Fordham, along with five games at Pritchard Gymnasium, highlight the 2009-10 Stony Brook men's basketball non-conference schedule released by head coach Steve Pikiell on Wednesday."I think we have put together a competitive non-conference schedule that will challenge our team and give us a good idea of things w...

The Conference Awards are out...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:18:43 -0500

...and not everybody is going to be happy.

Player and Defensive Player of the Year: Marqus Blakely
Rookie of the Year: Jake O'Brien
Coach of the Year: Kevin Broadus

All-Conference teams:

First Team: Blakely, John Holland, Corey Lowe, Darryl Proctor and Mike Trimboli.

Second Team: Jay Greene, Tyrece Gibbs, D.J. Rivera, Emanuel Mayben and Muhammad El-Amin.

Third Team: Tim Ambrose, Will Harris, Reggie Fuller, Jaret von Rosenberg and Colin McIntosh.

All-Rookie Team: O?Brien, Gerald McLemore, Tommy Brenton, Bryan Dougher and Garvey Young.

All-Defensive Team: Blakely, Fuller, Jerel Hastings, Matt Wolff and Marques Cox.

I thought Rivera should be Player of the Year, but I can understand giving it to Blakely. I think that's a toss up one way or the other and don't have a problem with that. But Rivera being named to second-team all-conference is a joke. He is the leading scorer in the conference, one of the top rebounders and while everyone is quick to point out the behavior of Binghamton players, he has stayed out of that light. No matter whether you hate Binghamton or not, this has to be an absolute shock to everyone. What else does the guy have to do? Rivera becomes the first player in 30 years to lead the America East in scoring, yet not be chosen to the first team. Rivera feeling he has something to prove this weekend is a very scary thought for opposing teams.

Here's what Mayben thinks: ?Nah, we?re not surprised because we go to Binghamton University. If you were part of our team, you wouldn?t be surprised, either. More power to the conference and more power to the first team. We?re just here to win games.?

What are your thoughts? What other surprises are there? No Chauncey Gilliam on the All-Rookie Team? Steve Pikiell for Coach of the Year?

Let the discussion begin...

Final All-Conference Selections

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:20:53 -0500

Ok, sitting here waiting for a major snow storm and listening to UA blow it to UMBC, it is time to get my final predictions for All-Conference Selections. Last time I got blasted for some picks, but hey, people like to just complain. Here we go and LET THE DEBATE BEGIN!

JoMo's Final America East Men's Basketball All-Conference Selections:

First Team All-Conference
D.J. Rivera, Binghamton
Darryl Proctor, UMBC
Marqus Blakely, Vermont
John Holland, Boston
Mike Trimboli, Vermont

Second Team All-Conference
Corey Lowe, Boston
Tyrece Gibbs, New Hampshire
Muhammed El-Ammin, Stony Brook
Colin McIntosh, Vermont
Reggie Fuller, Binghamton

Third Team All-Conference
Tim Ambrose, UAlbany
Emanuel Mayben, Binghamton
Jay Greene, UMBC
Mark Socoby, Maine
Will Harris, UAlbany

All-Rookie Team
Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook
Jake O'Brien, Boston
Bryan Dougher, Stony Brook
Gerald McLemore, Maine
Chauncy Gilliam, UMBC

All-Defensive Team
Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Darryl Proctor, UMBC
Reggie Fuller, Binghamton
John Holland, Boston
Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook

Player of the Year - Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Defensive Player of the Year - Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Rookie of the Year - Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook
Coach of the Year - Steve Pikiell, Stony Brook

Two (or three) Games to go and Nothing is Certain

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:07:53 -0500

Except for Hartford playing on Friday night. That is about the only lock you can get.

The difference between 4th and 8th is 1.5 games. Albany could be in the play-in game if their five game losing streak continues. So could defending champs UMBC if they lose out their remaining games. And who would have considered that a possibility a month ago?

The conference leaders, Vermont and Binghamton each have to win out to hold the #1 spot and regular season championship. The Bearcats just have to win and they get it outright because of a season sweep of UVM, while the Catamounts have to hope Binghamton slips up in the final three games, as the golden opportunity for a slip up (against Boston U.) did not happen.

Even though all these teams are close, and anything can happen in Albany March 7-8th, how do we judge these teams on what they can do to win it all? Stop, Hammer time, break it down.

Little to No Shot:

Hartford - This is obvious. They sadly are a lost cause without Zeglinski and their lack of a presence inside has killed them all year.

Maine - This isn't your older brother/sister/cousin's Maine team of shitty years past. There is the talent here to win, too bad their coach has no idea what to do with it. Speaking of which, how far behind am I on Replacing Ted?

UNH - These guys can knock down the three ball and get hot, but they lost by 44 to Vermont and really their only key win in conference is against Stony Brook and they kicked an Albany team while they were down. It is hard to envision them taking out one of the top 3 seeds. However, out of this bunch, UNH would be the best candidate to do so.

Sure They Could:

UMBC - Never count the defending champs out. They still have two first team all-conference players. However, what they don't have is a second or third team all-conference player to pass the ball off to if they can't get a shot off. And, they only play seven guys who are not nearly as talented as their best players. That makes things hard. Certainly Greene and Proctor could go off and kill you, I think every team in the league is aware of that, but if you can play them right defensively, they can be beaten and beaten badly.

Stony Brook - These guys are a lot better. LOADS better. That can happen when you ditch the AND1 MixTape offense and run a sufficient offense and play very good team defense. If they finish 4th or 5th, Steve Pikiell is coach of the year. They've got guys that just do their job. El-Amin and Dougher score, Demetrius Young is a great athlete who can go off for points and rebounds, Chris Martin is an all-defense team candidate and Tommy Brenton is the most deceptively good rebounder I've ever seen. Seriously, look at the kid. He has "whitest guy you know" written all over him until he has both hands above the rim skying for a rebound.

It really looks as if SB got it in terms of building a team. The shoot first reckless players like Michael Tyree have a nice comfy seat on the bench. Mitch Beauford graduating and Ricky Lucas becoming a coach might have been the best thing that happened to this team, because they no longer have a team full of chuckers who couldn't win any games because all they thought of was themselves.

Albany - You can't not give the Danes a shot to win it all. It is on their home floor after all, and they won't finish in the top 3, so they are going to play every game like it is their own national championship, with the prize being beating Binghamton or Vermont, their two biggest rivals in the championship game should everything play out. They can beat Binghamton and we know they can beat Vermont when it counts. Right now, they might be playing like the team we knew they would end up to be, or they could be just slumping and they might actually be the team that was 5-3 in conference and a game or two away from second place. My bet is if Albany makes it to the AE Tournament finals, some AE coaches will get together to ask to ban the tourney from being held at campus sites in favor of a neutral site or Boston (because BU has no homecourt advantage in Agganis anyways).

Yeah, Probably:

Boston U. - They are the most vulnerable of the contender bunch, but John Holland and Corey Lowe is enough to get them through if both are on. However when one isn't on and nobody else steps up for BU and the other team plays good defense, they are bad. Case in point: games vs. Vermont. This is a very talented team, and if not this year or next, when? That seems to be the constant question.

Vermont - Straight-forward, the Catamounts are talented. However, its about them playing 40 minutes of basketball, which they don't always do. If everything is going right for Vermont, they will drill a team by 15 points. If things like free throw shooting, turnovers and not being committed to defense occur at any point in a game, their chances of losing are just as good as Maine's. And something I've mentioned here before, Vermont at times can be a very mentally weak team that breaks under pressure. Maybe the overtime win against Stony Brook helped alleviate that, who knows. If everything is right for Vermont, they can get themselves to the finals no problem, if one of their weaknesses is exposed, they are game for any team in the league to take them down. Their best approach right now is to take it 40 minutes by 40 minutes, because if they get ahead of themselves, its an upset waiting to happen.

Binghamton - Again, the other best team in the conference, so they obviously have a shot to win it all. They have been hot since the end of January and with their remaining schedule could roll off three more wins to capture the regular season title. The Bearcats have shown they are beatable though. Maine only lost to them by six, Stony Brook lost by two in overtime. The worst team in the league (Hartford) was beating them at halftime and only lost by 7 points. The Vermont games where absolute barnburners and if not for Tiki Mayben displaying his Samson-like powers via his uni-brow, and UVM just having a total meltdown, Binghamton would have lost at Vermont by a lot. So they have their flaws too, but like Vermont they will be tough to stop if things are going right for them.

The thing is, I do not believe there is a single team in the league that is 100% capable of winning two games in a row. Every team has its flaws, might match-up badly with another team, or just is not consistent enough to pull it off.

The certainty is that there is no certainty and that could make for one crazy ass tournament.

Mid-Season All-Conference

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:28:04 -0500

Before the 2nd-half of conference play really kicks into gear, I wanted to post my mid-season All-Conference picks. Drake may want to post his, if he has them, also. LET THE DEBATE BEGIN!

JoMo's Mid-Season America East All-Conference Selections:

First Team All-Conference
D.J. Rivera, Binghamton
Darryl Proctor, UMBC
Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Corey Lowe, Boston
Will Harris, UAlbany

Second Team All-Conference
John Holland, Boston
Mike Trimboli, Vermont
Muhammad El-Ammin, Stony Brook
Reggie Fuller, Binghamton
Colin McIntosh, Vermont

Third Team All-Conference
Tim Ambrose, UAlbany
Jarret Von Rosenberg, Hartford
Malik Alvin, Binghamton
Jay Greene, UMBC
Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook

All-Rookie Team
Anthony Raffa, UAlbany
Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook
Jake O'Brien, Boston
Bryan Dougher, Stony Brook
Gerald McLemore, Maine

All-Defensive Team
Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Darryl Proctor, UMBC
Reggie Fuller, Binghamton
Mark Socoby, Maine
Colin McIntosh, Vermont

Player of the Year - D.J. Rivera, Binghamton
Defensive Player of the Year - Marqus Blakely, Vermont
Rookie of the Year - Tommy Brenton, Stony Brook
Coach of the Year - Dennis Wolff, Boston

SIDE NOTE - KEEP VOTING IN THE BATTLE OF THE MASCOTS...BU VS. BU GOING ON RIGHT NOW!

Catching Up!

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:16:45 -0500

Let's take a quick look on what we missed since Drake's departure.

Albany - Are 3-2 in their last 5 games. Great Dane fans will remember for year the amazing performance they put on in Kansas. I mean, who could every forget the amazing three-point shooting display they put on!

Will Harris has woken up and could be a big threat. Only problem is, the rest of the team needs to wake up!

Binghamton - Let us rephrase that...3-0 AND FIRST PLACE BINGHAMTON. You damn sure Bearcat fans will use that line for as long as possible, cause who knows how long it will last! However, give them credit, a solid 2-1 against the MAAC (3-1 in non-conference since the 19th of December) to head into conference play.

Until this past Thursday, I was not riding the wagon with the AE start (since wins were against Maine and Stony Brook). However, the win against Vermont in OT showed that this team should be taken seriously. If I am a AE opponent, Thursday night showed you why D.J. Rivera needs to be feared for the next two years in this conference.

Boston - Hot Dog and Jesus must be ripping their hair out. They have not won a game in a month and they have lost two of their top players to injuries (Tyler Morris ACL and Carlos Strong torn meniscus). If I am Cory Lowe, I would try not to get thrown out for the rest of the season. However, the way Britton and Holland played against Albany the other night should give some hope to BU fans that they won't finish in last. That and Stony Brook and Maine are still in the conference.

Hartford - Nice performances out West before beating Albany without Joe Zeglinski. The biggest thing hurting this team is rebounding and defense. In conference games, they have been out-rebounded a total of 88-57 (ouch!) and are last right now in the AE giving up and average of 73.3 points per game. The team has the talent to score, we all know that. They need to defend!

Maine - Not much to say. When you lose by 13 on your home court to Canisius, that says just about everything about where you are in this conference (o wait, I am a UAlbany fan, didn't we...nah!) Mark Socoby just about is the only thing that does it for me with this team. However, frosh Gerald McLemore could win me over come end of the season.

UMBC - I just don't get how you beat Nebraska in Lincoln and then lose to Stony Brook at home to open conference play. However, when you go from playing in front of a couple thousand to then a few hundred, it does hurt some teams (don't get mad at me UMBC fans, after a conference championship season, you guys are second to last in the conference in attendance!)

Darryl Proctor is still tearing it up. Amazing player that I think is a first team all-conference. It just seems the rest of the team can't score this year like him. However, I won't make fun of this team. They will be a big threat come tournament time, no matter what the journalist think.

New Hampshire - Mark my words...IF YOU WANT A CINDERELLA TEAM FOR 2009, THIS TEAM IS IT! People don't seem to think this team is championship ready. I think they can be a surprise. Something about Alvin Abreu and Tyrece Gibbs just scares the heck out of me. Gibbs is going to be an all-conference player this year, plain and simple. I think if the right weapons work with him, this team may shock people.

Stony Brook - I think everyone was shocked when they beat defending champs UMBC in Baltimore. However, the success lasted a good 48 hours. 0-2 since then, including a ten point loss to Maine at home.

Muhammad El-Amin has been a present surprise for the Seawolves, as has Tommy Brenton in the paint. However, let us all take a step back a remember - THIS IS STONY BROOK!

Vermont - While I truly hate Vermont, I must stand and give them a bravo. Their performance in Hawaii over New Years was amazing. The entire conference should be greatful for how they helped push AE onto the scene and get some recognition this season.

HOWEVER, as Thursday proved, THIS IS AMERICA EAST BASKETBALL! I think the game against Binghamton was a let down coming off a solid non-conference season. However, it is only one game and there is a long way to go. This team I think is STILL, the team to beat this year. Marqus Blakely and Mike Trimboli are still some of the top talent in the conference. McIntosh is always a threat and I still think we have not seen the emergence of transfer Maurice Joseph.

As a Great Danes fan it kills me to say this about Vermont: BE AFRAID AMERICA EAST, BE VERY AFRAID!

America East: Almost a Power Conference! (Thoughts 12/5)

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 22:22:48 -0500

So lots of good stuff has happened this week. The AE is 7-1 so far! The RPI stands at 12, AHEAD of the Colonial and the MAAC! Woo! Suck one "superior conferences"!!

Anyways, Vermont gave Dartmouth a nice kick in the pants, pulling away big time in the second half of the game. Three Catamounts combined for 69 of the 88 points. Nice. Dartmouth's Alex Barnett lit them up yet again though, thankfully this time, he lost (I think he scored 27 or something last year when UVM lost to the Big Green). Barnett is a damn good player if you have never seen him. He would be all-conference first team in the AE. My sources tell me however that because he is black, has tattoos and dreadlocks, some UVM fans instantly labeled him a thug. Classy. These are the same people who boo Mike Lonergan at games and essentially want to see him fail, and when the team gets up big they still make fun and resort to making terrible remarks about his wife and children. The person who told me this would never lie to me (except that one time YOU KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!). I have to say, that is awfully low, to bring the man's family into it because you simply don't like the guy. If you dislike him so much, why do you go to the games? From what I'm told, nobody would miss this bunch, in fact, there might be a parade and fireworks if they never come back to games.

Vermont gets Pitt Saturday. Keep that under 20, and I consider it a success.

Stony Brook did the league the ultimate favor. They did not lose to NJIT. Dewy (get it! DUI...Duh-ew-iii! Awful joke, I'm sorry) Adedeji returned to action playing six minutes. World-breaker Tommy Brenton only had 8 points and 5 rebounds. I am saddened. Some guy named Bryan Dougher scored 24. That much closer to breaking the school scoring record...which everyone loves to hear come from their point guards right?

Last night, UNH finally did some good and squeaked out a win against Colgate. That will happen when you shoot 50% from three. However, if you keep shooting 38% from the floor and don't make half your long range shots, consider yourself a loser (of the game).

BU dispatched a pretty good Harvard team. I mean, Harvard has like the best Asian college basketball of all time, so says Ricky Ricardo, in Jeremy Lin. Knocking off a team with that guy? Good job Terriers. The three headed monster that is Corey Lowe, John Holland and Jake O'Brien were all sex on fire. Hopefully they snag a win against Marshall and keep the AE dominance (2-0) of the MAC up.

UMBC pooped the bed against Towson for the only defeat of the week thus far. GEE THANKS GUYS! Well, really, shooting as bad as they did (32%FG, 18%3PT 60%FT), doesn't win. Don't know what to say other than the Retrievers were just bad.

Hartford gained some redemption tonight. Not only did they win against Lafayette, but they actually tied a team in total rebounds. Considering where they have been so far this season, that is a giant step. They also had a night where they shot the ball very well, 55% from both the field and three. Hopefully this is a confidence booster for them. La Salle will be tough, but they are a very beatable team, and they are probably going to want to get some wins before they go play Baylor and Stanford. Then again, Yale played Stanford close and Vermont ass-smoked them, and I think Hartford is a lot better than Yale, so the Hawks have a fighting chance.

Maine stat padded an entire game by playing some local dump in the pants D3 team and beating them 126-50. Their freshman walk on, Ryan Martin led eight scorers in double figures with 20. Troy Barnies grabbed 20 rebounds and had 16 points, while three other players had double doubles. 70 rebounds as a team. Enjoy that box score Maine. Isle-Presque is no Oklahoma, or Colgate for that matter.

The important part here is that the league is winning. And that someone else writes about it and mentions me in their article.

Afterthoughts 11/26

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:16:55 -0500

A 3-4 evening for the America East last night, and it really could have been a lot better, but asking for that to happen never does any good.

In the winners bracket, Vermont put the wood to Delaware and won 78-63. The Catamounts were up by 25 with about a minute and a half left in the game until Delaware got some garbage points. Colin McIntosh was simply put, Sex On Fire (good song, really awkward video) with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting. Marqus Blakely dealt with some foul troubles again, but finished with 16 and 11. Mike Trimboli added 19 points, 5 assists and 7 rebounds. They also held Delaware to 34% shooting and the Blue Hens shot 47% from the free throw line. Vermont actually did well for themselves at the line, relatively speaking, by going 22-for-29, but still had 17 turnovers.

Regardless, even with the 2-2 record, we can say this team is dangerous. If you have a three headed monster like that, and add in the fact that there is a fourth player, Maurice Joseph who is capable of scoring lots of buckets too, not many teams will stop that unless they can try to get them to inbound the ball the entire game.

It is a good thing Boston U won 83-75 against Northeastern last night. Hot Dog and Jesus might have been on suicide watch, especially if you coupled an NU loss with getting swept by the hockey version of the Catamounts this past weekend. Word to the wise fellas, pimps don't commit suicide.

Corey Lowe was mackin' it like a pimp daddy in the first half scoring 23 of his 27 points. The torch, or pimp cane (?) was passed on to freshman Jake O'Brien who scored 18 of his 21 in the second including going 5-of-7 from three point range. And did I mention that O'Brien rocks a neck beard? What is more pimp than that? John Holland added 17 points too. I don't think anyone can expect O'Brien to be going off like that every game, but it is certainly nice to know he can. Get Scott Brittain back at full strength, and having a guy like Carlos Strong who can explode for scoring, well there is the makings of a great team this season. Just don't go messing it up, and that is not out of the question either.

Albany beat Columbia 66-49. I like that the Danes are outrebounding their opponents in every game. I don't like that they shot the ball poorly (39% and 0-for-11 from three) and turn the ball over quite a bit. Also, only six assists for them against Columbia. That will not get you victories against better teams. All in all though, I think they have the makings of a decent squad come conference time. It is hard to comment more because first off, I have yet to see the Danes play and secondly, when I make my stupid analysis judging from box scores and statistical trends, I can't see everything and frankly, Albany's box scores are boring looking for the most part. But if they are boring and win games against out of conference foes, I'm all for it.

As for losing, there is one "okay" loss. Hartford getting beat up by URI 94-71. URI is a very good team. Not much to tell other than Hartford doesn't rebound the ball. If that is not solved by conference play, well they are in for a really long season. Too bad because even if they got some production on the glass from Minor/Estes/Maciel, like 12 between them, that could be the difference in some games.

Who in the hell is Tommy Brenton and where did he come from? Stony Brook lost 56-53 to a solid American squad. That, the losing, is not news. Brenton is. It is his second straight double-double and he is averaging 10.5ppg and 11.3rpg on the season. How does Stony Brook get a player like that, especially a player that rebounds? Something tells me that when the DWI guy comes back, Pikiell will take all of Brenton's minutes away and he will wallow on the bench as Adedeji averages 4 and 6 every game while shooting 32% from the floor and heaving up 12 shots a game.

Everyone always talks about how Stony Brook usually never deserves anyone on the all-conference teams, but if Brenton keeps it up, you can't deny him of that, especially if he is keeping them in games. What isn't keeping them in games in eight assists. Oh yeah, Brenton was tied for the team lead in assists with three. When Stony Brook figures out if you pass the ball to create baskets, that it actually gives you points and you can win games, maybe they will crack double digit wins this season.

Maine has re-entered the earth's atmosphere and have taken a loss in typical Maine fashion. That is, losing to a sub-par team. Even though Quinnipiac is 2-0 against AE schools, I still don't think they are that good. If they don't get a career night from Justin Rutty (30 points), they would have been awful last night. Not that Maine did themselves any favors either, they shot badly, Socoby and McLemore combined to be 11-of-30. Maine has a tough schedule ahead (minus the game against a local DIII or NAIA school), so it will be telling on how they do an that stretch. Quinnipiac was the first test and they let a big man just take them to town. If they are competitive for the rest of their schedule and maybe sneak a win or two out of it (Colgate and Canisius likely suspects) then that means they could move from 8th place into 7th in the AE this year.

Worst loss obviously goes to Binghamton who were destroyed by Central Connecticut 76-51. 29% from the field. 0-for-19 from distance, seven total assists compared to CCSU's 26. Just wow. Kevin Broadus can be pissed all he wants, but let's face the music here folks. That team is not going to change. Broadus knew that when he took those guys on, and now he looks like a total fool. I'm sorry Binghamton fans that you have to put up with this. Utah Valley has a guy that averages 29 ppg and they are 4-0. Rather than seeing the Bearcats try and limit his opportunities to score and keeping them off the glass with a good team defensive effort, I'm sure you will see Rivera and Mayben throwing the ball up with reckless abandon in order to show the guy up and end up losing the game.

Break Up Those Gosh Darn Maine Black Bears!

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 20:58:52 -0500

Maine starts the season 2-0. Stony Brook is 1-0. Vermont, Albany, Boston University and Hartford are all 0-1. Simply put, all our preseason predictions are screwed.

Not really, but it certainly made for some surprises on opening weekend.

We will start off with Maine, who captured glory at the 100 Club Classic hosted by Keenesaw State. In the first game against Northern Illinois (a team that was 6-22 last season and only returns three upperclassmen who contributed very little), freshman Gerald McLemore led the way with 24 points to a 77-64 win. The team also got contributions from their rock, Mark Socoby (16pts) and Junior Bernal (12pts, 7rebs, 5ast). Another freshman and half-MAINE KID! (via prep school) Svetoslav Chetnov make a nice impact in his debut with 9pts and 7rebs.

In game number two, against host Keenesaw State, a team that was 10-21 last season, Socoby notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Fellow MAINE KID! Troy Barnies added 16 points in the 60-47 win.

As Carlos said, the tournament field, which also included Western Illinois (12-18 last season) might have been the worst tournament field ever, but Maine made the most out of it and got wins against conferences America East schools need to beat. It is far better that Maine go on the road and get victories against Division I opponents rather than staying home and hosting Maine-Farmington. The Black Bears certainly have a tough road ahead for the rest of the schedule, but this week they deserve a nice pat on the back for not messing everything up by losing to terrible basketball teams. And, I don't have to do a Replacing Ted until potentially Thursday. Kudos Maine!

Stony Brook beat Maryland-Eastern Shore 60-44. Some guy named Tommy Brenton grabbed 16 rebounds. He probably only plays two minutes in their next game. The Wanker from Windsor, aka Brit Danny Carter scored 11 points to lead the Seawolves to victory. Again, good job to Stony Brook for not messing it up and losing to another God-awful Division I team. It is all about victories against teams the conference should be beating up on. So way to go Seawolves!

Speaking of conferences that America East teams should beat, the AE went 0-1 against the NEC. Hartford dropped a 63-62 game to Quinnipiac. That is concerning for a team everyone expects to be in the top three in the league. Rebounding killed the Hawks, getting outrebounded 45-26. That is going to have to change if they want to take that next step and be the legit title contender people think they are going to be. Too bad they face UConn next. I don't think they will be outrebounding them.

BU lost to George Washington in overtime. Corey Lowe was awful, John Holland was good, and Tyler Morris only had two points and one assist. The team was missing Scott Brittian, and freshman Jake O'Brien filled in by shooting horribly (3-of-11) to finish with 8 points and 6 rebounds. Carlos Strong picked up the slack and contributed 14 points, but if Lowe and Morris suck that hard every game, BU is going to find themselves in the same place they were last season very quickly.

Albany got handled by #25 Villanova 78-60. Will Harris and Anthony Raffa had nice debuts, each having 13 points apiece. Raffa only had one assist and five turnovers, which should be concerning since he is a point guard. Harris actually led the way in assists with five. Brett Gifford had 7 rebounds, does this mean he finally dominates the league? My sources tell me no. Should be interesting to see how they perform against DePaul.

The "best" game, even if they lost might belong to Vermont and George Mason. The Patriots won 80-79 in overtime due to the Catamounts total incompetence to complete a final play in a close game. I wonder if the players actually think they are supposed to do that now it happens so often? Anyways, Marqus Blakely had 24 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks. I don't think he is hurt as some people said he was. It is unfortunate that Vermont lost, but to hang tough with a team that is almost always good, and to even play competitively down the stretch without Blakely (he fouled out) and Mike Trimboli scoring, that is good news. And to be getting nice contributions around the board. I wouldn't be too concerned if I'm Vermont. Just beat Yale and get everything back on track.

And finally, UMBC's entire starting five reached double digits as they beat up on some crappy DIII team. Their first real test comes against Morgan State this week.