PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week - 8 (Jan. 11)
PSAC Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Jan. 11 (pdf)
Two familiar faces garner this week's PSAC Players of the Week, as Kutztown's Stephen Dennis and IUP's Darryl Webb are this week's Players of the Week, Dennis from the East and Webb from the West. For Dennis, it is his second award of the season and it marks the third straight week that a Kutztown player has garnered the award, following Ryan Washington the last two weeks. For Webb, it is his third award in the last four weeks, and his third overall this year. California's Ryne Niemiec is the PSAC West Freshman of the Week for the second straight week while East Stroudsburg's Terrance King earns his second PSAC East Freshman of the Week award of the year. Both led their teams to 2-0 records this past weekend in PSAC crossover play.
PSAC Players of the Week - Jan. 11
PSAC East Player of the Week
Stephen Dennis, Kutztown
G, Sr., West Chester, Pa./Henderson
Dennis makes it three straight weeks that a Kutztown player has earned the East Player of the Week award as he earns it for the second time this year after teammate Ryan Washington claimed the award in the last two weeks. Dennis averaged 25.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 blocks in a 3-0 week for the Golden Bears, who are one of just two unbeaten teams left in the PSAC. In a non-conference road win over Goldey-Beacom to start the week, Dennis scored 22 points and made the game-winning shot with 1.8 seconds left in the 76-74 win. He also added five boards and five assists. In a 96-88 win at Edinboro, Dennis scored 29 points, had a season-high 15 rebounds and also dished out seven assists. He then went for 26 points and seven rebounds to help the Bears thwart off an upset attempt by Lock Haven in a 71-66 win.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Terrance King, East Stroudsburg
F, Fr., Bushkill, Pa./East Stroudsburg North
King played a part in East Stroudsburg remaining the only other undefeated team in the PSAC as he averaged 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks to help lead the Warriors to a 2-0 record last week. He shot 53.3 percent from the floor (8-for-15) and was 5-of-6 from the free throw line (83.3 percent) to earn his second East Freshman of the Week award of the season. King scored 12 points and had four rebounds in just 15 minutes in a 91-73 win at Lock Haven and then had nine points and three blocks in just 12 minutes in a 81-73 win at Edinboro.
PSAC West Player of the Week
Darryl Webb, IUP
F, Jr., Elkridge, Md./Long Reach
Webb earns his second straight and his third PSAC West Player of the Week award in the last four weeks after another outstanding week. Despite the Crimson Hawks’ losing their first game of the year, Webb still averaged 23.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game in IUP’s 1-1 week, posting double-doubles in both games. He also averaged 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocks and shot 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from both the field and the free throw line. Webb recorded 19 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two assists in a win over Shippensburg on Saturday and then had a career-high 27 points and a season-high 17 rebounds to go along with three assists in a double overtime loss to Cheyney. Webb now has seven double-doubles this year, including in his last three straight games.
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Ryan Niemiec, California
G, Fr., Brownsville, Pa./Beth-Center
Niemiec earns his second straight PSAC West Freshman of the Week award after averaging 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in three games last week for California, all Vulcan wins. He shot 57.9 percent from the floor (11-for-19), including 6-of-11 from three-point range (54.5 percent) and was also perfect in four attempts from the free throw line. He also committed just one turnover in three games. Niemiec netted a career best 21 points in the Vulcans’ non-conference win at Glenville State and also had three rebounds and four assists. In the win over Cheyney on Saturday, he had eight points and six rebounds.
PSAC Team Notes
Bloomsburg Huskies
The Huskies went 0-2 on their PSAC West road trip to Gannon and Clarion this past weekend…BU dropped its game on Saturday to the Golden Knights, 84-62…So. G Trevon Johnson and Sr. G Ruben Britt combined for 36 of the Huskies points…Johnson added four steals, extending his streak to 11 games this season with a steal…The Huskies fell to Clarion on Sunday by a score of 64-58…BU was down by as many as 13 points in the second half before mounting a comeback and cutting the deficit to one with 3:41 remaining…So. G Jesse Betar had a season-high 15 points with six rebounds while So. F Larry Webster had 11 points and four blocks…During the game, Webster moved into eighth place in BU history with 69 career blocks…Britt scored 12 points, stretching his double-figures scoring streak to seven straight games.
California Vulcans
The Vulcans are off to a 12-3 overall record after posting a 13-13 mark last year…Cal U won three road games last week to move to 6-1 on the road this year…Despite only two players averaging in double-figures, the Vulcans are averaging 73.5 points per game this season which is almost a 10-point improvement from last year…Cal U is among the league team leaders by shooting 73.6 percent (237-of-322) from the free-throw line after ranking last in the conference last season…The Vulcans committed a season-low nine turnovers in wins at both Glenville State and Shippensburg…The game against the Red Raiders featured 20 combined lead changes (13 in the second half) with the Vulcans taking the final lead of the game with 1:10 remaining.
Cheyney Wolves
Cheyney went 1-2 on the week and snapped a five game skid defeating nationally ranked IUP 88-84 in double overtime...Tamir Smith netted a career high 29 points as four Wolves fouled out (three starters). It was the first time since his return that he has led the Wolves in scoring. He played all but one minute in the game...Sharif Bray netted 13 points, a season low. He has hit on double figures in every game this season...The Wolves dropped contest against Alderson Broaddus (70-68) and California (PA) (80-68)...Against A-B, the Wolves had a chance to send the game to overtime but a driving Smith lay-up went in and out...The contest against Alderson-Broaddus marked the first time this season that a Cheyney team played a contest in Cope Hall.
Clarion Golden Eagles
After a 17-steal performance in Sunday's win over Bloomsburg, Clarion now has 15 or more steals in a game seven times this season, the most since 1998, when the Golden Eagles also had seven games of 15 or more steals. The most games in a season with 15 or more steals since 1981 is in 1997 when Clarion did it nine times…The Golden Eagles are now 8-0 when leading at halftime…Paul McQueen's 15 points Sunday gives him eight double-digit games this season and his 53.8 percent shooting day gives him seven games of 50 percent or better from the floor…Clarion ran its streak of having at least three players in double digits to 17 games dating back to last season. The last time Clarion didn't have at least three players in double digits was Feb. 14, 2009, when it had two vs. Gannon.
East Stroudsburg Warriors
ESU's 13-0 start is the best in school history after winning on the road at Lock Haven (91-73) and Edinboro (81-73)...The 13-game winning streak is one away from tying the school record (1940-41) going into Wednesday's game at fellow unbeaten Kutztown...Jr. F Mike Tobin averaged 17.5 points and 8.5 rebounds and had his first career double-double (career-high 20 points, 10 rebounds) at Edinboro...Sr. G Andy Heimbach (14.3 ppg) led ESU in scoring in five straight games until Sunday and has school-record 195 3-pointers and 960 points in his career...Sr. G Robby Pines continues to rank among the DII leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.4) and is averaging 6.5 assists per game...The Warriors have seven players averaging 8.0 ppg - six between 8 and 9...All four guards shoot at least 84 percent at the line.
Edinboro Fighting Scots
Edinboro faced a pair of undefeated teams over the weekend as Kutztown (10-0) and East Stroudsburg (12-0) visited McComb Fieldhouse. The Fighting Scots were unable to come up with an upset despite holding second half leads in both games. Sixth-ranked Kutztown used a 22-7 run to hand the Scots a 96-88 defeat, and ESU outscored the Boro 11-2 over the final three minutes in an 81-73 setback…Earlier in the week the Scots suffered a 99-84 loss at Urbana, marking the most points allowed by Edinboro since the final game of the 2005-06 season…Cory Somerville scored a career-high 27 points in the loss to East Stroudsburg, while freshman forward Anthony Lytle came off the bench to pull down a season-high 10 rebounds…Al Muteba had his second double-double of the year with 19 points and 10 boards at Urbana…Edinboro opens PSAC West action in search of its tenth straight PSAC Playoff berth on Wednesday at Lock Haven.
Gannon Golden Knights
Gannon split a pair of PSAC crossover games last weekend at home, defeating Bloomsburg (84-62) and losing to Mansfield (70-59)...The Golden Knights have not won or lost more than two games in a row all season...Nineteen players have seen playing time for the Golden Knights in the first 12 games...Jr. F Travis Brannen recorded his second double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds against Bloomsburg. The 28 points were three shy of his career-high. He has reached double digits in scoring four consecutive games...Jr. G George Johnson scored 21 points against Mansfield, reaching the 20-point plateau for the fifth time this season and third time in the last four games...Jr. G Larry Swann scored a season-high 12 points against Bloomsburg despite not making a field goal, going 12-of-12 from the free throw line...Gannon shot 50 percent for the second time this season against Bloomsburg.
IUP Crimson Hawks
IUP matched the 1995-96 team for the fourth best start in school history at 11-0 with a 73-62 win Saturday at Shippensburg before seeing its streak end with an 88-84 double overtime loss at Cheyney the following day...The loss to the Wolves also snapped a seven-game winning streak in crossover games...Darryl Webb scored 46 points and grabbed 30 rebounds in the two games, posting his sixth and seventh double-doubles of the season and increasing his career total to 27. He moved into 21st place in school history with 1,065 points, is tied for sixth with 653 rebounds and third with 89 blocked shots...Julian Sanders made six 3-pointers in the two games and is tied for 11th with 106 in just one and a half seasons...The Crimson Hawks have made a 3-pointer in their last 456 games, last going without one in the PSAC championship game versus California on March 5, 1994.
Kutztown Golden Bears
Kutztown's victory over Edinboro was its first at McCombs Fieldhouse in the history of the program…The tandem of Ryan Washington and Stephen Dennis has scored 20 or more points in the same game seven times this season…They each scored over 20 points in a pair of weekend crossover weekends against Edinboro and Lock Haven…Dennis has scored 1,883 career points…The Golden Bears are off to their best start in more than 90 years…Tamir Johnson was 8-for-8 from the floor for a season-high 17 points in a victory over Goldey-Beacom…Kutztown trailed by 11 points and at halftime in games against Edinboro and Goldey-Beacom before rallying to win…Julius Gray scored a career-high 24 points in a victory at Edinboro…Ryan White grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds in the victory over Edinboro…Freshman Zack Hankerson scored a career-high eight points against Goldey-Beacom…Kutztown has won 22 consecutive games at Keystone Arena and 13 straight regular season games against PSAC East opponents.
Lock Haven Bald Eagles
On Sunday, Lock Haven’s bid for upset over No. 6 Kutztown fell just five points short as the Golden Bears held on for a win...The loss, which was the Bald Eagles fourth straight, dropped them to 3-8 on the year. All four losses came in PSAC crossover action...In the loss to KU, sophomore-forward Eric Brennan scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half to give LHU a spark. The 15 points marked the 13th straight game where Brennan has scored in double figures, dating back to the final two games of last season. He's leading the team in scoring with 17.9 points/game...Sr. Warren Christian is netting 14/4 pts./game to help try and spark The Haven's offense. Christian leads the team in rebounds with 9.7/game.
Mansfield Mountaineers
Despite the absence of one of its leading players in Tony Fannick the Mountaineers managed to pick up wins at Clarion and Gannon to improve to 3-2 in games against PSAC West foes this season…Yuseff Carr was a big reason for the Mountaineers success recording double-doubles in both contests and averaging 16.0 points and 12.0 rebounds during the week while shooting 61% from the floor.
Mercyhurst Lakers
The Lakers' six-game winning streak came to an end with a 75-71 defeat at West Chester before rebounding with a 73-72 overtime victory at Millersville…Mercyhurst (10-3) is now 0-4 all-time against WCU…For the second-straight year the Lakers downed Millersville in overtime…The Lakers are 6-2 all-time in PSAC mandated crossover games…Mecyhurst's three losses have come by a combined 15 points…Jr. G Heiden Ratner (16.2 ppg, 2.8 apg) led Mercyhurst in scoring for the eighth-straight game and was 9-10 from the free-throw line…Sr. G Jeremiah Wise (7.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg) reached double-figures in the last two games and nearly doubled his season output during the crossover games…Head coach Gary Manchel tied coach Billy Kalbaugh (1981-88) for second in all-time wins…In his seventh season, Manchel now stands at 102-78 and is five wins away from becoming the program's all-time wins leader…The Lakers open PSAC West play at SRU on Jan. 13…The Rock took a 68-53 decision at the MAC in the opener a year ago and then completed the sweep 72-69 at home.
Millersville Marauders
Millersville finished PSAC crossover play 0-4 and enters divisional play on a seven-game slide...Millersville has seven-game losing streaks in each of the last two seasons after going from 1983-2008 without such a streak. The longest streak in school history-eight games-has happened just twice before...Jason Blake ended a scoring drought of 12 points in four games by scoring 18 against Slippery Rock and 21 against Mercyhurst. The 21 points were a season high and the second 20-point game of his Millersville career. All 18 of his points against Slippery Rock came in the second half...So. Mike Seibert has evolved into a reliable scorer, tallying at least nine points in the last six games and has three double-figure performances in the stretch as well...So. Rob Wyley grabbed a season-high seven rebounds against Mercyhurst. He has at least one rebound in each of his six games since joining the team following the fall semester.
Shippensburg Red Raiders
Shippensburg (7-6) played strong against #4 IUP and Cal but dropped close decisions to both....So. Will Royal has posted two double-doubles in five totals games for Ship, all off the bench, while scoring in double digits in every game while averaging 12.4 point per contest...Jr. G Justin Minter has averaged 6.8 points per game in four contests since returning to the team...Fr. F Wes Kirkland broke out with 16 points against IUP, nearly matching his career high...SU has had six different players lead the team in scoring this season through 13 games.
Slippery Rock - The Rock
Junior forward Maron Brown averaged 22 points and 14.5 rebounds per game in two PSAC crossover games last weekend...He now has five double-doubles this season after going back-to-back at Millersville and West Chester...Jabril Bailey has recorded a team-high seven double-doubles this winter...With an 11-2 record, The Rock is off to its best start since 1972 when the Green and White had the same record after 13 games...The Rock has had a 20-point scorer in each of its last seven games and nine of the 13 games to date...At least one SRU player has had 10 or more rebounds in 12 of the 13 games...Kevin Reynolds, with 32 wins to his credit, is one win shy of the school record for wins by a Rock head coach in his first two seasons.
West Chester Golden Rams
West Chester swept its two PSAC crossover tilts over the weekend, defeating Mercyhurst by a75-71 margin while downing Slippery Rock to the measure of 92-83…West Chester is now 10-2 and off to its best start since 2000-01…The Golden Rams' 92 points marked a season high this winter…Ralph Hegamin hit on 20 of 21 free throws in West Chester's two wins…Kenneth St. George scored 18 points against Slippery Rock, a day after being knocked out of the Mercyhurst game and taken to the hospital…The Golden Rams scored a season-best 56 points in the second half of their win over Slippery Rock…Hegamin now has 949 career points and is 51 shy of becoming the 22nd player in WCU history to score 1,000 points…He has 542 career rebounds.