Monday, December 8, 2008

Around the League: 12.08.08

Monday's games:

Maine 67, Colgate 56
This is what happens when Junior Bernal doesn't turn the ball over (five assists, zero turnovers) and Mark Socoby comes off his screens perfectly. Socoby, who had a game-high 21 points, hit 4-of-9 from downtown in a Tyler Morris-like fashion, a la 2006. Bernal added 17 points while Sean McNally had 13 and Gerald McLemore contributed 11. Other than that only two other Black Bears notched five combined points in the eight-man rotation. Beating Colgate isn't really any grand achievement, but any win for the AE (which has the 13th best conference RPI) is a good one, and it should give Maine (5-4) some confidence going into their next game against Oklahoma. Ben Jonson led Colgate with 15 points.

Lehigh 65, Albany 64
This really should have been a two-win night for the America East, but Albany let the game slip away. Up by 15 midway through the second half, the Great Danes (5-4) became complacent, allowing the Mountain Hawks to shoot 42.1 percent from beyond the arc. In all seriousness, Albany really did allow Lehigh to sneak their way to a win, missing the front end of two 1-and-1's in the game's closing seconds, which gave way to a tip-in by Lehigh's Zahir Carrington (six points). Tim Ambrose (17 points) hit a jumper to give the Danes the lead with 41 seconds left, but they couldn't hold on for the victory over a team Stony Brook beat handily three days prior (71-50). In Albany's defense, however, the Mountain Hawks did have Phil Anderson and Dave Buchberger return to the lineup (two of Lehigh's better players), but neither had a major impact. Will Harris finished with a team-high 21 points, while Lehigh's Marquis Hall led all scorers with 23.

Tuesday's games:
Binghamton vs. Bucknell, 7:00 p.m.
Hartford vs. Brown, 7:00 p.m.
New Hampshire vs. Rhode Island, 7:00 p.m.

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