Vermont takes America East title with win over BU

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03/13/2010 - Burlington, VT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marqus Blakely scored 24 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and handed out five assists, leading Vermont back to the NCAA Tournament with an 83-70 victory over Boston University in the championship game of the America East Tournament.

Nick Vier added 15 points and Maurice Joseph chipped in 13 for Vermont (25-9), which captured its fourth AEC championship and first since a three-year run from 2003-05. The Catamounts' last NCAA Tournament appearance was a memorable one in 2005, as they upset Syracuse in the first round before falling to Michigan State.

Corey Lowe scored 24 points to lead Boston University (19-13), which knocked off top-seeded Stony Brook last Sunday in the semifinals and was making its first visit to the AEC title game since a 56-55 loss to Vermont in 2003. The Terriers last won the tournament in 2002.

John Holland, BU's leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, made just 3-of-11 shots and finished with only nine points. Jake O'Brien contributed 17 points in defeat.

Vermont led by 11 at the break and a bucket to open the second half stretched the margin to 13, but BU scored six straight at one point to trim a 12-point deficit in half and drew within 54-53 with 11 minutes left on a three-pointer by Lowe.

The Terriers then had two possessions with a chance to take the lead and failed to convert either time, and Vermont capitalized with a layup by Evan Fjeld and a three-pointer by Joseph for a six-point edge with just under eight minutes to play.

Blakely hit a pair from the stripe to extend the lead to 61-53, but BU trimmed the margin back to four at 62-58 before going cold again. Vier and Garvey Young connected on three-pointers to fuel a 9-2 run that gave Vermont a 71-60 lead with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

The Terriers never threatened again.

Vermont extended a three-point edge with a run of seven straight points midway through the opening half, as Vier hit a three-pointer and Blakely scored the next four for a 24-14 lead.

The Terriers got as close as six a couple of times before Vermont took a 42-31 advantage to the intermission after a Blakely bucket in the lane just before the buzzer.

Game Notes

Blakely, the conference's Player of the Year each of the two previous seasons, recorded his 17th double-double of the campaign...Fjeld, playing just days after his mother died of cancer, scored nine for Vermont...The Catamounts shot 57.8 percent overall and connected on 8-of-14 three-point tries, led by Vier's 4-for-4 effort from beyond the arc...The Terriers hit 38.2 percent from the field and made 10-of-23 from three-point range...BU has won five AEC tourney crowns, the most of any current member of the league. Northeastern, currently a member of the CAA, won seven AEC titles.

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.