PSAC Men's Basketball Weekly Release - Feb. 8 (pdf)
Cheyney's Sharif Bray and Lock Haven's Eric Brennan are this week's PSAC East and West Players of the Week, respectively, after both led their teams to big wins over the last week by putting up some big numbers. The PSAC East Player of the Week is once again from East Stroudsburg, but Marcus Brown is a first-time honoree this week. Edinboro's Chris Klimchock is the West Freshman of the Week.
PSAC Players of the Week - Feb. 8
PSAC East Player of the Week
Sharif Bray, Cheyney
G, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa./Central
Bray scored 26 points, including 19 in the first half, as Cheyney raced out to a 22-point halftime lead en route to a stunning 94-62 upset of No. 15 Kutztown last Wednesday in Cheyney’s only game of the week due to weather. Bray, who is second in the PSAC in scoring, also added four rebounds, four assists and four steals to the Wolves’ effort. He shot 8-of-14 from the floor (57.1 percent), including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and was 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Marcus Brown, East Stroudsburg
F, Fr., Philadelphia, Pa./Engineering & Science
Brown earns his first East Freshman of the Week award of the year after scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds in East Stroudsburg’s 72-63 win over Millersville last Wednesday, which was the Warriors’ only game of the week due to weather. All 10 of his points came in the first half and five of his rebounds were on the offensive end. Brown shot 5-of-9 from the floor and also added a block and a steal.
PSAC West Player of the Week
Eric Brennan, Lock Haven
F, So., Chester, Pa./West Catholic
Brennan was tremendous in a pair of overtime games for the Bald Eagles, one a win and one a loss. The sophomore averaged 28.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.5 steals and 3.0 blocks while shooting 70 percent from the floor (21-for-30) for the week. In an 84-81 overtime loss to Clarion, Brennan knocked down 25 points to go along with seven rebounds, with his jumper at the end of regulation forcing the overtime. On Saturday, he helped Lock Haven take down Edinboro on the road, 91-90 in triple overtime by scoring 31 points and hauling down 14 rebounds. His free throw with one second left in the third overtime was the difference in the one-point win.
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Chris Klimchock, Edinboro
G, Fr., Greensburg, Pa./Salem
Klimchock averaged 6.0 points and 2.0 assists in an 0-2 week for Edinboro and went 7-for-9 from the free throw line on the week. He started off the week with 10 points, two rebounds and two assists in the Fighting Scots’ loss to IUP on Wednesday. He also contributed two points, two assists and a steal in the triple-overtime loss to Lock Haven on Saturday.
PSAC Team Notes
Bloomsburg Huskies
The Huskies dropped their only game of the week, a 68-67 last second loss to Mansfield on Wednesday at the Nelson Field House…BU led 32-31 at the half but couldn't come up with their second straight upset after defeating previously seventh-ranked Kutztown last Saturday…So. G Trevon Johnson had 25 points, one short of his career-high, on 7-of-13 shooting and added a season-high five assists…So. F Larry Webster added 11 points and seven rebounds…Webster's 46 blocks this season are the fourth most in single-season BU history and he is just two blocks behind Seth Scott, who had 48 in the 2003-04 season…Johnson currently has 51 steals on the year, 12 short of the all-time single-season record set in 1995-96 when Mike Ellzy had 63…The Huskies played just one game due to the winter storm that hit Eastern Pennsylvania over the weekend
California Vulcans
The Vulcans snapped a season-long six-game losing streak with victories over Slippery Rock and Gannon last week…In the two victories, Cal U shot a combined 46.4 percent (51-for-110) from the floor…Against The Rock, the Vulcans tied its season low by committing only eight turnovers…Over the last seven games, Jr. F Andrew Young is averaging 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 60.6 percent (57-of-94) from the field…On Saturday, Young hit two free-throws with four seconds remaining to seal a 59-56 win over the defending-conference champion Golden Knights…In eight PSAC West games this year, Young leads the team with 16.5 points while Sr. G Jerial Nixon is posting 15.0 points…So. F Kelsey Williams has scored in double figures in each of his last 10 games while shooting 62 percent (54-of-87) from the floor.
Cheyney Wolves
Cheyney only played one game this week due to a snow storm that crippled southeastern Pennsylvania. Cheyney put an end Kutztown's 25 game home court winning streak defeating the Golden Bears 94-62...A Tamir Smith lay-up at the 16:20 mark of the first half gave Cheyney a 9-7 lead that the Wolves would not surrender in defeating the 15th ranked team in the country...Shooting 57% (20-35) from the field the first half, Cheyney was able to build a 54-32 lead at halftime...The Wolves keep up the pressure in the second half as the lead never fell below 16 points and was up to 34 before settling on the margin of victory...Three of the Cheyney starters tallied double figures led by Sharif Bray's 26 points...Smith added 19, while Presbery tallied 18 points...It was the second time this season that Cheyney defeated a nationally ranked team. Earlier this year Cheyney defeated IUP.
Clarion Golden Eagles
Clarion is 7-1 in the PSAC-West for the 1st time since 2003 and has won 7 straight PSAC-West games, its longest streak since winning 9 straight in 2000…The Golden Eagles win over No. 6 IUP Saturday was its first over a nationally ranked opponent this season…Lloyd Harrison has now scored in double figures in 14 straight game…He has now hit 102 free throws on the season, the 2nd most by a Golden Eagle PG since 1981. Rollie Smith hit 113 in 2003…Clarion is in a tie for first-place in the PSAC-West, the latest it has shared or held the lead in the West since winning the West title in 2005…Clarion won its 10th home game of the year, the first time since 2005 the Golden Eagles have 10 home victories…Clarion has won 5 of its last 6 OT games.
East Stroudsburg Warriors
The Warriors won their only game this week, 72-63 at Millersville on Wednesday...Saturday's game vs. Kutztown was rescheduled for Feb. 15...It would have been first game between nationally-ranked teams at Koehler Fieldhouse (ESU No. 20, Kutztown No. 15)...Sr. G Andy Heimbach scored 18 points and sparked 15-0 first half run with two three's in 10 seconds...Heimbach has 52 three's this year, 15 from the school record...Heimbach (1,045 points) is 20 away from ESU's top 20 and Sr. G Robby Pines (246 assists) is 11 away from top 10...ESU looks for its sixth 20-win season in school history and first since 1991-92 this week, hosting Bloomsburg Wednesday and traveling to Shippensburg Saturday...1972-73 team (23-4) holds record for wins...No. 20 national ranking tied for highest in school history (this week's rankings released Tuesday).
Edinboro Fighting Scots
Edinboro's 91-90 loss in triple overtime to Lock Haven marked the second-longest game in school history. Edinboro and California (Pa.) played a five overtime game in 1988-89…The Fighting Scots never trailed in the game until less than two minutes remained in the third overtime. All told, Edinboro trailed for just 29 seconds and still suffered its fourth straight loss...It marked the second time in the last four games that the Fighting Scots lost at the free throw line in the final four seconds…Cory Somerville scored a career-high 30 points against Lock Haven, with Danny Walsh also notching a career high with 19 points…Edinboro has had its entire roster together for one game. That was the Clarion game on January 30. Boro players have lost 32 games due to injury or illness…Justin Moore had his fourth double double vs. Lock Haven and moved into 21st place in career rebounds with 531.
Gannon Golden Knights
Gannon dropped two road games last week, falling at Mercyhurst (58-46) and at California (Pa.) (59-56)...The Golden Knights suffered their first loss in six games decided by four points or less this season with a three-point loss at Cal...Gannon held both Mercyhurst and Cal under 60 points, marking the eighth time this season they have held an opponent to 60 points or less...The Golden Knights have held their last three opponent under 60 points, allowing 55 points per game during that stretch...Gannon has not won or lost more than two games in a row this season...Jr. F Travis Brannen reached double digits in scoring for the 13th time this season with a game-high 19 points at Cal...So. G Steve Piotrowicz netted a season-high 10 points at Cal. He has committed only 12 turnovers in 318 minutes this season.
IUP Crimson Hawks
IUP lost for the first time in the PSAC West and dropped into a tie for the division lead with a 71-62 loss at Clarion…The Crimson Hawks have two losses overall this season and both have come on a Sunday…IUP began the week finishing its first trip through the PSAC West unscathed with an 81-55 win over Edinboro…IUP is 24-2 at home the past two seasons and have won 14 in a row at Memorial Field House…Prior to committing 13 turnovers in the loss to Clarion, IUP averaged only seven miscues over its previous three contests…Darryl Webb scored 28 points last week to increase his career total to 1,191 and with 731 rebounds he is within eight of moving into fourth place in school history…Webb blocked two shots versus Clarion to become the second IUP player with 100 in that category…He needs just four more to move past Dave Knaub for the top spot.
Kutztown Golden Bears
Stephen Dennis moved into fifth place on the all-time PSAC scoring chart with 2,125 points…He passed Lock Haven’s Billy Arre (2,112) and Cheyney’s George Melton (2,121) with his 18-point outing against Cheyney. Dennis was featured in the Feb. 8 issue of Sports Illustrated in the Faces in the Crowd section…Ryan Washington became the 21st men’s basketball player in school history to score 1,000 points when he sank a jumper with 13 minutes, 13 seconds remaining during Kutztown’s 78-60 non-conference road victory at Holy Family Monday night…Kutztown finished 13-0 against its non-conference opposition…Washington and Dennis have scored 20 or more points in the same game nine times this season…Julius Gray continues to lead Kutztown with 45 3-pointers…With the ESU game being rescheduled for Feb. 15, that means the Golden Bears will play four consecutive PSAC East games after they host Millersville on Saturday…Kutztown is ranked fifth in the latest NCAA Division II Atlantic Region poll.
Lock Haven Bald Eagles
Lock Haven went 1-1 last week in a pair of overtime league games...LHU is now 6-13 overall and 3-5 in Western Division action...On the year LHU is 3-1 in OT games...LHU was edged at home by Clarion 84-81 before taking down Edinboro on the road in a triple-overtime thriller...So. Eric Brennan hit a free-throw with one second left in triple overtime to lead LHU past the Fighting Scots 91-90...The win marked Lock Haven's first at Edinboro in 21 tries...Brennan scored a monster 31 points at Edinboro, marking the 21st straight game where he's reached double figures...Sr. Warren Christian has 56 blocks on the year. He had seven in the win over Edinboro, which tied a single-game school record...His 56 give him 101 in his career, which is remarkable given he's only in his second season with LHU.
Mansfield Mountaineers
Yuseff Carr saw his 22 game steak of scoring in double figures come to an end with a six point effort against Shippensburg…Ryan Callahan continues to close in the on 1,000 point mark. The senior guard now has 986 in his career…Carr is also knocking on the door of the 1,000 point club with 935 going into this week’s game’s…Mansfield, which averages 77 points per game, has scored less than 70 points in each of its last four games.
Mercyhurst Lakers
Mercyhurst posted its second undefeated week in divisional play this season with wins over Gannon (58-46) and Slippery Rock (71-58)…The win against the Golden Knights snapped a four-game losing skid to GU while the victory over SRU avenged an earlier 82-80 loss and snapped a three-game skid to The Rock…The Lakers completed their first come-from-behind victory in four tries against PSAC West opponents in the win over SRU…Mercyhurst is on a three-game win streak that has been aided by intense defense, holding teams to 60 points or below in each contest…The squad has also had four players score in double-digits in two of the last three contest…The Lakers are one win away from matching their victory total from a year ago (16) and have already surpassed their divisional total from last year when they went 4-10…Seventh-year head coach Gary Manchel became the program's all-time leader in victories (107) surpassing his predecessor Karl Fogel.
Millersville Marauders
Millersville suffered a pair of setbacks during the week, extending its skid to four in a row...Millersville received a career effort from Fr. Jim Kelleher in the loss to East Stroudsburg...He scored a game-high 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers and 2-of-2 at the free throw line...Despite averaging just 9.0 minutes of playing time per game, Kelleher is the second on the team in threes made and first in 3-point percentage...Of his 27 field goals made, 23 are 3-pointers...He has attempted only 10 two-point field goals this year...Against West Chester, Millersville scored its fewest points (38) since 1947...The Marauders made just three field goals in the second half and made as many field goals (11) as free throws...Mike Seibert led MU with 11 points, giving him seven double-figure performances this year.
Shippensburg Red Raiders
Shippensburg picked up two huge road wins this week over West Chester and second-place Mansfield…SU recorded its first positive assist-to-turnover ratio in 15 games versus the Mountaineers…Shippensburg versus Mansfield was the only Eastern Division game played on Saturday due to the snow…So. F Will Royal had a double-double against Mansfield…So. Dane Lauber had a career-high 17 points versus Mansfield…So. Craig Van Scyoc has posted double figures in five straight games…Head coach Dave Springer remains on an indefinite leave of absence from the program due to medical reasons…Assistant coach Mike Nestor is in charge of the team…SU travels to face Millersville on Wednesday and will host first-place ESU on Saturday.
Slippery Rock - The Rock
Sr. G Michael Evans Jr. has hit a conference-best 57 3-point field goals this winter to equal his trey total of a year ago. With 111 in two seasons, Evans Jr. is one trey shy of fourth place on the career 3-pointers made list...The Rock entered last Saturday’s game at Mercyhurst with the most 3-point attempts (632) by an NCAA Division II school this winter and the second highest for any NCAA team...SRU had 237 more attempts than the second-best total by a conference team (395 by Mercyhurst) and 18 more attempts than the closest D-II team (614 by Maryville, Mo.)...Eastern Kentucky had the most trey attempts by a Division I team with 613, while Grinnell led all NCAA schools with 917.
West Chester Golden Rams
West Chester split its two league matches last week falling to Shippensburg at home on Wednesday, before rebounding to defeat Millersville Sunday afternoon...West Chester's win on Sunday ended a season-long three-game losing streak...The Golden Rams held Millersville to a season-low 38 points in a 58-38 win...The Marauders scored just 13 points in the second half and shot just 13 percent...Ralph Hegamin averaged 17.5 points and 16.5 rebounds per game in the two contests last week...He tied his career high with 19 rebounds, marking the second time this year in which he has hauled in 19 boards in a game...He is one of three PSAC players to be listed among the top five in both scoring and rebounding...Last Wednesday, West Chester participated in the league-wide endeavor "Hoops For Haiti", collecting donations for the victims of the devastating earthquake in that country... Jr. transfer Eli Daniel was born in Haiti.