Black Bears shut out

Just pulled into our hotel in Albany and immediately checked for the news from this morning's America East banquet.

For the first time in 16 years, the University of Maine didn't have a player named first, second or third team all-conference. Sean McNally was the Black Bears' best chance after a solid sophomore season, averaging 9.6 points and 7.4 rebounds. He's also the top offensive rebounder in America East.

UMaine guard Gerald McLemore was named to the all-rookie team. Junior Bernal was named to the all-academic team.

McNally was likely among a group of three or four players vying for the final couple spots on the third team. Hartford senior Jaret von Rosenberg made the third team. His own teammate, Michael Turner, had a strong season and was another candidate.

There were a few other surprises: Boston U.'s Corey Lowe was named first team all-conference over Binghamton's D.J. Rivera, who leads the league in scoring and is eighth in rebounding. UMBC's Jay Greene was also named the second team. I'd take Rivera and Greene over Lowe.

On the rookie team, Vermont's Garvey Young made it while Maryland-Baltimore County's Chauncey Gilliam did not. Gilliam has been among the league leaders in field goal shooting all season, averaged 11 points and 4 rebounds a game. He's also shooting 47 percent on threes compared to Young's 28 percent. Gilliam plays nearly 31 minutes a game while Young only plays a fraction of that. Interesting.

Binghamton, regular season co-champions and the No. 1 seed with two wins over Vermont, did not have a player named first-team all-conference. Vermont and third-place BU each had two.

AE post-season awards