UNH junior center Dane DiLiegro led the United States into the basketball finals of the Maccabiah Games on Tuesday morning with a 123-76 semifinal win over Canada. DiLiegro had 20 points and nine rebounds against Canada on Tuesday. . . . The U.S. meets Israel in the gold medal game on Wednesday. . . . The U.S. was 4-1 in Group B round-robin play and Israel was 5-0 in Group A. . . . DiLiegro is averaging 10.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest during the Games. With the U.S. trailing 71-69 against Russia, DiLiegro’s tip-in with five seconds on the clock tied the game. The Russians scored with one second remaining for the win.
The honors and recognition keep coming for UNH’s Scott Sicko. His name was on a list of 16 top senior tight ends in an early preview of the 2010 NFL draft by Gil Brandt on nfl.com. Sicko was No. 16. . . . He was one of just two players from Football Championship Subdivision schools, the other was Nathan Overbay of Eatsern Washington. . . . Sicko had 50 catches for 660 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior and 51 catches for 619 yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore. . . . Oklahoma’s Jermaine Gresham and Oregon’s Ed Dickson were 1-2 on the list.
The UNH men’s basketball is looking for another game to fill out the non-conference portion of its 2009-10 season. The Wildcats are playing “money games” at Pittsburgh and Maryland. UNH coach Bill Herrion and his staff thought they had the schedule just about finalized, but then a projected home game against Brown fell through. . . . Herrion said this week that his team may have to turn the opening into a road game instead. If that ends up being the case, they likely would then play the same team at Lundholm Gymnasium during the 2010-11 season.
Former UNH hockey standouts Jason Krog and Darren Haydar, both looking for NHL playing time, have landed with new teams as free agents. Krog is back with the Atlanta Thrasers, an organization he has been with a couple of times. Haydar signed with the Colorado Avalanche. . . . Krog, 33, has played 202 NHL games with five different teams. He led the Manitoba Moose to the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup finals last season with 30 goals and 56 assists. In 2008, he led the Chicago Wolves, Atlanta’s top farm team, to the Calder Cup title. . . . Haydar, 29, has played 22 NHL games. He had 31 goals and 49 assists last season for the Grand Rapids Griffins, the AHL farm team of the Detroit Red Wings.
Allie Fullah, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound forward from Hackney, England, is the newest addition to the UNH men’s basketball program. The Wildcats announced today that Fullah had signed a national letter of intent and will be joining the team this fall. Fullah averaged 20 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks per game and was the co-MVP during his senior season at Homerton College of Technology. Fullah is also a two-year member of the U-20 British National Team. . . . “We’re very excited to have him,” said UNH coach Bill Herrion. “He’ll give us more depth in the frontcourt. He’s got a long, athletic body and I think right now his strength is he will help us more on the defensive end and on the glass because of his quickness around the basket. He also has experience with international basketball, so he’s not a typical freshman.” . . . Fullah joins 6-foot-9 Chris Matagrano (Sayreville, N.J.), 6-foot-2 Chandler Rhoads (Berryville, Va.) and 6-6 Ferg Myrick (Philadelphia, Pa.) as UNH signees this offseason.
The final Learfield Sports Directors Cup standings for the year are in and UNH finished tied for No. 78 on the list of all Division 1 schools. UNH was tied with Fresno State and, ironically, Northern Iowa. Northern Iowa has ended UNH’s run in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs three times in the last four years, including last season. . . . Stanford topped the rankings that measure success in the NCAA postseason. . . The Wildcats were the second America East team, behind only Boston University. The Terriers were at No. 68, thanks in large part to their NCAA men’s hockey championship. . . . The only other America East school in the Top 100 was Vermont at No. 98. . . . Dartmouth was at No. 86. Boston College was No. 78 and the University of Connecticut was No. 52.
