PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week - 5 (Dec. 14)
PSAC Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Dec. 14 (pdf)
Millersville's Brandon Widener is this week's PSAC East Player of the Week after a 32-point performance last week and helping lead the Marauders to a pair of wins. Bloomsburg's Ed Hall is the PSAC East Player of the Week for the second straight week after helping the Huskies to a 2-1 record last week. Darryl Webb of IUP averaged a double-double, helping the Crimson Hawks go 3-0 on the week, to earn the PSAC West Player of the Week award while Edinboro's Chris Klimchock earns his second PSAC West Freshman of the Week award of the year after nearly averaging a double-double with 11 points and nine assists in a 2-0 week for the Fighting Scots.
PSAC Players of the Week - Dec. 14
PSAC East Player of the Week
Brandon Widener, Millersville
G, So., Mountville, Pa./Penn Manor
Widener averaged 21.5 points per game, including a 32-point performance, and shot nearly 70 percent from the floor to help lead Millersville to a pair of wins last week. Widener also contributed 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for the week and shot 68.2 percent (15-for-22) from the floor, including 7-of-10 from three-point range and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. In a win over Lock Haven last Monday, Widener went for 32 points on 11-of-14 shooting, including a 6-for-7 effort from beyond the arc while also handing out three assists. He followed that with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting in a win over Virginia State on Saturday.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Ed Hall, Bloomsburg
F, Fr., Spencerville, Md./Paint Branch
Hall earns the PSAC East Freshman of the Week honor for the second straight week after averaging 12.7 points and 8.0 rebounds for Bloomsburg in a 2-1 week. Hall shot 48.1 percent from the floor (13-for-27) and 10-of-13 (76.9 percent) from the charity stripe for the week. Hall scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 91-38 win over Penn State-Wilkes-Barre on Monday. Then, in the Huskies 61-58 win over Chestnut Hill, Hall tipped in an offensive rebound with just 17 seconds remaining to give the Huskies the lead for good and also hit a pair of free throws to ice the game with four seconds left, finishing with nine points and 11 boards. He then scored a season-high 17 points and had six rebounds and shot 7-of-8 on free throws in a loss to Pitt-Johnstown.
PSAC West Player of the Week
Darryl Webb, IUP
F, Jr., Elkridge, Md./Long Reach
Webb averaged a double-double with 15.7 points and 14.7 rebounds in a 3-0 week for IUP, helping lead the Crimson Hawks to wins over Wheeling Jesuit, Felician and Urbana. Webb shot 53.1 percent from the field (17-for-32) and was 12-of-20 from the free throw line while adding an average of 1.3 steals, 1.0 assist and two total blocked shots. In a 82-61 win over Wheeling Jesuit, Webb scored just eight points but also pulled down 16 rebounds to go along with two assists and three steals. He then posted a pair of double-doubles in leading IUP to two wins in the Indiana Regional Medical Center Holiday Classic over the weekend. In a 73-65 win over previously unbeaten Felician, he scored a game-high 21 points nad once again hauled down 16 boards. He then posted 18 points and 12 boards in an 87-64 win over Urbana. In the two games over the weekend, Webb shot 71.4 percent from the field (15-for-21).
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Chris Klimchock, Edinboro
G, Fr., Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem
Klimchock earns his second PSAC West Freshman of the Week award of the year and his second in the last three weeks after he helped the Fighting Scots to a 2-0 week with wins over Penn State-Greater Allegheny and Charleston. He averaged 11.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and an impressive 9.0 assists in the two games. He also shot a combined 6-of-11 from the floor (54.5 percent), was 3-of-5 (60 percent) from three-point range, and 7-of-9 from the free throw line (77.8 percent). He notched a season-high 17 points against Charleston, which included hitting four free throws in the final two minutes as the Scots held off the Golden Eagles, and also dished out seven assists and had four rebounds. Against PSU-GA, Klimchock had just five points but also dished out 11 assists. In a combined 56 minutes of play for the week, Klimchock had just one turnover.
PSAC Team Notes
Bloomsburg Huskies
The Huskies went 2-1 this week, improving their record to 4-3 on the season…The two victories came following two straight wins last week, making it the longest winning streak since the 2006-07 team started the season 6-0…The Huskies shut down Penn State Wilkes-Barre 91-38 on Monday, with six players scoring in double-figures…Sr. G Greg Elliott had a season-high 19 points in just 21 minutes, connecting on 8-of-12 shots from the floor…Fr. F Ed Hall's tip-in with 17 seconds left proved to be the difference as the Huskies exacted revenge in a 61-58 win over Chestnut Hill on Thursday...Hall finished with nine points and 11 rebounds…The Huskies had dropped their season opener to Chestnut Hill, 68-53…BU fell to Pitt-Johnstown 84-67 on Saturday afternoon, snapping its four-game winning streak…Hall had a season-high 17 points and added six rebounds in the loss…The Huskies are off until Dec. 29 when they travel to Goldey-Beacom
California Vulcans
Cal U is off to its second 6-1 start of a season in three years…The Vulcans posted their largest margin of victory this year with a 93-56 win over Holy Family on Saturday…The 37-point margin of victory was the largest since the season-opener against Penn State-Greater Allegheny in 2007-08…So. F Kelsey Williams has registered double-doubles in back-to-back games, finishing with 21 points and 12 rebounds (five offensive) against Holy Family…Williams and Sr. Chris Moore combined for 20 of the season-high 56 rebounds by Cal U, who out-rebounded Holy Family by a +23 margin…The Vulcans are among the league leaders with a .762 free-throw percentage (109-of-143) after ranking last in the 16-team conference last year at .569 (307-of-540)…Cal U has committed only 23 turnovers in last two games after committing 24 in the season-opening loss to Bloomfield.
Cheyney Wolves
The Wolves only hit the hardwood once this past week and came away with a 66-51 victory over the University of the Sciences to improve to 5-1...For the second time in as many games the Wolves had to overcome a slow.USP jumped out to a 12-5 lead seven minutes into the contest...Still trailing by seven, 18-11 with 9:40 remaining in the first half, the Wolves went on an 11-1 to take a three point lead...A perfect Sharif Bray pass from mid court led to a Rob Townsend a slam dunk with 6:11 to go in the first half to give the Wolves their first lead of the night...However it was a Kevin Presbery conventional three point play at the 3:23 snapped a 22 all score and gave the Wolves a 25-22 lead that they did not surrender the rest of the night...Cheyney built the lead up to six before settling on a five point lead (30-25) at intermission.
Clarion Golden Eagles
Lloyd Harrison had 11 assists Friday at Salem International tying for the 9th most at Clarion since the 1981 season and the most in a game by a Golden Eagle since Lonnell Jones had 11 vs. Shippensburg Jan. 26, 2008. The 11 were the most on the road for an Eagle since Oronn Brown had 12 Jan. 20, 1996, at IUP…Harrison also had 7 steals in that game tied for the 6th most at Clarion since 1981 and the most by an Eagle since Demetrius Graham had 7 at California March 4, 2008…On Saturday vs. Ohio St.-Newark Clarion had 50 made field goals the most in a game since making 53 vs. Briarcliffe Feb. 24, 2008, and the most away from Tippin Gym in 27 years and 1 day (50 at UPJ Dec. 11, 1982). It tied for the 3rd most made field goals since 1981.
East Stroudsburg Warriors
ESU's 7-0 record matches the 1991-92 team for its best start since winning 10 straight in 1971-72...Sr. G Robby Pines scored career-high 14 points and had 9 assists in only game this week vs. PSU-Wilkes (W 105-54)...Pines leads ESU in minutes (23.4) and has 45 assists and 9 turnovers (5.0 ratio) after ranking 6th in DII at 3.0 last year...Sr. G Andy Heimbach had 16 points and three freshmen were also in double figures...Heimbach is shooting 47.5 percent from long distance (19-40) and holds the school record with 179 three's in his career...The Warriors have seven players averaging 7.0 ppg and are scoring 89.3 ppg and shooting 49.1 percent for the season...Jr. F Mike Tobin, ESU's top rebounder (7.3), is scoring 6.9 ppg...ESU plays Dominican and Caldwell next weekend at Caldwell in the ECAC Holiday Classic.
Edinboro Fighting Scots
Cory Somerville posted a career-high for the second straight game with 21 points against Penn State Greater Allegheny…All 11 players who dressed scored against the Nittany Lions…Steve Cress came off the bench to add 14 points, two shy of his career-high set a year ago against Penn State Greater Allegheny…Fr. G Chris Klimchock handed out 11 assists without a turnover in just 20 minutes vs. Penn State Greater Allegheny, then came back with a season-high 17 points to lead the win over Charleston(WV). He had seven assists and one turnover, along with hitting four free throws in the final two minutes to hold off the Golden Eagles…Justin Moore posted his second double-double of the season against Charleston with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Al Muteba had his first with 16 points and 11 boards…Edinboro is off until December 29 when the Fighting Scots host Alderson-Broaddus.
Gannon Golden Knights
Gannon was idle week and is in the midst of a two-week lay-off...The Golden Knights return to action Saturday, December 19 against Glenville State at home...Gannon dropped an 85-59 decision at Urbana during its only action of the previous week...The Golden Knights were swept by Urbana this season after the Blue Knights won at the Hammermill Center on November 21...Jr. Daren Dexter led Gannon with a season-high 14 points...Jr. Travis Brannen netted 10 points, reaching double digits in scoring for the second time in four games...The Golden Knights out-scored the Blue Knights 30-22 in the paint.
IUP Crimson Hawks
IUP began the week ranked No. 5 in the NABC poll, cracking the top five for the first time since the 1995-96 team, coming off consecutive berths in the Elite Eight, won its first 11 games and was ranked No. 1…The 7-0 start this season is the best since that 11-game streak to open the 1995-96 campaign…IUP began the week with an 82-61 win over Wheeling Jesuit behind a career-high 23 points from Akida McLain and 16 rebounds from Darryl Webb…McLain also had 12 rebounds for his first double-double in an IUP uniform…Webb had double-doubles in both games in the Indiana Regional Medical Center Holiday Classic over the weekend, going for 21 points and 16 rebounds in a 73-65 win over previously undefeated Felician and 18 and 12 in an 87-64 thumping of a seven-win Urbana team…Webb has four double-doubles this season and 24 in his career and needs 35 points to reach 1,000 in his career.
Kutztown Golden Bears
Kutztown is ranked in the NABC/Division II Top 10 for the first time in program history...Stephen Dennis became the second men's basketball player in Kutztown history to reach the 1,700-point plateau. He has now scored 1,715 career points. Dennis has scored 25 or more points in Kutztown's last three games (31-Chestnut Hill, 30-USP, & 26-UDC)...Ryan Washington recorded his second double-double in his last three games with 18 points and 11 rebounds against UDC...Tamir Johnson scored 12 points against UDC, his highest point total as a Golden Bear. Ryan White was honored as by the Lehigh Valley Basketball Organization as Kutztown's Unsung Hero...Following Saturday's game at Holy Family, Kutztown will start its longest homestand of the season, a four-gamer that features visits from UDC (Dec. 22), Lincoln, Pa. (Dec. 29), Gannon (Jan. 2) and Clarion (Jan. 3)...Kutztown has made 50 percent of its shots in four of its five games.
Lock Haven Bald Eagles
Lock Haven closed out the week with back-to-back overtimes wins at the Indiana Regional Medical Center Holiday Classic Tournament, hosted by IUP...LHU went 2-1 last week and is now 3-4 on the year...The Bald Eagles don't play again until Saturday, January 3 when they travel to Bloomsburg...So. F Eric Brennan had another huge week for LHU and led the team in scoring with 24.7 points-per-game...Brennan has scored in double-figures in every game this season and nine straight contests dating back to last season...On the year, he's averaging 19 points-per game...In the win over Urbanan on Saturday, Dalexis Pena dished out 14 assists, which were the second-most in LHU men's basketball history for a single-game.
Mansfield Mountaineers
The Mountaineers suffered their first two losses of the season during the week dropping a 90-87 decision to Mercyhurt and 74-72 setback to Le Moyne…Mansfield held significant leads in each game but ran into second half scoring drought's in both contest…The loss at Le Moyne was the Mountaineers first road game of the season…Yuseff Carr and Tony Fannick have scored in double figures in all six games this season.
Mercyhurst Lakers
After defeating Mansfield 90-87 to begin the week, the Lakers went 2-0 in the Mercyhurst Invitational, defeating Virginia Union 73-61 and Washington Adventist 101-59…Against Mansfield, the Lakers used an 18-0 run to cap an 18-point comeback.. they also tied a game record for free-throws, hitting 34-of-46, including 25-of-33 in the second half…Guard Heiden Ratner paced the Lakers offense, recording a career-high 21 points against Virginia Union before setting a new personal-best the next day with 25 points against WAU…Also recording a personal-best on the weekend was forward Ryann Bradford, chipping 18 points against VUU…Against VUU, the Lakers shot a season-best 54.7 field-goal percentage, hitting 29 field goals, a new season-high, in 53 attempts…Against WAU, the Lakers (6-2) hit triple digits for the first time under head coach Gary Manchel and the first time since Dec. 12, 2002 in a 102-68 victory over Point ParkIt is also the largest margin of victory under the Laker leader.
Millersville Marauders
Millersville improved to 5-1 for the third time in the last four seasons with 63-59 home victory over Virginia State Friday...The victory was the 198th of Fred Thompson's career, leaving him just two shy of becoming the third coach in school history and the second fastest to 200 career wins...Now in his 11th season, Thompson has averaged 17.5 wins per year with Millersville...Sr. Alen Ahmetovic tied for team-high honors with 11 points, giving him double figures for the first time in his 77-game career. Ahmetovic averaged 1.8 rebounds and 1.6 points in the first 71 games of his career but is averaging 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds this year. He has scored at least eight points in each of the last three games and at least five rebounds in four straight...Jason Blake and Palmer McDurfee combined for 14 assists and just two turnovers.
Shippensburg Red Raiders
Shippensburg (6-3) finished the week with one victory in three games, defeating Shepherd but falling to Washington Adventist and Virginia Union in the Mercyhurst Invitational…SU's 74-57 victory over Shepherd was highlighted by the Red Raiders allowing just 19 rebounds, the lowest total by an opponent under ninth-year head coach Dave Springer and the fewest overall by an SU opponent in more than 12 seasons…Shippensburg is now 6-0 this season when holding opponents under 60 points and 0-3 otherwise…The Red Raiders begin a 20-day break from competition in advance of final exams and the holidays but will travel right back to Mercyhurst for their next game…Shippensburg will face the Lakers at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 2 to start the official PSAC crossover schedule.
Slippery Rock - The Rock
The Rock rolled to easy wins over Ohio State Newark and Salem International last weekend in the Joe Manchin Classic hosted by SIU...The wins gave The Rock its second straight 7-0 start and extended its regular-season win streak to 15 games...The Rock attempted 97 shots from the field in its win over Ohio State Newark and had 83 FGA vs. Salem...SRU outrebounded OSN by an 80-40 margin...The Rock held a 30-point (60-30) lead over OSN with 15 minutes left and had a 40-point (76-36) advantage over Salem with 14 minutes left when second-year head coach Kevin Reynolds "called off the dogs"...Maron Brown earned MVP honors at the Classic with 29 points and 22 rebounds in a total of 26 minutes of playing time...The Rock returns to action Dec. 21 with a road game at Shepherd, the fifth straight road game for the Green and White.
West Chester Golden Rams
Senior forward Ralph Hegamin recorded career highs in points and rebounds to help the West Chester men’s basketball team to a 82-65 victory over Neumann University in a non-league matchup inside Hollinger Field House on Thursday...Hegamin dropped 31 points on 13 of 19 shooting and grabbed 18 rebounds to push West Chester (9-0) to yet another comfortable victory...West Chester (9-0) is off to its best start in the modern era of men's basketball with its nine straight wins...The Golden Rams also topped Nyack on the road last Tuesday...The West Chester men now break until after the new year with their next action coming on the road against California (Pa.) on Jan. 2.