One-Bid Wonders

Photo Courtesy of America East Athletic Communications

(West Hartford, CT) — Third-year Binghamton head coach Mark Macon’s press conferences are already the stuff of legend: The outspoken coach has been known to offer thoughts, insights, jokes, commentary, and stream-of-conscious detours about any and all topics related to the game played, the sport of basketball, and life in general.

Needless to say, when Macon talks, you fasten your seat-belt and enjoy the ride.

Following the two-win Bearcats all-heart, near-herculean effort in a narrow loss to top-seeded Stony Brook in the quarterfinals of the America East Tournament, Macon was effusive in his praise of his team’s effort and guts. He also spent time praising the tremendous talents of freshman forward Ben Dickinson – a potential star in the making — who followed up a 21 point performance in Binghamton’s win over UMBC on the opening night of the America East tournament with 20 points in the near-upset.

But it was the smallest – and perhaps the least known — player on the Bearcats roster who drew the biggest praise, and most airtime, from Macon: walk-on Mike Horn. Macon spent more time talking about the scrappy and diminutive guard than any other topic in the entire press conference.

After praising the Bearcats’ collective group of walk-ons — Javon Ralling, Jabrille Williams, Jimmy Gray (who earned a partial scholarship this year) and Horn — for their impressive contributions during the season.

“They just give you everyting, said Macon. “They fight for this family, and I can’t be more proud of those guys They do yeoman’s work.

Macon singled out Horn specifically for his contributions.

“Let me tell you a story about Mike,” said Macon. “He is THE hardest worker on that floor every night and every practice – he gives you everything he’s got.”

That Mike Horn ever set foot on the floor at the division I level is perhaps equal parts fate and luck; cosmic karma and random chance; persistence and perseverance; and one kid’s immense love for the game of basketball. (more…)

They say to know where you are going you need to know where you have been. With the America East Championship in the morning, here’s a look back at how we got here. This is the first of a multi-part series capturing some of the unseen moments that embodied the America East Tournament, and the essence of the conference as a whole.

UMBC forward Jake Wasco battles Ben Dickinson and Jabrille Williams for a rebound (courtesy of America East Athletic Communications)

(West Hartford, CT) — In the waning moments of the America East Play-in-Game between eight-seeded UMBC and ninth-seeded Binghamton, the ball found its way into the hands of Retrievers’ senior forward Jake Wasco.

In front of a crowd that couldn’t have numbered much more than 150 spectators, as the squeak of sneakers and leather slapping against hardwood echoed off of empty seats, previously one-wind Bearcats had gutted out a 73-67 overtime win against the four-win Retrievers.

It was fitting that the ball found its way into Wasco’s hands in the games final seconds.

…

Jake Wasco spent his entire career in anonymity, toiling in obscurity on a downright bad team.

An end of the bench player for a bottom of the barrel squad for virtually all of his time in uniform, Wasco was never known by the mainstream college basketball world – and will be soon forgotten by even the most ardent America East fans.

An all-effort player who was long on heart but short on effort, Wasco was a spare part and practice player for one of the worst teams in the league. Toiling deep within the shadows of a tiny conference, he played out a forgettable career during a four-year span that UMBC fans wish could be wiped from their record books.

…

As the ball reached Wasco’s hands, the game clock flipped to seven-seconds, rapidly descending towards the triple-zeros that would mark the end of his career. As Wasco caught the pass, he paused for a moment, scanning around the arena – as if taking it all in for one last time. (more…)

The match-ups for the ESPN BracketBusters (to be played the weekend of February 18th and 19th) were announced today, and the America East (other than the lovely spin/hype job released by the league office) let out a collective yawn that reverberated around the league.

ESPN first launched the BracketBusters tournament in 2003 with the goal of capitalizing on the buzz of promising mid-major programs that could “bust brackets” during the NCAA tournament by upsetting power-conference favorites.

In its first year, the ‘Buster featured a select field of only 18 teams – the “best and brightest” of the mid-majors – that were viewed as having the best chance at shaking up The Big Dance.

Two years later, the America East broke into the ‘Buster, as Vermont – pegged during the preseason by both ESPN the Magazine and Sports Illustrated as a Cinderella in the making, and followed during the season and featured on ESPN’s documentary series “The Season – squared off against Nevada.

2005 was a great year for the AE, as the UVM/Nevada tilt was viewed by many as THE game of the BracketBusters and was featured during a prime-time timeslot on ESPN. UVM eventually fell to a Nevada team featuring several potential/future NBA-ers, but Taylor Coppenrath, T.J. Sorrentine, and the rest of the Catamounts took the heavily-hyped Wolf Pack to the wire.

The Catamounts exposure garnered even more national interest in the program, as a new legion of fans followed the Catamounts through their “Upset City” victory over 4th seeded Syracuse in the NCAA tournament later that year (arguably the greatest win in America East history).

It was everything that the BracketBusters was supposed to be: A showcase of the best of the best of the mid-majors, generating publicity and hype for teams that would later shake up the NCAA tournament.

Then it all went terribly, terribly wrong: Big-time advertisers got involved, ESPN tried to cash in on every single last dime, nickel and penny, and the tournament got so morbidly obese, twisted, and corrupted that virtually every mid-major in the country is now involved. (more…)

Just when things were starting to look up for the Retrievers, a bombshell was dropped from Catonsville, as UMBC announced that senior play-maker Chris De La Rosa had left the team, citing “Personal and family issues.”

De La Rosa, a dynamic point guard who last season ranked first in the conference in assists (6.0 apg) and third in scoring (15.5 ppg), was a preseason First Team All-Conference selection in both the America East Coaches Poll as well as One-Bid Wonders’ preseason predictions.

De La Rosa had only played in one game this season following off-season surgery, but had made an immediate impact, scoring 17 points to go with 10 assists. Losing the dynamic point guard – one of the most talented players in the league – is a huge blow to the Retrievers, who had shown surprising promise, playing with energy, fight, and young talent, that the program had been lacking both of the previous seasons.

The long climb out of the America East cellar will be that much steeper for a UMBC squad that had won a combined nine games during the previous two seasons.

The silver lining for UMBC is that De La Rosa’s departure means more playing time for the young Retrievers, and could even help the team in the long run, as this would be the last season for the senior either way.

More on this story as it develops.

(New Britain, Conn.) – The University of Maryland-Baltimore County fell to host Central Connecticut State Tuesday night in a game that was far closer than the final score of 77-69. The Retrievers fell to 0-5 on the season, but continued to show promise.

Despite playing without three starters, including their best player (senior point guard Chris De La Rosa), the Retrievers battled until the final buzzer, controlled the paint, and displayed a heart and tenacity that was non-existent for all of last season. UMBC out-shot CCSU from the floor (.453 to .429) and from downtown (.467 to .353), while grabbing 13 offensive rebounds to the Blue Devils’ seven.

“I was really proud of our energy, of our tenacity, and of how we fought until the end,” said UMBC head coach Randy Monroe. “We’re really inexperienced, and we need to learn how to win a game – I thought at times we were playing not to lose – but I saw a lot of positives.” (more…)

Chris Markwood, who served as an assistant coach at Maine for the past five years, has reportedly been hired away by America East rival Vermont and will join the staff of new UVM head coach John Becker.

A Portland native, Markwood was heavily recruited out of South Portland High School and played two seasons at Notre Dame before returning to his home state to play his final two years of college eligibility at Maine. The soft-spoken Markwood was reportedly popular and well respected among the Black Bears players, and losing his is certainly a blow to a Black Bears coaching staff that is perennially short-handed.
(more…)

“We just ran into a buzz saw,” remarked UMBC head coach Randy Monroe following the Retrievers 91-65 loss to Binghamton in the play-in game of the America East conference tournament.

“The first two inches of the banana have all the sugar. The rest is just good food,” remarked Binghamton head coach Mark Macon. “We got the sugar going early, and just played good the rest of the night.”

Binghamton’s offensive performance was beyond words like “buzz saw,” “bombardment” and “beat down – phrases like that don’t do justice the shooting display the Bearcats unleashed before a mostly empty arena Thursday night. The final score was lopsided. Reality? That was more lopsided. (more…)

In yesterday’s action: UMBC reverted to form, and Vermont made the Bearcats look like, well, the Bearcats.

New Hampshire 80 UMBC 60
The Wildcats seem to always be good for one 3-point barrage a season, and they got their annual explosion at as good a time as any, as New Hampshire (8-11, 2-5 AE) buried 14-of-27 attempts from deep (51.9 percent) to leave an upstart Retrievers (3-17, 2-5 AE) squad in the dust.

New Hampshire was paced by Tyrone Conley, who scored 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from behind the arc, dished out seven assists without a turnover, and added six rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. Chandler Rhoads contributed 15 points on 4-of-4 shooting from downtown, and Brian Benson had a monster game, picking up his first career double-double with 15 points and 16 boards to go along with 5 blocks. (more…)

In last night’s action: UMBC decides it likes this whole ‘winning’ thing, Binghamton sinks farther into the abyss, Vermont overcomes its traditional stumbling block, and BU bounces back on its home court

UMBC 74, Hartford 70 (2OT)
You are Hartford (6-12, 3-2 AE). You are at home. Your opponent is UMBC (3-16, 2-4 AE), one of the worst teams in Division-I by any reasonable standard. You hold your opponent’s four starters not named Justin Fry to 3-of-26 shooting, including 1-of-13 from star point guard Chris De La Rosa. You have a nine-point lead with seven minutes to play in regulation. And somehow, some way, you end up losing this game in double overtime? As has become standard operating procedure, the Hawks let this one get away late. That being said, credit Fry’s 10 rebounds and 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting, as well as Brian Neller‘s 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting coming off the bench, which was easily the best performance of the sophomore’s career. Morgan Sabia had 17 relatively inefficient points (not that impressive) to go with 17 rebounds (very impressive) for Hartford in the loss. (more…)

In last night’s action: Binghamton maintained its position atop the AE standings, while Maine solidified its stance as a conference contender.

Binghamton 83, UMBC 75
Don’t look now, but the Binghamton Bearcats (6-10, 3-0 AE) – the same team that looked like it would struggle to win in a rec league at times earlier this year, and which has only seven scholarship players on it’s roster – now sit alone atop the America East standings. After going into the half tied at 33, the Bearcats pulled away in the second half over the hapless – not to mention winless in conference play – Retrievers. Walk-ons Jimmy Gray and Mahamoud Jabbi walked tall for Binghamton, with Gray scoring a team and career-high 23 points and Jabbi ripping down a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 17 points. Chris De La Rosa continued to excel for the Retrievers – and continued to get little help from anyone – dropping a game-high 31 points to go with five assists, but also committed eight turnovers. The Retrievers played hard and didn’t look like the trainwreck they’ve been for much of the season, but couldn’t pull it out.

The game featured a terrific one-on-one battle between De La Rosa and Gray, with each putting on a dribbling display that would have made And1 Productions proud. The win was especially impressive for the Bearcats, who were playing without leading scorer Greer Wright, although it is worth noting that the Bearcats have appeared more cohesive without their star as of late. The next six games will determine if the Bearcats are a true conference contender, or simply a flash in the pan benefiting from an easy start to their schedule. Binghamton will play conference contenders Maine (twice), Boston University, Vermont, Albany and Hartford.

Maine 66, Albany 64
Throw the records out the window – these two teams will be fighting at the top of the conference come America East tournament time. This game was nothing short of a war. Maine guard Gerald McLemore scored a game high 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc and hit two key free throws to tie the game with 34 seconds left. Raheem Singleton dished out 10 assists and hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left to win the game for the Black Bears. Troy Barnies continued his stellar senior year for the Black Bears, scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting and pulling down seven rebounds.

Albany was led by point guard Mike Black, who scored 18 points, and also got 12 points from Tim Ambrose and 10 from Luke Devlin. The Great Danes returned home after two tough road losses to conference contender Vermont and a hot shooting Hartford squad, and looked to rebound against the Black Bears, but could not overcome cold shooting from top scorers Ambrose (5-of-17) and Logan Aronhalt (3-of-8).

All America East teams are idle today and tomorrow. America East play will resume on Saturday with four games: New Hampshire at Stony Brook (1 PM), UMBC at Vermont (1 PM), Binghamton at Maine (3:30 PM), and Boston University at Albany (7 PM).