Hartford Flies Under The Radar

Under-hyped Hawks have the look of a contender

by Sam Perkins

The University of Hartford Hawks have suffered from an absolute dearth of publicity during the 2007-2008 season, as despite putting together a solid showing during their non-conference season, and playing some of the best ball in the conference as of late. But don’t think that Hawks head coach Dan Leibovitz minds.

“We don’t mind it, we prefer it that way,” he joked, adding, “we’d be happy to not get any recognition and sneak up on people all season.”

Unfortunately for Leibovitz, after Hartford’s recent three-game winning streak, and their last second loss on the road to conference top dog UMBC, they probably won’t be sneaking up on anyone anymore.

Prior to the season tip-off, Hartford was picked 6th in the America East coaches polls, and was rated almost unanimously as a middle-of-the-pack team. Hartford was coming off a season in which they participated in the league tournament’s play-in game, struggled through an injury-plagued, bench-depleted season, and lost their leading scorer and 1st team All-conference performer to graduation. The Hawks would be suiting up a very inexperienced team, and while there was no denying they had some talent, the common view was that they were a year away.

Hartford got off to a sluggish start, dropping their first two games despite holding big leads in the second half, and for most of the non-conference season, the Hawks couldn’t find any consistency on the court. The staple of Hartford’s undermanned squad from last season, was tremendous physical toughness, and the Hawks’ inconsistency certainly had nothing to do with lack of effort or determination. “It’s not something where we’ve lacked effort,” said Leibovitz. But the Hawks had trouble showing up and playing as a complete team consistently, and had difficulty carrying over the success from one game to the next, something that all young teams struggle with.

However, things began to click for the Hawks during their last game of 2007, when they took on Virginia. The Hawks fell by eight points (78-70) to a big, strong, and athletic team from a power conference, and the game was even closer than the score would indicate.

“When we lost to Virginia, I really thought that we competed, for forty minutes, we were right there. We had our best defensive half in the 2nd half. When I went into the locker room after the game, I said that, going through everything that we have gone through, but as far as I’m concerned, when we start the New Year we’re zero and zero,” recalled Leibovitz.

And the young Hawks have followed Leibovitz’s lead, as since the start of 2008 Hartford has played better basketball, aside from UMBC, than any other team in the conference. Hartford has displayed the ability to win several different types of ball games since their loss for Virginia, and has really showed off their team depth, something they simply did not have last season. Even more importantly, the Hawks have showcased their ability to win close games and to come back, something that will prove invaluable in the dogfight that should be the America East Conference.

In their first game of 2008, Hartford led Yale throughout, only to watch the Bulldogs pull ahead by three with less than a minute left. Losing a lead at that point, after coasting for much of the game, would have been back-breaking for most teams, but Hartford dug down deep, and after Michael Turner nailed a three to tie it, Joe Zeglinski banked in a jumper to take the lead, and Jaret Von Rosenberg hit four free-throws to ice the game.

In their next game, their conference opener versus Binghamton, the Hawks were blown out of the water in the first half, only to have center Warren McClendon put the team on his back in the second and carry the Hawks back into the lead. But the Hawks blew a ten-point advantage with five minutes to play, and a three-pointer with 11 seconds left gave Binghamton a one point lead and seemingly the game. Then McClendon once again carried the Hawks, getting fouled and hitting both of his free-throws with 2.4 seconds left, and the Hawks once again came away with a last-second, come-from-behind victory.

While it would be nice for the Hawks to be able to put teams away completely, their ability to never get down on themselves and seemingly rally one time after the next has been huge, but its also nice to have some games that are never in doubt. That was the case when Hartford took out Boston University at home, improving to 2-0 in the conference and 3-0 in the new year. In their third win of 2008, Hartford was led by yet another Hawk, as freshman Morgan Sabia scored a team-high 14 points, and after Hartford took the lead halfway through the first half, they never trailed. That game was a high point for the Hawks’ ever-improving defense, something their head coach was extremely proud of, as he noted, “We played out best defensive game against Boston U.”

Following their win over the Terriers, the Hawks stood as the only undefeated team in the conference, but questions remained about their team, as they had yet to play a game on the road. While Hartford would have much rather come away with a victory from their first road game, in Baltimore against conference favorite UMBC, there were plenty of positives to be taken away from their 86-85 loss, as the Hawks traded leads with the most talented, and by far the best offensive, team in the conference, and if not for a deep three at the buzzer, would have walked away with a victory.

The Hawks grew tremendously during the non-conference schedule, but their coach feels that their struggles have really helped his team grow, and their early defeats have played a large role in transforming a young team learning the Division I game and searching for an identity, into a conference favorite. Said Leibovitz: “Throughout our non-conference play, we played a difficult schedule to really toughen those guys up.”

Hartford truly seems like a different team from the beginning of the season, as they are now as deep and complete a team as any in the conference (with the exception of UMBC) and they have a real inside-outside scoring presence.

Hartford, of course, begins and ends with sophomore sensation Joe Zeglinski, a tough-as-nails guard who brings a gridiron mentality to the hardwood. Zeglinski, heavily recruited as a running back out of high school, earned a spot on the all-rookie team last year, but he has truly transformed his game this season. While he still slashes to the hoop, and can muscle up against almost anyone in the conference, he has become a true threat from behind the arc, shooting a little over 36 percent from downtown. Leibovitz attributes his continued improvement to focusing solely on basketball for the first time in his life.

“Joe was always a football player first, so he never really spent a whole summer working on basketball, even last summer he spent more on rehab coming off of his knee,” Leibovitz said. “He spent this whole summer working on his game.”

While Zeglinski’s scoring (he leads the team, averaging 15 points per game) can never be overstated, Leibovitz is most impressed with his ability to help run the offense, and get other people the ball in a position to score.

“Where I really see the most growth in Joe’s game is that, and he’s always taken care of the ball well, his assists are way up,” he added. “He’s won some games with his passing.”

While Zeglinski has helped greatly in his passing, Leibovitz has kept him off of the ball to utilize his scoring ability. At the beginning of the year the Hawks looked strong at the point guard position, as senior captain Rich Baker was easily the best ball-handler, and one of the most unselfish distributors in the league. But Baker went down with an injury, something that happened last season and proved disastrous. Yet, despite playing without Baker (who will not be back anytime soon), the Hawks are still winning, something unimaginable to Leibovitz last season.

“We really, really struggled without Rich last year, I believe we were 3-12 and already we’ve won games in conference without Rich,” he reflected.

The Hawks ability to function and win without Baker has been the result of two players sharing the responsibilities at the point guard position in Von Rosenberg, normally a shooting guard, and Turner, the team’s small forward. Each brings something different to the position.

“Jaret obviously starts for us at the point guard,” said Leibovitz. “He’s really more of a combo guard, but he brings a dimension that Rich doesn’t, with a little more scoring, a little more aggressive, he really gets to the rim. Jared looks for opportunities to push and run and get out.”

As good as Von Roseberg has been, no one has handled Baker’s duties running the offense, positioning players to where they can score, and leading the team, as Turner has. He’s been the teams most versatile and unsung player.

“Mike is a guy who isn’t our best scorer, but he can score, he’s our best rebounder,” said Leibovitz. “He really has the mentality of a point guard, he’s a great kid, great communicator on both ends of the floor.”

Turner’s ability to run the offense and lead the team has never been more on display than against Binghamton, when he continued to run the offense from the bench after fouling out, and in the Hawks’ dogfight against UMBC, where he dished out and amazing ten assists to only one turnover. Turner has also become a threat on offense, and a big-time outside shooter, but his biggest contributions to the team have come on the defensive end, where he has proven not only to be the team’s best defender, but maybe the best perimeter defender in the league. Against Boston University, Turner was put in one-on-one coverage with BU’s Corey Lowe for the entire game, and forced Lowe into the worst shooting night of his career, 1-11 from behind the three point arc. While Lowe finished with 20 points, it took him 17 shots to do it, and many of his points came during garbage minutes at the end of the game when the outcome was already decided.

The Hawks also have a terrific rotation of complimentary players in senior Brian Glowiak, who provides instant offense and big-time shooting as a gunner off of the bench. Freshman Kevin Estes has come a tremendous way from the start of the season, and now not only provides a big body in the paint, but has become a scoring threat from the low post. Fellow Freshmen Anthony Minor has also found himself in the starting rotation, and after struggling for a long time, has found a niche as a high energy athlete, who provides some shot blocking and high-flying dunks.

The real gem of the freshmen class, however, has been Morgan Sabia, a 6’8″ forward who is as good an outside shooter as anyone in the conference, and also has the ability to put the ball on the floor and really attack the basket. While he is rail thin, and will need to get stronger to become a true inside threat, Sabia has already established himself as a scorer, averaging over 8 points a game. Although he disappeared for a stretch after some big scoring games early, he has matured greatly during the non-conference season, and once again has become a go-to scorer for the Hawks. Leibovitz is proud of his young freshman, especially the toughness he has developed.

“You come in as a freshman, you have a couple of good games, rookie of the week, 19 against BYU, and suddenly now you check into the games and the mind-set is don’t let Sabia catch it,” said Leibovitz. “Joe (Zeglinski) came in here and didn’t shoot the ball well, but he had that toughness and mindset, and Morgan is developing that.”

As talented and deep as the Hawks are, the one thing they had been missing for most of the season was a true inside presence, as while Estes and Minor are full of potential, they are still a long ways away from being true threats in the post. Ironically, the inside is where the Hawks were supposed to dominate the conference, as McClendon was expected to come in and take over the conference in the low blocks. McClendon was billed as unmatched in the conference in his physical skills, as he bench presses well over 330 pounds, can jump out of the gym, has tremendous hands and the ability to finish with either of them. But McClendon struggled tremendously in the early going, yet his early struggles may prove even more beneficial than early success would, as McClendon has grown tremendously as a player.

McClendon’s physical abilities are everything that they were billed as, but his early season was viewed as a large disappointment, which speaks volumes about his talent as most post players in the conference would kill to average fourteen points and six rebounds a game, numbers that are even more impressive when you consider he is only averaging twenty-five minutes per game. However, McClendon’s minutes tell the true story, as he has struggled tremendously to simply stay out of foul trouble and on the court, as he seemed too strong for his own good and forced far too many shots, as he would try to score over double and triple teams. At times McClendon’s frustration has gotten the best of him, with emotional outbursts against Long Island and Brown.

But following Leibovitz’s lead, with the new year McClendon has turned a new page, and has shown tremendous growth in his game. Against Yale McClendon’s numbers offensively seemed modest, but he began to open the floor up for his team, passing out of double teams to open men on the perimeter, instead of simply trying to knock people over and score.

“He’s been good passing out of the post, finding people, and that’s where I’ve seen the most growth in his game,” said Leibovitz.

Against Binghamton, after being in foul trouble during the first half, McClendon took over the second half, scoring at will while throwing down some backboard-shaking dunks. And against UMBC, McClendon played the best game of his career against the best frontcourt in the conference, scoring 29 points and grabbing 10 boards on 11 of 16 shooting. McClendon seems to have finally grasped what he can and can not do to score on the court, and his new willingness to get the rest of the offense involved spells huge trouble for the rest of the conference. As Leibovitz put it, “I’m actually the least worried about Warren. Once he puts it all together, he can be a truly great player in this conference.”

I’m this article won’t do much to help Leibovitz and his team stay off the radar (although that probably went out the window with the UMBC game), but I think he’ll forgive me. One thing is for sure: teams in the America East better take notice of Hartford, as the Hawks have joined UMBC in separating themselves a bit from the rest of the pack in the early going. With McClendon’s resurgence and the team’s growth, they have as deep and complete a team as any in the conference. And yet, the idea that the Hawks were a team that was building towards next year might still not be truly off base, as the Hawks are bringing in a trio of talented guards next season, and with everyone except for Glowiak and Baker returning, the Hawks could be scary good a season from now. As Leibovitz put it bluntly, “We’re really excited about our future.”

Boston University Snaps Skid

Terriers Show Some Fight, End Losing Skid

by Sam Perkins

BOSTON – No one would say it, but for Dennis Wolff and the Boston University Terriers, this was a must win game. Boston University entered their match-up against conference rival UNH riding a four-game losing streak. Corey Lowe put the Terriers on his back, and continued to make a strong early case for Player of the Year, but it was forty minutes of effort and team basketball that made coach Dennis Wolff proud, as he remarked, “Obviously, when we’ve been struggling the way we have been, to get back on track is good. I felt great effort the whole game.”

After looking like they were on the verge of finding their identity as a team, with valiant efforts against UMass and Holy Cross, the Terriers took a tremendous step backwards in their conference opener, getting blown out by Binghamton. Against the Bearcats, the Terriers played sluggish and uninspired, and seemed to be playing as five individuals instead of as a team while being outplayed and outworked in every aspect of the game.

After BU sleep-walked through their game against Binghamton, New Hampshire seemed to be one of the worst possible match-ups for the Terriers, as lack of effort proved deadly for Albany when they faced the Wildcats last week. While they may be inexperienced and undermanned, the Wildcats have no shortage of heart, as it has been their staple all season long: The Wildcats have played “Balls-to-the-wall” all season, and they seemed to have finally put it together, taking out Albany before giving conference heavyweight UMBC everything they could handle, and it has become apparent that if you don’t show up mentally and physically ready to play forty minutes of all out basketball, and don’t keep the intensity up, UNH will make you pay.

Coming off of a demoralizing loss, one in which BU was never truly in the game, it was obvious that the Terriers needed an injection of energy in their game, and Wolff made things more interesting in practice, leaving the rotation up for grabs.

“We were all disappointed in the way we handled Binghamton on Sunday, so we made it a competitive deal in practice,” said Wolff.

As a result of those competitive practices (and Scott Brittain’s pulled glute) Max Gotzler and Valdas Sirutis, whom had played a combined five minutes versus Binghamton, and John Holland, who didn’t play a minute against the Bearcats, all found themselves in the starting lineup.

Coming off of his worst game of the season, a game in which he scored five points on 2-8 shooting, Lowe had something to prove, and boy did he, as Lowe unleashed a three point barrage that the Wildcats could never recover from. Lowe put the team on his back, scoring the Terriers’ first twelve points, all from behind the arc, and the Terriers followed suit, as Carlos Strong complemented Lowe’s outside barrage with an inside one of his own, converting three tough lay-ups in traffic.

“If you’re making shots the way Corey’s making shots you’re going to get us off to a good start, and it became a little bit contagious with Carlos made some tough shots,” reflected Wolff after the game.

Strong’s play gave the Terriers a big boost, as he chipped in 14 points, and helped to carry the Terriers during two stretches in the middle of the 1st and 2nd halves when Lowe went to the bench. Wolff felt that coming off the bench may have helped Strong to return to his game, saying, “I think that Matt (Wolff) and Carlos, because of their intensity, have been fighting themselves a little bit… I think Carlos came in and just kind of played instead of trying too hard to begin with.”

But the night was all Lowe all the time, as he was a man possessed and scored at will despite the Wildcats keying on him on defense. Lowe scored in every way possible, on and off the ball, running through screens, creating his own shot, elevating over bigger defenders and beating smaller one’s off the dribble en route to a game-high 30 points. Lowe attributed his play to a different attitude on the court, as after the game he said, “I just tried to come in with a more positive outlook on things today. I hit my first couple of shots and was in a rhythm.”

Lowe’s importance to the team has never been more evident than it was against the Wildcats, as without Lowe Boston University would not have stood a chance. Lowe’s importance to Boston University, and his overall talent, are why he should garner considerable attention for Player of the Year, as the Terriers would be winless if not for him, as he runs the point, and is currently second in the league in scoring despite playing without a true second scorer, which has allowed defenses to zero in on him. Some players would burn themselves out after an opening span like Lowe had, however, he kept up his output for the entire game, making 11 of 22 shots from the floor.

As big as Lowe’s game was, the Terriers’ defense was just as important early on, as the Terriers zone defense forced the Wildcats to play in a way that they hadn’t at any point in the entire year: scared. Boston University hasn’t played up to Wolff’s standards on the defensive end during the early season, but for the opening frame against the Wildcats, the Terriers were at their best. They returned to the 1-3-1 zone that they had moved away from for much of the season and forced 17 turnovers during the game, resulting in 20 points, many of them during the first half.

“We really struggled against the one-three-one,” reflected New Hampshire Coach Bill Herrion.

No one played bigger on defense than Holland, whom made his presence known immediately, playing at the top of the zone. Holland dropped jaws during the non-conference season with some highlight-reel dunks and energy on offense, but he seemed lost on the defensive end, which caused Dennis Wolff some heartburn and resulted in Holland spending extended periods on the bench. But against New Hampshire, Holland was a bundle of energy and wreaked havoc. He clogged passing lanes, coming away with a game and career-high six steals, and forced several more Wildcat miscues.

What was most impressive for the Terriers, however, was how they handled a New Hampshire team that refused to quit, and withstood a hard charge by the Wildcats in the second half, the same kind of a charge that Albany had failed to contain a week prior.

The Terriers were able to match the intensity of the Wildcats, and did not back down when the game took a physical turn, with the hard fouls being exchanged and bodies flying in the second half. For Wolff, the effort and toughness displayed was an encouraging sign, as he had often pointed at the lack of toughness and effort as his team’s major weakness during their losing skids early.

“We have such a young group… I’m thrilled that we won tonight,” said Wolff, before adding, “these guys worked really hard the last two days, and we have to go one day at a time.”

For the young Terriers, it will be a long haul, as one game does not make a season. The preseason expectations heaped upon BU seem, in hindsight, to be a bit misguided, and unfair, as Boston University is an incredibly young team still learning the game. The Terriers do not have a physical presence in the paint, and with Tyler Morris still a long ways from being his normal self on the court, its asking a lot to expect Corey Lowe to carry the team all season long.

However, in their win over the Wildcats, the Terriers displayed the ability to play physical and hard, and provided a glimpse at how good they can play. If Morris can return to some semblance of his form from the previous season, with Lowe and Strong clicking, BU can play with anyone in the conference.

UNH Finally Over The Hump

Christensen, Gibbs, lead gutsy Wildcats to dramatic Victory

by Sam Perkins

DURHAM, N.H. – Albany head coach Will Brown summed it up perfectly following his team’s Thursday night contest against the University of New Hampshire.

“Superior effort and superior toughness won this game,” remarked the Great Danes’ leader.

When games are decided by effort, toughness, and sheer determination, America East teams are going to be fighting an uphill battle against the Wildcats, as no one in the conference plays harder. Brown and his Great Danes found this out first hand, as UNH simply refused to lay down against a bigger, stronger, deeper, and more experienced opponent, willing themselves to one of the most gutsy, and impressive, victories in recent conference history. UNH got huge contributions from all seven men whom dressed for the game, but none were bigger than the emotional play of senior captain Mike Christensen en route to a 75-66 win in their conference opener against Albany.

Already playing without sophomore captain Radar Onguetou, whom will redshirt due to a knee injury, the Wildcats were also playing without high-flying freshman guard Tyrone Conley (battling a bout of Mononucleosis), and freshman forward Rony Tchatchoua (out due to academic reasons). The Wildcats entered the game with only seven available players, one of them being walk-on Shawn Tobey, and another being freshman James Valladares, who under any other circumstances would be red-shirting. Everything seemed to be mounted against UNH, as they hadn’t beaten Albany in two years, hadn’t won a league opener in ten, and were riding a seven game losing streak.

Albany seemed to present one of the worst possible match-ups for UNH in their attempt to end their losing skid, as lack of depth, inexperience, and a lack of a post game had been too much for the Wildcats during their losing skid. The Great Danes seem to have an abundance of all three, as the two-time defending America East Champions return seven players from last seasons NCAA tournament team, while the Wildcats only had three healthy bodies with any previous experience playing Division I basketball. Albany’s roster included seniors Jon Iati, Brian Lillis, Brent Wilson, and juniors Brian Connelly and Jimmie Convington, all of whom played on both of the Great Danes’ championship teams. Albany has been through the wars, and has veterans with the experience to know what it takes to win big games, something that New Hampshire has been struggling with all season.

Furthermore, Albany starts Connelly and Wilson, whom can both score around the post, and four of their five starters stand 6’5″ or taller. Post play has been an Achilles heel for the Wildcats, who started three guards, all of whom are below 6’3″, and forward Mike Christensen, whom despite standing 6’8″ has played the game of a perimeter-only guard for much of his career. Albany also plays a ten-man rotation, as lack of available bodies will never be an issue for the Great Danes, while the Wildcats were simply hoping to make it through the game with five men on the floor.

From the opening tip, it was evident just how important this game was to New Hampshire, as the Wildcats threw themselves after every lose ball, and every made basket resulted in an eruption from their bench. The Wildcats were running on a mix of adrenaline and emotion, and when Christensen nailed a three with just under eleven and half minutes to play in the first half to put UNH on top 18-14, the New Hampshire bench exploded as if he had sunk the game winner.

But the game was far from over, and Albany took advantage of their depth to go on an 18-4 run over the next five minutes, getting scoring from four different players during the stretch.

Trailing 32-22 with almost six and a half minutes left in the first half, Albany was on the verge of blowing the game open, but that’s when Christensen broke out of his slump and played some of the best basketball in his entire career. During the non-conference season, UNH head coach Bill Herrion had continually commented that he needed more from his senior, and it was no coincidence that during the Wildcats’ losing streak, Christensen had seemed lost offensively.

“The last three or four games Mike Christensen has not played really well on the offensive end of the floor, and he’s let not playing well on offense effect other parts of his game,” Herrion reflected.

During the team’s skid, fans in Durham began to turn on their lone four-year player. It’s unfair, however, to jump on Christensen as much as fans have, as he has found himself in a position that no player ever wants to be in during their career, as the Wildcats have been seemingly rebuilding during his entire four years, and after being a perimeter player during his first three years in school, Christensen has been asked to move into the post on both ends of the floor, somewhere he has never felt totally comfortable, while at the same time adjust to a new offense where his touches have been greatly reduced.

“It’s been brutally hard, it’s been tough, and I haven’t played well,” commented Christensen.

During the Wildcats’ losing streak, Christensen seemed to settle for fade-away jumpers, and struggled mightily to finish around the rim when he did get inside. But with his team on the brink of being blown out, Christensen put the team on his back, took the ball and shoved it right down Albany’s throat. “To be honest, the last few games I have missed countless lay-ups,” said Christensen, “and I have not finished inside, and I’ve really taken some heat for it, and I wanted to come in and finish everything.”

Christensen fully utilized his 6’8″ frame en route to 15 first-half points. One huge play came when Christensen bulled his way inside, and took a hard foul while converting a traditional three-point play. His resurgence couldn’t have come at a more important time, as the Wildcats fed off of their senior captain’s energy on the court.

“He’s big, if you pick up the stat sheet, every game Mike plays well, we win,” said Tyrece Gibbs. “We look for Mike to be a leader. When it comes to taking a big shot, we look to Mike first and foremost to take the big shot. When he’s scoring we feed off his energy.”

Alvin Abreu then followed Christensen’s lead, converting a tough three-point play in traffic. Then it was back to the Mike Christensen show, as the senior put the ball on the floor, spun past his man, then muscled past burly Convington and banked it in over Wilson, while authoritatively smacking the backboard. Christensen let out a booming yell as he ran back down the court, drawing an emotional response from his bench and the New Hampshire faithful, and suddenly it was a two-point game. After a Brian Lillis miss, Christensen completed the comeback by once again converting a tough lay-up in traffic, tying the game at 34 and sending the New Hampshire bench into a frenzy.

After two Albany baskets, Eric Gilchrese drilled a three, and New Hampshire went into halftime down one, 38-37. The Wildcats ended the half on an emotional high, but the question was, after expending so much emotion and energy to come back, and having so few bodies, if the Wildcats would have anything left for the second half.

After trading buckets early on, Albany held a two-point lead with 14:20 left, when senior gunner Jon Iati came off a screen and nailed a deep three in traffic to put Albany up five. It was the kind of demoralizing play that takes the wind out of an opponent’s sails, but New Hampshire isn’t a normal team when it comes to fight, and the Wildcats stormed back to tie the game at 45.

But Albany responded, going on an 8-2 run, making the score 53-47, and once again New Hampshire was on the verge of being put away. Again, the Wildcats refused to go away, and once again their comeback was sparked by their senior captain.

Albany’s defense had focused on preventing Christensen from scoring in the second half, as the Great Danes put at least one body on him at all times. In previous games when Christensen had found himself in similar situations, he had either forced shots that weren’t there or simply vanished on offense. But Christensen once again changed his game, and keyed the Wildcats’ decisive 9-1 run. Twice he drove the baseline and drew two defenders, and both times Christensen kicked the ball out to an open man for a three-pointer.

Abreu’s three as the shot clock expired, set up by a Christensen drive and dish, woke up the crowd and the New Hampshire bench, and Gibbs’ subsequent three to tie the game swung the momentum fully back into UNH’s favor. When Abreu banked in a deep three the next time down the court, putting New Hampshire up 56-54, the writing was on the wall.

After Albany cut the lead to one on a free-throw, freshmen James Valladares came through with the final nail in Albany’s coffin as his left handed reverse lay-up, after switching hands mid-air, sent the gym and the Wildcats’ bench into a frenzy, and any energy Albany had left evaporated.

Every time Albany made a run, UNH had an answer, getting contributions from their entire roster. Dane DiLiegro had a monstrous block, and turned red and then purple shouting encouragement from the bench. Abreu and Gibbs had ice-water pumping through their veins, nailing three-pointers from NBA range, and walk-on Shawn Tobey played lock down defense over the final minute and a half, filling in for Christensen after he fouled out. Gilchrese added the icing on the cake, making a career high thirteen free-throws. His best play, however, came on one of his two misses from the charity stripe, as after missing the front end of a one-and-one, he snaked through the mass of larger bodies, came up with his own rebound, and put it back in while being fouled. He then made the ensuing free-throw, ending any chance Albany had at a comeback.

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Herrion could relax and simply bask in the glory of a victory, one that he and his team earned every second of.

“I’m really proud of the kids,” said Herrion. “We haven’t won a game in a while, we’ve had a lot of close games, and we have not found ways to win. And it’s been frustrating. But we’ve really stayed positive, with these kids, I really like these kids, I like coaching them, I like coming in the gym with them, and I think they really, truly, deep down, want to win.”

The Wildcats were picked to finish in the basement of the America East by almost every publication, and in the league’s coaches poll. But after listening to Christensen talk after the game, you would never know it.

“We don’t doubt ourselves, we know we have talent,” said the senior forward. “People pick us last, but you’re going to tell me that the five guys they (Albany) put out there are better than the five guys we put out there? Absolutely not… we think we can win this league, that’s our mindset right now.”

It’s easy to get carried away after a win as emotional as the Wildcats’, and Christensen’s comments can easily be overlooked as simply those of someone caught up in the moment. The Wildcats will be fighting fatigue and youth the entire season, and most people still won’t be taking them seriously even after this victory. However, after watching their performance against Albany, I see no reason to doubt them, they made a believer out of me. And after putting up the fight they did, after leaving their blood and sweat and souls on the court for forty minutes, and after standing 1-0 in the conference for the first time in ten years, they’ve earned a chance to feel like champions, even if it is only for one game.

UNH Growing Pains

Growing Pains: Young Wildcats learning the hard way

by Sam Perkins

Growing Pains
Young Wildcats learning the hard way
By Sam Perkins

DURHAM, N.H. – There’s one big problem for New Hampshire right now.

“The real issue that we have with our basketball team is that we are a very, very, very, average defensive team right now. Teams are just going wherever they want to go against us on offense,” head coach Bill Herrion reflected after his club’s 84-78 defeat at the hands of Long Island University Monday night.

Despite their tremendous heart and hustle, the Wildcats have now dropped five straight, with some serious defensive flaws being the main culprit in each of the Wildcat’s losses.

Another disturbing trend throughout the early season for New Hampshire has been the holes they dig themselves into early on in games, ones they have not been able to climb out of during their losing streak. The holes that the Wildcats are consistently digging for themselves into, however, correlates directly with their poor play on the defensive end, as they have been done in during the first five minutes of every game during their losing streak.

Freshmen center Dane DiLiegro has struggled mightily with touch fouls as of late, and has spent the majority of the time on the bench during the losing streak, making New Hampshire’s low post defense a huge liability. However, despite their lack of a low post presence whenever DiLiegro is on the bench, the true Achilles heel of the Wildcat’s has been their perimeter defense, as teams are shooting over forty percent from behind the arc, and if you take away UNH’s blowout of Division III Suffolk University, and Quinnipiac, a team devoid of outside shooters, opponents’ three-point field goal percentage skyrockets even more.

New Hampshire’s loss to Long Island was the result of yet another failure to defend the perimeter, as the Wildcats spent their week of preparation focusing almost exclusively on denying Long Island sharp-shooters (especially Eugene Kotorobai) any kind of decent looks from behind the arc, only to watch their opponents drain nine treys (Kotorobai nailed four threes, all in crucial moments). An exasperated Herrion exclaimed after the game, “We’re nine games in, I don’t know what it is, I’ve never had a team that can not defend the three, and it’s amazing what teams are shooting from three against us.”

After five straight games in the loss column, many Wildcats fans are sure to be getting a familiar feeling in the pit of their stomachs, and the thought of “oh no, here we go again” can’t be far behind. UNH has a history of failure and ineptitude in basketball as bad as any team in the conference (and almost any team in Division I basketball). However, before fans in Durham begin laying in the middle of Route 4 and waiting for a semi to put them out of their misery, let me reiterate that “there is light at the end of the tunnel,” as the Wildcats’ miscues this season are, for the first time in a very long time, the result of youthful mistakes and not lack of drive or on court ability.

New Hampshire’s struggles on defense, at least around the arc, certainly are not due to a lack of talent, as the combination of Alvin Abreu, Tyrece Gibbs, Tyrone Conley, Rony Tchatchoua, and Eric Gilchrese are as athletic and physical as any group of perimeter defenders in the league. UNH’s poor perimeter play has been in large part due to the mistakes of a team still getting used to playing Division I basketball. The Wildcats have struggled greatly to rotate over when playing zone defense, especially in transition and when teams run their shooters through multiple screens. The intricacies of college defense are something that can only be truly learned through experience, and of the Wildcats’ eight healthy scholarship players, only two had played even one full year of Division I basketball prior to this season’s tip-off.

Previous Wildcat teams have suffered from a dire lack of talent, especially young talent, as UNH has been a hard sell on any even mildly talented recruits who are getting looks elsewhere. For years the Wildcats have trotted out teams short on youth and even shorter on Division I ability, but that drastically changed this season. Herrion has as much (and probably more) freshmen talent as anyone else in the conference, and in a year or two this team could be very good.

While the youth of this squad has cost them on the defensive end, it has also helped greatly as the Wildcats never show any quit. Youthful ignorance may be the culprit, as they simply don’t “get” when they should be out of a game, as they have come back in every game, playing an incredibly hard forty minutes of basketball every night, and have been just inches away from stealing back a few contests during their losing streak. Their contest versus Long Island was no different, as New Hampshire, who trailed by as much as 23 points in the second half, came storming back and had victory within their sights before falling.

Young talent single-handedly kept New Hampshire in the game, as Herrion played the second half almost entirely with first-year players, and while it’s keeping New Hampshire in games this season, with a year of seasoning the same young talent will soon be winning games.

Freshman Rony Tchatchoua continues to develop. Tchatchoua’s sheer hustle is reminiscent of another Cameroonian, and former America East player, Germain Mopa Njila, as Tchatchoua was a bundle of energy on the defensive end. However, Tchatchoua’s ceiling is much higher than Njila’s, as he could turn into a solid offensive weapon to go along with his already blossoming rebounding skills and ability to clog passing lanes. Tchatchoua showcased the depth of his game Monday night, as he continued to display the ability move without the ball, running a picture perfect back door cut and punctuating it with a dunk. Moreover, Tchatchoua came out of his shell in the second half, calling for the ball and attacking the rim en route to a career high 14 points while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.

The star of the game for the Wildcats, however, was freshmen Alvin Abreu. Having been named the America East freshman of the week earlier in the day, Abreu exploded for a career-high 23 points and nailed a career high four three-pointers. While he might not have come into the conference with the hype of some other freshmen, Abreu is clearly the cream of the freshman crop in the America East, as he does things on the court that no other freshman has done in a very long time.

When looking at his incredibly muscular build, penchant for posting up guards on the low block, and range from well beyond the NBA arc, it’s easy to compare Abreu to former America East star Kevin Reed, but Reed never could do some of the things that Abreu has already displayed a mere nine games into his career. In three consecutive possessions in the second half Abreu showcased his repertoire, draining a twenty-five foot three over a defender the first time down the court, before blowing by his man with an And1-like crossover before elevating in the lane and knocking down a jumper over two defenders. The highlight of the game, however, came on the next possession, when Abreu flew in from the right wing, spun in the post, and switched hands in mid air before finishing off an up and under lay-up with his left hand. Abreu finished off another drive with a lay-up off an impressive power hop in the post a few minutes later, and it was clear to everyone in attendance that this kid is for real. Abreu presents a combination of strength, speed, ball-handling, outside shooting, and explosiveness that the conference may have never seen before, as he could become a cross-breed between Reed and former BU standout Chaz Carr.

However, despite all of his physical accomplishments, it’s his mental makeup that has his coach the most excited, as Herrion was quoted after the game as saying, “Alvin Abreu just plays, and plays, and plays, he never asks questions, he just plays. What’s really refreshing with him, is how hard he plays every day. Not just games, but everyday in practice. He’s a great kid, he just plays, just does his job and competes. I tell the assistant coaches that we need a few more Alvin Abreus, he’s a warrior and has a chance to be something great here.”

With the freshman class of Abreu, Tchatchuoa, big-time high flier and explosive scorer Conley, and inside bruiser and shot-blocker DiLiegro, combined with junior Gibbs, and transfer Colby Santos (a 6’5″ wing and lock down defender from James Madison who will be eligible next season), the Wildcats finally appear to be headed towards the top of the conference. New Hampshire only loses one senior in Mike Christensen, and despite leading the team in scoring, Christensen has appeared to be on a different page than his teammates, and has missed an awful lot of big shots in the clutch, while providing little on the defensive end. The Wildcats will lose Christensen, but will gain Santos and injured forward Radar Onguetou, a trade off that next years squad will gladly take. A year of seasoning plus another strong recruiting class, could be just what they need.

UMBC Emerges Atop America East

UMBC the class of the conference

by Sam Perkins

With almost a third of the season in the books, things are not going the way the America East had hoped as a whole, as the conference record sits at a dismal 28-48 through Sunday. Furthermore, if you take out games against non-Division I opponents the conference record falls to 25-45, and if you take out UMBC, the America East’s record falls even more to 19 and 43.

Before the tip-off of the 2007 season, there was a growing buzz that this would be the year the America East turned the corner and moved up the ladder of mid-major conferences. Unfortunately the hopes and predictions of only a few weeks ago seem like distant memories, as the conference as a whole continues to stumble through an incredibly poor non-conference slate.

Many fans feel that the non-conference schedule is not important, and that the conference season is all that matters. While no America East team will be getting an at-large bid, at least not for a very long time, the non-conference schedule is incredibly important for helping to improve the conference as a whole, and can not be over-stated. A poor performance during the non-conference schedule will result in a very poor seed in the tourney, hurts recruiting, and greatly stunts the conference’s development down the road.

Furthermore, the goal of every team in a good mid-major conference (what the America East is striving for) should not be to simply make the NCAA tournament, but to make it and win a game. Poor showings by the conference as a whole against non-conference foes will only ensure a No. 16 or 15 seed by the America East representative, and the normal beat-down that follows, and that result does nothing to help the America East grow, or to distance themselves from any of the other low-major conferences.

The season is far from over, and if history is any indicator, the conference season should truly be a dogfight, but it is frustrating to once again have “Next Year” be the slogan for the conference’s hopes of taking a step up. Talent certainly isn’t a factor in the America East’s struggles, as the conference as a whole continues to bring better and better raw talent with each passing season. It is easy to see the conference taking a huge leap forward over the next few years when looking at the current freshmen and sophomore classes throughout the league.

The problem lies in the fact that the majority of the conference’s high-impact talent can be found in its underclassmen, as lack of experience has been a big factor in many of the struggles of the conference as a whole. In fact, of the nine conference members, UMBC is the only squad in a “now or never” year, as the other eight members are all going through some form of rebuilding, and while many have lost of young talent, they are still a ways away from reaching their peaks.

What has made matters worse for the league as a whole, is that almost every team in the conference has been hit by the injury bug, and hit hard. In fact, there hasn’t been a year in recent history in which the league has been hit as hard across the board by injuries, as Boston University (Tyler Morris), Vermont (Marqus Blakely, Even Fjeld, Timmy McCrory) Binghamton (Jaan Montgomery, Minja, Mike Gordon), Hartford (Jared Von Rosenburg), and New Hampshire (Radar Onguetou) are all missing or have missed key players at one point or another. The combination of injuries and youth has led to a poor performance by the conference, as a whole, out of the gate, and some embarrassing losses across the board.

The one exception to the struggles of the America East has been the University of Maryland Baltimore County, or UMBC, who have excelled thus far. It is no coincidence that the Retrievers are one of the only veteran teams in the conference and not suffering the growing pains of many “maturing” squads (in fact, neither of the two scholarship freshmen have played for the retrievers), and have also steered clear of injury troubles thus far.

For the Retrievers, this is as good a chance of making the NCAA tournament as they are going to get in the near future, as their three top scorers are all seniors. UMBC has been impressive so far, not only for an America East team, but for any mid-major team, as they pulled off a sweep of the Atlantic-10 (beating Richmond, LaSalle, and George Washington), and have shown the ability to come from behind in dramatic fashion as they did against both George Washington and Morgan State. UMBC’s only two slip-ups came in a controversial game against Lafayette, in which there was a tremendous foul discrepancy against the Retrievers (however, coach Randy Monroe never protested the game, despite rumors to the contrary), and a disappointing loss to a very talented Wichita State team.

Monroe saw some positives in the loss to Wichita State, however. The team almost pulled off a comeback in front of a very vocal and hostile crowd, and Monroe feels that it will help his team down the line.

“The Wichita game was a tremendous experience for us,” said the fourth-year head coach. “We went in and played against ten-thousand screaming fans, and we almost pulled it off against a very, very good team. Granted we dug ourselves into a hole, but we never got down, and we never gave up.”

With UMBC it isn’t simply the case of a decent team in a bad conference; the Retrievers are a good team period, as they have the talent to be an upper echelon team in either the Atlantic-10 or the Colonial. UMBC has as complete a starting five as you will see at the mid-major level, as all five of their starters are capable of blowing up and scoring twenty-plus points on any given night.

UMBC has a truly well rounded starting five, with no discernible deficiencies at any position. Cavell Johnson, a 6’8″ shot blocker, starts in the post and is the most athletic player above 6’5″ in the conference. Johnson can score in a variety of ways, and with either hand, around the hoop, and can even knock down the three to keep teams honest. Johnson also leads the conference in rebounding, and is far stronger than his slight frame would suggest. Guards Ray Barbosa and Brian Hodges provide tremendous complements for Johnson and greatly stretch the defenses. Hodges may be the best shooter in the conference, and is second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage, three-pointers, and three-pointers made per game, and at a solidly built 6’3″, he has no problem getting his shot off. Barbosa is as explosive a scorer as there is in the conference, and can not only light it up from downtown, but can also get to the rack and score around the basket.

Daryl Proctor is a warrior at the other forward position, and is fundamentally the best rebounder in the conference. Proctor is also a very dangerous scorer who seemingly wills the ball into the hoop from the low blocks no matter how many bodies are thrown at him around the basket. Monroe continues to be blown away day in and day out by Proctor’s sheer tenacity and will to compete, saying, “I’ve never seen a player with Proctor’s heart or work ethic. I kid him all the time, telling him ‘I know they list you at six-four, but you’re really six-two and a half, in shoes.’ But then in games he’s got bruises on his elbows, his arms, a scar over his eye, but you look at the box score and he has eight, ten, twelve boards and twenty points. The kid just won’t be denied.”

Jay Greene, whom opponents have taunted as “Scooter” and “Rudy,” is the best distributor in the league, and has already had several games of ten or more assists. Greene is a truly unselfish, pass-first point guard that makes the team flow, however he is also capable of scoring when needed, as he has already scored twenty or more points and hit six or more three-pointers in a game twice this year.

It will be hard for anyone in the league to match up against the Retrievers, as they boast four of the conference’s top ten scorers (Hodges, Barbosa, Proctor, Johnson), two of the conference’s top six rebounders (Johnson and Proctor), three of the conference’s top ten three point shooters (Hodges, Barbosa, Greene), the conference’s second-leading shot blocker (Johnson), and the conference’s best distributor (Greene leads in both assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio). The Retrievers also have the highest scoring offense in the conference, the highest scoring margin, are the best free-throw shooting team, are second in field goal percentage, and third in field goal defense.

But it is more than simply talent that has made the Retrievers what they are, as the team has the best on- and off-the-court chemistry of any squad in the America East, and Monroe gushes that this team is not only the most talented, but the most unselfish one that he has ever coached.

Before the season began, the outlook for the Retrievers appeared to be one of two extremes: either the team would be scary good, or would implode in upon itself, with not enough shots to go around, nor enough space in the locker room for all of the egos on the roster. Monroe appeared to have a volatile situation on his hands, with established stars in senior Brian Hodges and junior Jay Greene, having to learn to share the spotlight and the ball with three high-impact transfers in Johnson, Barbosa, and Proctor. For upperclassmen comfortable in their niche as “go to” players, learning to defer to three scorers could have been hard, but Monroe feels that is a credit to Greene and Hodges, whom Monroe says “has the least ego out of any player I have ever coached.”

The one question mark for the Retrievers remains their bench, as UMBC has essentially gone with a seven-man rotation all season, with wing Matt Spadafora and center Justin Fry spelling the starters. Spadafora, an athletic and lanky wing, has been a pleasant surprise, playing stingy defense and chipping in a few buckets The true question mark will be Fry, who has the potential to be a special player with his size (6’9″), range to the three-point arc, and shot-blocking potential, but he has struggled after a solid freshman campaign. He has shown some improvement after being moved to the bench from his starting roll at the beginning of the year, and if UMBC can get him going they could become even scarier. Monroe also got a boost by the return of Uwem E, who provides a body in the paint.

If UMBC can keep their starters healthy, no one in the conference can stop them. However, that will require their three bench players to step it up and play 15 to 25 minutes a night so that their starting five doesn’t run out of gas.

Maine Tries To Keep Growing

Extreme week for growing Bears

by Sam Perkins

“We know this is going to be a growing process for a long time,” Maine head Coach Ted Woodward reflected following his team’s matchup against Providence College.

The Black Bears learned quite a lot about themselves in a week versus two very different opponents. They faced a very good team in Providence College to open the week, and closed the week out versus a very bad team in New Jersey Institute of Technology, a team in just its second season of Division I.

In going along with Woodward’s analogy, the Black Bears struggled through some severe growing pains in their 30-point beat down at the hands of the Friars. As bad as Maine’s 78-48 loss to Providence was, they put up an equally impressive whooping of their own later in the week against NJIT, as the Bears bounced back to record a 86-58 win. While Maine’s two opponents during the week represent both ends of the extreme in college basketball, and neither will serve as much of a measuring stick for how the Bears stack up against their conference foes, many positives and negatives, can still be taken away from both games.

It was widely expected that Maine would be blown out by the Friars, as Providence is not only a Big East team, but a good Big East team who plays a “Big East” game, as they are big, physical and athletic. By itself, Maine’s loss to Providence wasn’t troubling, as the Friars were clearly a superior team from a superior conference. What was troubling was how the Black Bears handled a pressurized environment when they fell behind.

For the first eight minutes Maine was neck and neck with Providence, as the Black Bears made Providence play “Maine basketball,” controlling the clock and forcing a slower style of play. The Black Bears’ early efforts were spearheaded by point guard Junior Bernal, who came up with a big steal and breakaway dunk, and did a great job of disrupting the passing lanes on the defensive end, while moving the ball on offense. However, in the span of two minutes Providence blew the doors off and put the game away, as they blocked several Maine shots setting up easy transition buckets.

What Maine needed to do to stay in the game was slow the pace back down, but in front of a very vocal crowd, the Black Bears panicked and played right into the Friar’s hands. They began to shoot as soon as they got the ball down court, and seemed to cease to run any kind of a structured offense, throwing up ill-advised shots as soon as they crossed half court.

One major culprit was Bernal, whom had seemed the epitome of calm, cool, and collected early on. However, once Providence went on their run halfway through the first half, Bernal seemed to look less and less for open teammates, and take more and more hurried shots.

Equally concerning was the play of Mark Socoby. Socoby had taken over several games for the Black Bears early in the season, and his long frame, ability to score off the dribble both around the basket and from outside, and tenacious rebounding had begun to draw comparisons to former America East standout Billy Collins. However, against the Friars, Socoby seemed to lack the most key element to Collins’ success: tenacity. After being blocked badly early in the game, Socoby, grew tentative on offense and ceased to look to create any kind of shot for himself. Socoby is also still physically maturing, and while a solid athlete for the America East, he lacks Collins’ explosiveness and was badly overmatched against Providence’s wings.

The other major concern for Maine was the lack of ball handlers on the bench. Bernal was forced to sit out the second half because of bad cramps, and Maine only had three men who could handle the ball on their roster in Jason Hight, Socoby, and freshman Robby Hanzlik. The Black Bears were forced to play the entire second half with three strictly post players on the floor at all times.

One big positive, however, in the Black Bears’ loss, was that the team, while intimidated, played hard for forty minutes, and in the early going showed that when they keep their poise, they have the ability to play with anybody. The other big positive from the game was the continued stellar play of Brian Andre.

Andre dominated the second half, as Providence couldn’t put enough bodies on the floor to contain him. At 6’9″ and over three-hundred pounds, Andre is an impressive athlete for his size, and in the season’s early going has established himself as the best center in the America East. Andre possesses a great combination of size, strength, and shooting touch for any conference, let alone the America East. That makes his emergence from oblivion even more interesting, as in two years at Buffalo he barely played before transferring to Maine, and in the half season he played for the Black Bears last season he averaged a mere three points in under 14 minutes per game. But Andre’s struggles last season were due in large part to almost a year and a half off from playing in live games, and he has exploded onto the scene this season, averaging a team leading 14.6 points per game while ripping down just under six and a half rebounds per contest.

Andre’s game was on full display in the second half versus providence, as he scored sixteen of his team-high seventeen points and pulled down eight of his team high eleven rebounds in the second frame. Providence doubled down on Andre every time he touched the ball, but the Friars couldn’t stop him as he scored on an array of fade-away jumpers and baby hooks with both his right and left hands. Andre also added two authoritative slams, the second of which took the padding off of the left side of the backboard, and left the hoop tilting down at an awkward angle to the right.

Andre’s impact versus Providence also displayed how critical he is to the Black Bears’ success, as Maine failed to get him the ball in the first half. As a result, Providence was able to concentrate entirely on containing Maine’s shooters. By the time Maine started feeding Andre the ball in the second half, the game was out of hand.

After their loss to Providence, it was crucial for the Black Bears to regain their confidence and swagger as quickly as possible, and New Jersey Institute of Technology gave the Black Bears just that, as Maine easily dismantled what is one of the worst teams in Division I basketball. While it’s hard to put too much stock in beating the bag out of a far inferior team, the win was critical for the Black Bears simply as a confidence booster. From the starters to the end of the bench, the team played with an infectious enthusiasm all game. Equally important for the Black Bears were debuts of freshmen Troy Barnies and Malachi Peay, whom gave Maine some much-needed support in the backcourt and on the perimeter.

Both Barnies and Peay are wings who can handle the ball, and while neither will fill in at the point guard position, they give Maine two more bodies that can put the ball on the floor and score from the perimeter. Barnies, a 6’7″ wing who can really shoot, made his long-awaited debut after suffering a wrist injury during the preseason, and announced himself with authority to the Maine crowd by throwing down a powerful dunk while scoring seven points and pulling down eight rebounds. Peay may be the steal of Maine’s draft class, as he comes from a very competitive New York high school and has athleticism far superior to any of Maine’s other freshmen.

What was most encouraging for Maine was the overall play of their backcourt, as NJIT pressed almost the entire game but the Black Bears displayed the ability to consistently break it. Even more encouraging for the Black Bears is the impending eligibility of Kiamondre Owes, a transfer from Saint Peter’s. Owes will give Maine a new scoring dimension, as he can both shoot and penetrate to the basket, and can also handle the ball.

The Black Bears have been a pleasant surprise early on. But Maine is still far away from truly competing at the top of the conference, as they lack experience and composure, and have struggled greatly to defend. In both games Maine really struggled around the perimeter, and could get torched in the conference season.

Another need for the Black Bears is to establish an offensive and defensive presence at the power forward position. Jordan Cook has begun to turn the corner, and has shown a very pretty mid ranger jumper, and at 6’10″ he will block some shots. However, Cook does most of his damage away from the hoop, has yet to show that he can establish good defensive positioning, and still gets moved around in the post. With the Emergence of Owes, and as long as they can get Andre the ball, Maine will be in every game they play during the conference slate, but they are still a ways away from being a top-tier America East team, as they lack quickness, defense, and experience.

UNH Holds Off Quinnipiac

Wildcats Hang Tough, Hold Off Quinnipiac

by Sam Perkins

DURHAM, N.H. – Dane DiLiegro opened and closed the game with authority, but it took a team effort during his absence to overcome a tenacious Quinnipiac team and earn a 77-70 victory.

With the win UNH improved to 3-1 on the season. Eric Gilchrese scored 20 points, while Mike Christensen added 17 and Alvin Abreu came off the bench for 14, as the Wildcats overcame 25 points each from Quinnipiac’s combo of DeMario Anderson and Evann Baker.

The local media might still be ignoring the Wildcats, but it’s apparent to everyone who’s seen them play that this New Hampshire team is for real. The Wildcats opened the season with a near upset of Boston College and haven’t lost since, improving every game. This years team isn’t the pushover that UNH has been in the past, and opponents are taking notice, as Wildcats’ Coach Bill Herrion reflected after the win.

“The more games you play, the more tapes get out, and in the first couple of games you can catch people off guard, maybe people don’t know you that well,” said Herrion. “Well guess what, were 3-1, were not going to be surprising people anymore.”

Quinnipiac’s game plan was to attack the Wildcats in the post, as head Coach Tom Moore stated, “Initially what we wanted to do was try to score inside on those guys.” However, this strategy seemed futile early on, as DiLiegro continued to make his presence felt in the middle for New Hampshire.

After winning the opening tip, the freshman ripped down the rebound of an errant shot over two defenders, flashed a nifty spin move in the post and finished off despite hard contact from Quinnipiac’s Justin Rutty. DiLiegro quickly established himself on the defensive end, as on the ensuing possession he first deflected Rutty’s jumper, and then annihilated Louis Brookins’ lay up, eliciting a road from the crowd.

His early performance won the respect of the opposing coach, as after the game Moore raved about the young freshman, saying, “DiLiegro is an aggressive player, he’s a good defender, he’s a really aggressive rebounder, he has great strength and great energy for a freshman. He’s going to be a terrific player for these guys.”

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, DiLiegro also picked up two offensive fouls within the first three minutes, and was forced to the bench for the rest of the first half.

“He’s still really learning how to play,” said Herrion, “He plays very hard. His fouls were just ticky-tack fouls that he doesn’t need to commit. He’s got to learn how to play without fouling, but he’s a big, strong, physical kid, and he plays hard.”

Without DiLiegro on the floor, what had been advantage in the post for UNH quickly became a disadvantage as they got much smaller and much less physical in a hurry. New Hampshire could normally count on sophomore captain Radar Onguetou to step in and provide physicality and smart, tough-nosed defense, but Onguetou has been dealing with a persistent leg injury early in the season, and his effectiveness has been greatly limited. “Radar is banged up,” said Herrion, “he’s hobbling, but he gives you terrific effort. He’s just struggling offensively.”

The injury to Onguetou, and DiLiegro’s foul trouble affected the Wildcats the most on the defensive end, as Quinnipiac immediately began to have success scoring around the basket. UNH was forced to play freshmen James Valladares and Rony Tchatchoua extensively, and while their efforts were admirable, the absence of DiLiegro was apparent.

“Losing Dane was big,” said junior guard Tyrece Gibbs. “It’s always good to know that your shot blocker is behind you when you get posted up. Without him, it was a lot more stressful.”

Quinnipiac’s guards, whom had struggled to shoot over DiLiegro in the first three minutes, began to score at will once he left the floor. DeMario Anderson and Evann Baker each scored twelve points in the first half, coming almost entirely from posting up on the low block, as the Bobcats scored twenty points in the post during the opening period.

The points in the paint were especially troubling to Herrion, as Quinnipiac didn’t make a single first half three-pointer, yet controlled the game twelve minutes in. “We need to get tougher, collectively, defensively around the basket,” said the third-year coach.

Trailing by six with eight minutes to go, UNH was on the verge of letting the game get out of control, but the Wildcats, in what has been a staple of theirs so far this year, dug their heels in and clawed their way back into the game. What was most impressive during the Wildcats run was that they did it largely without the help of their best players, as captain’s Mike Christensen and Gibbs struggled the entire half. Last season, UNH lacked scoring depth, as their offense revolved around getting departed senior Blogoj Janev the ball and getting out of his way. As Janev went, so went the team, and if Janev, and to a lesser extent Christensen and Gibbs, struggled on offense, UNH didn’t stand a chance.

This year’s Wildcats squad has done a complete one-eighty. While Gibbs and Christensen (and starter Tyrone Conley) struggled to find the hoop in the first half, UNH’s bench took over. The Wildcats’ transition from last season was on full display, as New Hampshire’s speed and athleticism combined with their newfound bench depth turned the tide. Valladares scored on a nifty reverse lay up, Alvin Abreu nailed a jumper in transition, and Tchatchoua threw down an acrobatic two-handed slam in traffic, and suddenly it was a two-point game.

Abreu and fellow guard Eric Gilchrese then took over, as they seemed to feed off each other and excel in transition, with Gilchrese scoring several buckets leading the fast break and setting up Abreu for two huge three-pointers. Mike Christensen then got in on the action, nailing a deep three, and Onguetuo finished off a gutsy drive in traffic, and New Hampshire went into the half with a commanding 40-30 lead.

Abreu, who scored eleven first half points, was especially huge for the Wildcats, as his three’s were not only timely, but momentum changing, as they were each from well beyond NBA range. Abreu was fearless shooting over defenders, and played with a confidence and poise rarely displayed by freshmen. Abreu’s play in the first half earned him praise from both his own coach, as well as his opponent’s.

“Alvin Abreu offensively gave us a big lift,” stated Herrion, while Moore added “Alvin Abreu is terrific, in terms of his offensive confidence and his swagger.”

The influx of new talent has been huge for the Wildcats, as they are much more athletic and much more fearless then they have been in years past. But the youth movement has also given Coach Herrion some heartburn in the early going, as they may lack the experience to go for the knockout punch when their opponent is weak.

“I don’t know if we’re old enough yet, or experienced enough yet, to really know how to put people away and run somebody out of the building” commented Herrion.

The Wildcats once again did not put their opponent away when they had the chance, as Quinnipiac’s combo of Andrerson and Baker once again went to work. Anderson scored in the post and found Baker for easy buckets when New Hampshire doubled down on him. New Hampshire’s inability to switch over to the open man when playing zone defense has been a troubling trend this year, and it was evident Sunday as Quinnipiac’s guard duo each scored 25 points.

“Defensively, I’m not real happy, I mean two guys get fifty out of their seventy,” said Herrion. Added Gibbs: “that’s lay ups all around the basket.”

But UNH’s veteran leadership, something that also seemed to be lacking last season, proved to be the difference, as Gibbs and Christensen came up big when it counted the most. With Quinnipiac surging Gibbs finished off a terrific up and under move to put New Hampshire up 59-53. Another Quinnipiac run cut the lead to one with five minutes left, but New Hampshire once again answered back, as Christensen first nailed a jumper in traffic to put UNH up three with five minutes left. The Cougars fired back, again cutting the lead to one, but Christensen once again stopped the bleeding, nailing a deep three to put the Wildcats up 65-61 with four minutes left.

Quinnipiac had one final run in them, but Eric Gilchrese, the America East player of the game, put on a gutsy performance when it mattered most to help seal the game. Gilchrese’s competitive streak had already been on display earlier, when he and Quinnipiac guard Casey Cosgrove got into a verbal dispute that escalated into a shoving match at halftime, resulting in offsetting technical fouls. Gilchrese downplayed the incident, saying, “He was competing, I was competing, we bumped heads, and that’s what happened. When the game gets close like that, I’m not backing down from anybody, and that’s what happens with good competitors.”

As competitive as Gilchrese was in the first half, it paled in comparison to his gutsy performance in the game’s closing minutes. He has battled bad cramps often during the young season, but here he took a hard foul near the three-minute mark, and was visibly limping on his way to the free throw line before icing both chances from the charity stripe. A minute later, Gilchrese picked Evann Baker’s pocket and took it coast to coast for a lay up, pushing the score to 72-63. After once again converting in traffic, Gilchrese was limping badly as he got back on defense, and after an awkward attempt to block Cosgrove’s three, Gilchrese lay sprawled on the ground clutching his leg in obvious pain.

But with less than two minutes left, and Quinnipiac within six, leaving the game was not an option for Gilchrese, whom hobbled back onto the court to gut the rest of the game out.

“It was really my call,” said Gilchrese, “I looked up the clock and it said a minute fifty-four seconds left, and I just wanted to tough it out… when I got back over to the bench, I told Coach that I was ready and wanted to tough it out.”

Gilchrese’s physical abilities have given New Hampshire something that they have been sorely lacking in recent years, as he is a true point guard who can score in transition as well as set his teammates up by getting them the ball in scoring position. But it’s his toughness and leadership that may be the most beneficial to the young Wildcats. After his refusal to come out, New Hampshire put the game away, as Mike Christensen sank two free throws to put New Hampshire up 74 to 67.

In a true “statement game” for New Hampshire, DiLiegro closed it out with a statement of his own, as he corralled a half court pass from Christensen, and threw down an emphatic two-handed dunk right over Anderson while being fouled. DiLiegro completed the three-point play by icing his free throw and giving New Hampshire a 77-70 win.

The win was huge for New Hampshire, as the Wildcats are now riding a three-game winning streak, and the benefits of getting off to a good start are not lost on their coach.

“At UNH, we’re just trying to win games, we’re going to respect and appreciate every win that we get,” said Herrion. “Winning early in the year helps your confidence and it helps you’re practice.”

Herrion even joked that, “When you win early, you can keep their attention every day in practice, you can keep them motivated, and they will really listen to what you say.”

Just being able to joke after a game was an accomplishment of its own for Herrion, whom came under fire from fans early and often last season, as the Wildcats seemed unmotivated, and disorganized, and by the end of the season some fans were even calling for Herrion’s head. But fans need to understand that its not easy to turn around any program, especially one with the history of ineptitude that New Hampshire has. Turning around this program is one of the hardest jobs in college basketball, as it’s an incredibly tough sell on recruits, and fans need to temper their expectation. It will take time for Herrion to bring in a team full of players whom will play in his system.

“We missed the whole first year, we didn’t recruit anybody the first year when we got the job,” Herrion reflected. “And we only want kids who want to be here. I think we have kids right now that are really competitive, that love to play, and that want to be here and appreciate the opportunity. It’s not going to be a quick fix turning this around… and it’s not going to happen over night.”

The Wildcats still have a long way to go before they are truly contenders for a conference title, and dreams of an NCAA birth are still a long ways away, but it is easy to get excited about this team, as they are easily the best squad that New Hampshire has fielded in the past five years. And while the Wildcats have struggled on the defensive end, the positives far outweigh the negatives at this point, as UNH already can boast several things that have been lacking in the past, the first being a team which doesn’t need to rely on one player to provide most of the scoring.

“The nice thing about our team is that Tyrece Gibbs, who was huge versus BC, wasn’t a huge factor offensively today, and we won the game,” said Herrion. “Last week at Central Connecticut he gets three fouls five minutes into the game, he only plays like twenty minutes and we win the game, that’s positive.”

And while New Hampshire has struggled to put teams away, perhaps even more importantly they haven’t gotten rattled like many most teams have, and they have displayed the ability to recover from their mistakes and still come out on top. Said Herrion: “The nice thing is, in the Central game last Saturday and today, we had control of both games in the second half, then both teams made runs at us and we withstood it. That’s positive.”

But perhaps the biggest gain this season is simply the Wildcats’ ability to give everything they have day in and day out. Last season’s squad seemed to quit on Herrion half-way through the year, but there is absolutely no let up in these Wildcats.

“It’s clearly about us out there this year, we just come together as a team when things get rough and stick it through,” said Gibbs. “Heart is the biggest thing right now, because when it got late in the game, we could either fold or pull through, and we pulled through pretty well.”

Hartford Wins Behind Complementary Players

Reserves Glowiak, Sabia shine in star role

by Sam Perkins

HARTFORD, Conn. – Warren McClendon dominated every second that he was on the floor. Unfortunately for Hartford, the Hawks’ center only played seventeen minutes due to foul trouble. The loss of McClendon looked like it would prove disastrous, but the Hawks used a total team effort to overcome the loss of their star.

Hartford got solid contributions from the entire roster to complement breakout performances by bench players Brian Glowiak and Morgan Sabia en route to a 70 to 55 victory over the Sacred Heart Pioneers.

Preseason expectations for the Hawks were as high as they had been in a long time, as Hartford looked to finally turn the corner and establish themselves as a top tier team in the America East. Last season, Hartford often found itself in a position of having to come from behind, and while they have displayed the ability to take the lead out of the gate this season, they had yet to show that they could hold on to a lead. In their first two games, Hartford had jumped out in front from the opening tip. However in both games the Hawks had squandered large second-half leads, falling to St Francis 62-59 at the buzzer, and losing an eleven-point lead late in the second half before going down in double overtime to Quinnipiac 85-79.

As soon as Hartford took the floor for their pre-game warm-ups, it was clear that they were playing with a sense of urgency, as an incredibly vocal Hawks team flew through their lay-up lines at break neck speed. Hartford was not only reeling from opening the season with two losses, but also from the loss of starting guard Jaret Von Rosenberg, who injured his knee in the opening game and is out indefinitely. The college basketball season is long and grueling, and an 0-3 start certainly wouldn’t spell doom for a team, but the Hawks prepared for their home opener as a “must win.” As Glowiak, a senior co-captain, put it, “I think it was (a must win) especially being on our home floor, we want our fans to come back and support us, and I think it was great just to get out on the right foot. And being our first home game, because having all the students there, we feed off that. Our little runs that we go on (the students) really get us pumped.”

In basketball, momentum can be huge, as the Hawks missed three straight three-pointers, and the Pioneers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead as guard Drew Shubik nailed a long three and Chauncey Hardy finished off a fast break with a slam. But Warren McClendon stopped the Pioneers’ momentum from growing, as the junior transfer put his teammates on his massive shoulders and took over the game. McClendon scored Hartford’s first bucket hitting a fade away from the left block after taking hard contact. McClendon then skied over two defenders to score on a hook from the right block while once again getting hit hard.

Senior co-captain Rich Baker then got in on the action, as the six-foot guard drove right down the lane and converted a beautiful finger roll to put the Hawks up six to five. After a Sacred Heart three, McClendon once again took the game into his own hands, as he drove in from the free throw line before displaying a beautiful spin move before laying it in off the glass. McClendon once again took a vicious shot while finishing in traffic, and once again there was no whistle.

Leibovitz’ offensive game plan revolves around McClendon, an incredible physical talent, getting the ball in the low block and making things happen. McClendon can score in so many different ways, as he has terrific touch with both hands, can put the ball on the floor, possesses tremendous physical strength, and is the team’s best athlete. However, in Hartford’s first two games McClendon has also struggled greatly with foul trouble, as he is almost too strong for his own good, and whenever there is contact underneath, most referees at the mid-major level are going to call the foul on the bigger, stronger player, which always works against McClendon. Hartford’s game versus Sacred Heart once again followed the troubling trend for the Hawks, as McClendon picked up his first foul six and a half minutes into the game and was forced to the bench.

When McClendon checked out, Hartford was up 11-9, and pushed the lead to five on a 25-foot Rich Baker three. However, losing McClendon was huge not only offensively, but defensively as well, as Leibovitz put it, “We go a little small out there, and it’s a challenge for us to keep Warren McClendon out on the floor, in terms of foul trouble, and when he comes off we become a lot smaller and a lot less physically imposing.”

Sacred Heart went on a run, scoring five straight, and forced Leibovitz to sub McClendon back in to try to stop the surge. However, less than a minute after checking back in, McClendon picked up his second foul, and with almost ten minutes remaining Leibovitz would have to go the rest of the half without him. McClendon’s second foul came on a spin move near the hoop, much to the dismay of his coach. Said Leibovitz: “He picks up one (foul) spinning, which he just had no business doing because he’s too important.”

While McClendon’s spin move may have been ill-advised, the foul call was even more baffling, as there was no contact. In fact, McClendon’s man appeared to trip over his own feet as he was shuffling to try to get into position.

Unfortunately for McClendon, the word is out on how ref’s are going to call him, and Hartford fans should get used to seeing defenders flopping early and often. Defenses are going to now do their best Vlade Divac impressions when playing the Hawks, and McClendon is going to have to make adjustments, as Leibovitz described it.

“It’s just a matter of teaching him (McClendon), that his first move can’t be at (an opponent): a back in, because he’s so strong, and everybody knows how important (he is to us), so if his first move is back then they’re just going to fall,” said Leibovitz. “So his first move has to be up-hill, get up in the lane, and if he can turn and shoot his hook, or turn the corner then even better.”

The Hawks had lost the lead and momentum, and facing almost ten minutes without their star player, Hartford was in danger of letting the game get out of hand. The Hawks would need someone to step up just to keep the game close. Instead of one player, the Hawks got a team effort, with everyone replacing certain aspects of McClendon’s game.

One of the biggest voids left by McClendon was the sheer physicality of his game, and freshmen Kevin Estes stepped in and did a fantastic job. Estes’ final line of the night (three rebounds, four points) doesn’t seem impressive, but he put a body on someone every trip down the court, and set some wicked screens to open up jump shots for his teammates. Estes also did a tremendous job boxing out, often occupying two Pioneers and allowing Hartford’s quicker guards to grab uncontested rebounds. Leibovitz was incredibly impressed with Estes’ game.

“Kevin Estes did an excellent job tonight, really fought down their hard, set good screens, and really played the game,” said Leibovitz. “He threw a couple jumpers that I think I might have lived without, but I guess he earned those.”

While Estes picked up the slack by providing Hartford with a physical presence in the post, the Hawks still had a tremendous scoring void to fill, a void which only got worse with sophomore guard Joe Zeglinski, already suffering through a tough shooting night, picking up his second personal foul as wel.

A trio of Hawks stepped up in the first half, as Michael Turner, Baker, and freshman Morgan Sabia all made huge offensive contributions. Sabia provided five points when the Hawks lost McClendon early in the half, on a deep three and a nice baseline jumper. Turner, a junior forward, is a lock down defender, but is also Hartford’s last option on offense. However, he got to the free-throw line and knocked down all four from the charity stripe en route to a team-high 7 points before the half. Glowiak provided the Hawks with the lead going into the intermission, as he buried a three off of a jump step to put the Hawks up 28-27 with a minute and a half left. Zeglinski provided a little breathing room going into the half, as he nailed a jumper in traffic to put the Hawks up three at the break.

Hartford got an immediate boost when the second half began, as McClendon was back on the floor, and the burly center immediately went to work, showcasing his full repertoire. McClendon opened the half by drawing a foul on a beautiful spin move in the post and converting one of two free throws. The next time down the court McClendon swished an NBA range three to push Hartford’s lead back to five at 34-29.

But Sacred Heart wasn’t done, as the Pioneers went on a run of their own behind behind seven straight points by Corey Hassan, whose three in traffic put the Pioneers up 37-36. Estes responded for the Hawks with a beautiful hook off of a spin move to put Hartford back up one. Sacred Heart fired back, with Brice Brooks converting a lay-up in traffic to take back the lead. Things took a huge turn for Hartford on their next possession, as McClendon got the ball in the low block, and another Pioneers flop drew a third offensive foul call on the Hawks’ hulking center.

With almost sixteen and a half minutes left in the game, and their star once again relegated to the bench, the Hawks seemed to be in big trouble, and were in a position in which their goal was to simply keep the game close until they could bring McClendon back in.

“We have to try to keep the music going when Warren’s out of the game,” Leibovitz reflected. “We don’t have to make a run without him, we just have to be able to hang on.”

The Hawks did more than hang on, as they went on a tear that put the game away thanks to an unlikely duo of scorers. Morgan Sabia and Brian Glowiak combined for a total of eight points during the Hawks’ first two games of the season, but they both exploded to put the game away.

With Hartford up 46-42, and a little over fourteen minutes to go, Glowiak took over. The senior co-captain has spent his entire career at Hartford out of the limelight, playing a supporting roll to star players, but Wednesday night was his time to shine. In a two-minute span Glowiak blew the doors open, and not only expanded the lead, but gave Hartford a huge momentum boost. Glowiak’s first three was set up by freshman guard Andres Torres, who blew past his man before kicking it back to Glowiak for a contested three that fell. Glowiak was once again set up beautifully by a teammate, as Rich Baker penetrate down the lane before kicking out to Glowiak, who swished a three from the right wing. Glowiak then buried a third straight three, this one from roughly 26 feet out, bringing the crowd to their feet, and pushing Hartford up 52-46.

Sabia then pushed the lead to eight on a beautiful move, as he up fake his man off his feet, then blew by him and buried a fifteen foot jumper.

Glowiak once again was involved with a momentous basket, one which put the game away. But Glowiak’s bucket was a mere afterthought following the pass that set it up, as Torres’ And1-caliber bounce pass was easily the play of the game, and was the backbreaker that Sacred Heart couldn’t recover from. Torres threw a one handed pass, which he skipped like a stone over water, from well behind the three-point arc. Torres’ pass, which he threw in-between three defenders, hit Glowiak perfectly as he cut underneath the hoop. Glowiak then finished it off with a pretty reverse lay-up which pushed the lead to ten.

Torres’ pass resulted in an eruption from the crowd, and left his coach in awe, as after the game Leibovitz gushed, “I thought it was a beautiful pass. Andres definitely has a special knack for making great passes out there and seeing the court and pushing, and we can really play up-tempo when he’s in the game. It’s just that he’s a freshman, so he does one like that, and then the next time he throws a one-handed hook that goes straight up in the air.

“He’s exciting, you never know what he’s going to do, and right now your just hoping that 3 our of 4 times it’s a positive and that you can live with that one mistake for now.”

With a ten-point lead and ten minutes left, Hartford now simply had to hang on, something they had failed to do in their first two games of the season. But Wednesday night was different, and Hartford got a huge scoring boost down the stretch from Sabia to keep the Hawks in command and put the game away. Sabia had wowed the Hartford staff with his ability to score in a variety of ways during the preseason, as at 6’8″ with long arms, a big-time outside shot, and the ability to penetrate and get to the hoop, he has a world of potential.

However, in his first two collegiate games Sabia seemed to lack confidence and shy away from taking big shots when the Hawks needed them. But on his home court Sabia stepped up, and displayed all of his offensive game, hitting a barrage of mid-range jumpers, while complementing them with big shots from outside and some strong takes to the basket to put the game out of reach. Hitting two shots in the first half may have helped give Sabia the confidence to take big shots down the stretch.

“Just coming in and hitting those shots really built my confidence knowing that I could come in and help the team on the offensive end,” Sabia reflected.

He clearly has the confidence of his coach, as Leibovitz remarked, “Morgan does some very grown up things out there, he’s poised, he comes to stops with the dribble, but he also does some things that I can’t say I taught him. He has a natural knack for scoring, he made a couple of great shots on the baseline where he stopped, took his time, and made baskets.”

The only downer, as the Hawks closed out the game, was when McClendon picked up his fourth foul on what appeared to be a clean blocked shot. McClendon wrapped his entire hand around Gene Pettway’s hook shot, before authoritatively slamming the ball into the ground. Despite a lack of contact, McClendon was once again whistled for a foul. McClendon got a small measure of revenge, as he closed out the game with a tremendous rejection, sending Chauncey Hardy’s lay-up all the way back to Hartford’s side of the court.

Hartford was lead by Glowiak, who was named the America East player of the game, and Sabia, who each scored a game-high 14 points. Guard Rich Baker pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, and McClendon scored 12 points in only 17 minutes on the court.

Sacred Heart was lead by Corey Hassan, who scored 14 points.

UNH Shows Promise In Defeat

Wildcats stand tall in loss; Gibbs, DiLiegro shine

by Sam Perkins

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass – Coach Bill Herrion isn’t one to turn a loss into a win, as he bluntly said “I’m not in to moral victories” after Saturday’s game.

On paper, New Hampshire lost by ten to a freshmen laden team missing two of its best players (power forward Shamari Spears and point guard Tyrese Rice, both suspended for the game). But looking at a box score won’t do an ounce of justice to the performance the Wildcats put on Saturday evening, one in which the positives far outweighed the negatives, and gave New Hampshire fans hope for the first time in a long time about the future of their team.

Herrion put a freshmen-laden squad, which lost nine players from last year, and was one of the biggest disappointments in the conference, on the floor and they played as a cohesive unit. But more than that, New Hampshire, picked to occupy the basement of the America East, went toe-to-toe with an ACC school and competed as equals for 40 minutes, as Herrion noted, “I’m not going to lie to you, that’s an ACC team, they have players.”

New Hampshire’s 67-57 loss to Boston College gave Herrion and all Wildcat fans a lot to look forward to.

“It was a positive for us, I saw a lot of great things out there,” he conceded. “The biggest fear I have, when you coach a young team, and a bunch of new guys, is just do they understand how hard they have to compete at the college level. We came down here and lost by 40 last year, and I saw a lot of good things today.”

New Hampshire took the floor as a team with few expectations and no hype, and the buzz among the media before the game was whether Boston College would win by more than they did when the two teams met last year (39 points). The Wildcats were smaller across the board than the Eagles, not to mention that UNH had been picked to finish last in the America East coach’s poll. In the early going, the game looked like it would be a repeat of last year, as 6’11″ senior Tyrelle Blair set the tone early by rejecting two shots and deterring several others. UNH couldn’t seem to hit water if they collectively fell out of a boat, and the Eagles were taking advantage of their superior size, as 6’5″ guard Rakim Sanders and 6’7″ wing Tyler Roche had no trouble shooting over smaller UNH defenders while Biko Paris filled in as a stunt double for Rice.

With 11:35 left in the half Sanders stripped freshman Tyrone Conley of the ball and took it coast to coast for a dunk, putting the Eagles up 20-5. Sanders’ dunk seemed to be the back-breaker, as Herrion called a timeout immediately, and the Eagles left the floor with all the momentum. This was not a new position for Herrion, as the Wildcats found themselves in almost an identical situation last year when they opened the season at The Heights, and a year ago when BC punched New Hampshire in the mouth, the Wildcats wilted.

Herrion wouldn’t elaborate on what he said during the timeout, but when they emerged from the timeout, it was clear that this was a different Wildcat team from last season.

“It was one of those danger points,” said Herrion “where either the floodgates are going to open, or your going to make a decision to dig in deep, play some defense, make some stops and get back in it. The kids did a great job.”

In true “gut-check time,” the Wildcats left the huddle with no fear in their eyes, and took the ball right at the Eagles. No one exemplified New Hampshire’s determination more than junior guard Tyrece Gibbs, as he nailed back to back three’s over Sanders coming out of the timeout to make it 22-11. Gibbs scored nine of New Hampshire’s first 11 points.

The turning point came one possession later, as following an Eagle free-throw, Gibbs penetrated down the middle and kicked it to freshman Dane DiLiegro on the right block. DiLiegro’s approach epitomized the new Wildcat attitude of “never say die,” as having already been stuffed twice, he launched himself towards the basket with 6’10″ center Josh Southern standing in his way. But DiLiegro, who won the opening tap over Blair, out-leapt Southern and emphatically slammed it home a two-handed dunk.

DiLiegro let out a yell as he ran down the court that made the message clear: UNH was there to play forty minutes of ball, and they weren’t backing down from anyone.

After DiLiegro’s dunk, it was back to the Tyrece Gibbs show, and what a show he put on. After nailing early threes over larger defenders, Gibbs took a different route, as he crossed over from his left to his right and left Corey Raji in his wake, and nailed his fourth three of the game to make the score 24-16. The next time down the court Gibbs took the ball at the top of the key, drove in on Sanders and banked a double-pump jumper off the glass to pull UNH within six. After a BC miss, Gibbs once again took it right at the Eagles, shaking Sanders out of his shoes before hitting a twisting lay-up around Southern to cut the lead to 24-20. Point guard Eric Gilchrese, a junior college transfer, then got into the action, as he went coast to coast and scored in traffic to bring the Wildcats to within two.

Following a Blair turnover, Gibbs hit Gilchrese with a perfect pass and Gilchrese knocked down an uncontested three to give New Hampshire its first lead. BC answered back with two free-throws, and was in position to once again take control of the game. However, DiLiegro forced Blair into traveling on two straight possessions, the second of which set up the play of the game.

A visibly upset Blair failed to get back on defense. As Gilchrese pushed the ball up court, Conley streaked down the right side behind the Eagles defense towards the basket. As Conley, whose 6’3″ listing seems a bit generous, took off, Gilchrese lofted a perfect pass from well behind the three-point arc. Conley seemed to hover with the basket at eye-level before catching the lob and throwing down a two-handed slam that left the Eagles in shock. Conley’s dunk gave New Hampshire the lead at 27-26.

Gibbs closed out the scoring with a free throw, and finished with a first half high 17 points, sending New Hampshire into the locker room with a 28-26 lead in one of the greatest first halves the Wildcats had played in recent memory.

The second half began with both teams ratcheting up the intensity, and neither willing to back down, as the Eagles and Wildcats traded shots, and the lead, several times. Boston College came out in he second half with a defensive strategy centering entirely on Gibbs, as they began to switch coming off of picks and double down on him as much as possible. While BC’s new defensive scheme limited Gibbs as a scorer in the second half, it also left other Wildcats open, with Gibbs taking on the role of a distributor. DiLiegro benefited from Gibbs passes early on, nailing two foul line jumpers to keep the Wildcats in the lead.

UNH looked as if they might pull away after senior Mike Christensen converted a lay-up to give New Hampshire a 39-35 lead. A Christensen steal on the following possession gave UNH a brief momentum boost, as the Wildcats had a three-on-two fast break, and a bucket there might have blown the doors off. Unfortunately they couldn’t convert, giving the ball, and the momentum, back to the Eagles.

Herrion felt the inability to convert and push the lead to six was a momentum killer, and impacted the outcome of the game.

“We had some opportunities to really create some separation, but we didn’t,” he commented. “We had one chance in the second half when we were up by four, and we had the momentum. We got out on the break and could have pushed the lead up to six, but we had poor shot selection and gave the game back to them.”

Following a BC bucket and free throw shot, UNH again pushed the ball and the tempo, but Christensen tried an ill-advised drive and turned the ball over, which led to a wide-open Sanders three at the other end, and a 41-39 BC lead. UNH fired back, however, as Conley nailed a jumper in traffic to tie the game at 41.

But BC began to wear down the Wildcats, as Raji and Sanders each scored four points apiece and Southern added a huge tip-in to give BC a 51-43 lead with eight and a half minutes remaining.

UNH clawed their way back, however, and with a little under five and a half minutes left freshman Alvin Abreu nailed a huge three pull UNH back to within three at 54-51. The Eagles scored four quick points, but Abreu once again nailed a huge three to make it 58-55. Unfortunately, that was a close as the game would get, as a final push put the game out of reach, and the Eagles closed it out 67-57.

Gibbs finished with 22 points (tied for the game high with Sanders), while DiLiegro finished with seven points and a game-high eleven rebounds and two blocks, while Abreu added ten points and Conley chipped in seven.

The loss was tough to take, but Herrion saw many things he liked, especially the play of his freshmen as he said, “Our freshmen were great. Great.”

Especially impressive was the play of DiLiegro, who forced senior Tyrelle Blair to commit several fouls, as well as turn the ball over several times. DiLiegro took Blair out of his game so much so that BC Coach Al Skinner kept him on the bench for almost the entire second half.

Herrion was clearly happy with the play of his young center, as he gushed, “DiLiegro played great, he’s a big physical kid, he plays hard he puts his body on people, I thought his post defense was terrific around the basket.”

You can only tell so much from a single game, as it can hardly be used as a barometer for the upcoming season. However, there appears to be much more hope than originally anticipated for the Wildcats. New Hampshire is much more athletic then they have been in previous seasons, which was not lost on their coach. Said Herrion: “We’re playing faster this year, up tempo… it’s a step forward, we had one dunk the whole year last season and we had two today.”

Gibbs, a junior captain, added, “We’re a lot quicker and more talented one through five.”

But the most significant discovery in the game had nothing to do with physical ability, it was simply this: the Wildcats, as a team, have heart. A lot of it. Once UNH fell behind last season, they never came back. Many UNH fans grew upset and lost faith in Coach Herrion following the departure of seven underclassmen from last year’s squad, however the word from behind closed doors was that the departing players did not have the physical toughness, nor the heart, that Herrion needed.

After watching UNH play on Saturday, it was obvious that UNH is in a much better position this year, and that it isn’t the time to lose faith in the third-year coach. Gibbs put it best, saying, “It would have been better to win, obviously, but they’re in the ACC and we played with them until the end, I thought it showed a lot of what our team is made of. We played harder tonight than we ever did last year, and were going much harder all year than we did last year, and were better as a team than we were last year. And we have heart.”

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