Last week was another busy week in America East (AE) men’s basketball. As the calendar moves closer to March, each of the nine teams in the league is playing its hardest to try to acquire the best possible position in the upcoming AE Tournament. As we enter the final month and a half of the season, Pipe Dream will be posting a weekly recap of the action in AE hoops on our website so readers can get a glimpse of the larger picture of the conference in which Binghamton plays.

Vermont extended its winning streak to five games with two victories this week. The Catamounts’ contest at last place Maine on Wednesday was a low-scoring affair that Vermont barely squeaked out. The game was tied in the late stages when redshirt junior guard Ben Shungu made a layup with four seconds left to win the game 59-57.

Saturday’s home game against UMass Lowell was much easier for Vermont (15-6, 5-1 AE), as the team won by 30 points. Four players reached double digits in scoring, led by senior forward Anthony Lamb’s 20 points. The two wins, combined with Stony Brook’s home loss to BU (8-12, 2-5 AE), puts Vermont in sole possession of first place in the conference. Stony Brook got bumped down to second.

UMBC also won both of its games this week, snapping a four-game losing streak to start AE play. On Wednesday night against Hartford, the Retrievers (9-12, 2-4 AE) were down by as many as 17 points in the first half, but a 17-3 run cut the deficit to three at halftime, and UMBC pulled away late in the game to win by nine. Sophomore guard R.J. Eytle-Rock had 19 points and seven boards.

The Retrievers hosted Maine (6-15, 2-5 AE) on Saturday in what was a tight game until the final minutes, when UMBC managed to put some distance between itself and the Black Bears. Senior guard K.J. Jackson led the team with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. After going winless in its four AE games, UMBC has now worked its way up to a tie for sixth.

“It was a great win for us today against a very good Maine team,” said UMBC head coach Ryan Odom after the Maine game. “They really challenge you in a lot of ways, their physicality, their execution … I thought our guys handled it about as well as they could.”

Though the Hawks (11-10, 4-2 AE) squandered a big lead against UMBC on Wednesday, they responded with a convincing win Saturday at Albany, who was coming off a blowout victory against UMass Lowell (8-13, 2-4 AE) three days prior. The Great Danes (11-10, 4-2 AE) had sole possession of second place at the time, but proved no match for Hartford’s graduate student forward Malik Ellison, who posted 31 points and 12 rebounds. Hartford won 62-48, putting them in a three-way tie for second, alongside Albany and Stony Brook (13-8, 4-2 AE).

“He’s the best player on our team for this league,” said Hartford head coach John Gallagher of Ellison in an interview on ESPN+. “Wednesday night was my fault, that second half — it was a tough loss. Well-coached program in UMBC, but we laid an egg, and I really challenged the guys Thursday and Friday in practice, and we responded.”

AE basketball action picks up again on Wednesday, Jan. 29 with four games that will all begin at 7 p.m. Hartford will host Binghamton, Albany travels to Maryland, Vermont will play at New Hampshire and Stony Brook is on the road at UMass Lowell.