PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week/Weekly Report - 5
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Lock Haven, Pa. - IUP's Ashton Smith and Kutztown's Nate Edwards both averaged at least 25 points per game to help lead their teams to a combined 3-1 record and are the PSAC West and East Athletes of the Week, respectively.
Clarion's Winfield Willis averaged 18 points in a pair of PSAC wins last weekend and overall helped the Golden Eagles win three games last week en route to being named PSAC West Freshman of the Week for the second time this year. Mansfield Joe Bell racked up over 20 ppg to earn the PSAC East Freshman of the Week award.
PSAC East Athlete of the Week
Nate Edwards, Kutztown
Senior, Guard
Philadelphia, Pa. / North Catholic
Edwards averaged 25 points, 3.5 rebounds, and three assists per game last week on his way to being named Athlete of the Week in the East. In the victory over California, he scored 25 points, where he hit 15 of 18 free throws. Against IUP, he again scored 25 points and hauled in five rebounds. The senior also went 9-10 from the foul line.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Joe Bell, Mansfield
Freshman, Forward
Pottstown, Pa. / Pottsgrove
Bell continued his strong first-season by averaging 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds on the week. In a win over Mercyhurst, Bell scored a game-high 18 points and hauled in seven rebounds. The win gave Mercyhurst its first loss in PSAC competition. Against Slippery Rock, the freshman poured in 25 points on 11-15 shooting, and pulled in six rebounds in the overtime loss. Bell has now led Mansfield in scoring in the past four games.
PSAC West Athlete of the Week
Ashton Smith, IUP
Senior, Guard
Scarborough, ON / West Hill Collegiate
Smith led IUP to a 2-0 record last week by averaging 27.5 points, four rebounds, and three assists. In a victory over East Stroudsburg, Smith scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half to help hold off a late ESU rally. The next day against Kutztown, Smith went off for a career-high 33 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead IUP to another PSAC victory.
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Winfield Willis, Clarion
Freshman, Guard
Baltimore, Md. / St. Paul's
Winfield played a large role in helping Clarion to a 3-0 record last week, which included two wins in PSAC action. For the week, the freshman averaged 15.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. He began his week with eleven points in a victory over Central Penn. Later in the week against Shippensburg, he scored 14 points, ten of which came at the beginning of the second half during a 32-12 Clarion run that changed the game in Clarion's favor. The following day against Cheyney, Willis poured in 22 points and grabbed four rebounds to help lead the Golden Eagles to a victory. His five overtime points were a team-high, and his layup with three and a half minutes remaining gave Clarion the lead for good.
Team Notes
Bloomsburg
The Huskies finished the first semester with an 8-2 record after going 3-5 a year ago ... Bloomsburg rallied from 11 down in the second half to beat Slippery Rock on Friday ... The Huskies loss to Mercyhurst on Saturday snapped the team's eight-game winning streak. The streak was the longest for the team since a 16-game winning streak in the 1995-96 season ... Larry Webster had a season-high 13 rebounds in the Mercyhurst game.
California
The Vulcans suffered three road losses last week, including two in PSAC Crossover action … After starting the year at 5-0, Cal U has lost its last four games … On Tuesday, the Vulcans shot a season low from the field and committed a season-high 25 turnovers … Freshman G Tynell Fortune made 12-of-14 free-throws against the Bulldogs, marking the most free-throws made by a Vulcan since Feb. 2008 … As a team, Cal U converted a season-high 33 free-throws at Bowie State … The Vulcans were out-rebounded for the first time this season on Friday night in a loss at Kutztown … Fortune set a career high with 19 points off the bench at East Stroudsburg on Saturday … Cal U returns to action with a game at Hamer Hall on Dec. 18 due to graduation set-up at the Convocation Center
Cheyney
Brandon Baylor and Jason Sabb have netted double figures in every game this season ... Cheyney has been on the short end of the rebounding totals in every game but one ... The Wolves look to regroup over the holidays ... Cheyney does not play again until January 6 when they travel to Slippery Rock.
Clarion
Despite needing to replace nearly 62% of its scoring from a year ago, Clarion finds itself in a tie for first place in the PSAC West at the holiday break with a 5-1 record. The Golden Eagles have won five straight conference games and seven in a row ... Clarion picked up its 400th win at Tippin Gym with an overtime victory over Cheyney Saturday. The Golden Eagles are 400-166 in their 44th year at Tippin with 41 straight winning seasons. 24th year head coach Ron Righter has 234 of those wins ... The overtime victory over Cheyney was Clarion's first ever OT win over the Wolves who had won the first three. It was also Clarion's second OT win this year, the second time in three years Clarion has had muliple OT victories ... Senior forward Bud Teer had a pair of double-doubles over the weekend and has five on the year and 18 in two years at Clarion.
East Stroudsburg
ESU (6-5, 3-3) went 1-1 in PSAC play for the third straight conference weekend, falling 65-64 to IUP on a putback with 4.2 seconds left before leading California from start to finish in an 86-71 win … Warriors shot 93.8 percent (30-32) at the foul line vs. Cal and made their first 19 attempts … Fr. G Whis Grant scored 18 points and Sr. F Eric Bryan had a career-high with 16 as five Warriors hit double figures … Jr. F Duane Johnson had 9 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists … A preseason All-PSAC East pick, Johnson is the only player in the PSAC to average at least 5 rebounds and 3 assists per game with a line of 12.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks … Sr. G Russell Graham III had 17 points and 8 assists … Warriors are 27-7 in mandated games vs. PSAC West since 2006-07 after the win over Cal.
Edinboro
Edinboro won three games in a four day period to enter finals exams with a 6-3 record … The Scots used a late 14-3 run to pull away for a 92-86 win over West Chester in a very physical contest … Jay Fletcher and Clint Nicholson led the way with 16 points, but Bryan Theriot had his third double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds, and Cory Somerville had 14 points and five blocked shots as the Scots blocked ten shots … Edinboro shot a season-high 56.9 percent from the floor against West Chester … On Saturday afternoon Edinboro missed its first six shots and fell behind 10-0 against Millersville while playing without leading scorer and rebounder Theriot. The Scots rallied for a six-point halftime lead and then built the margin to 20 before ending with a 73-58 victory … Somerville added 19 points and now has 937 career points including a season at Slippery Rock … Edinboro does not return to action until December 30 at Ashland.
Gannon
Gannon won back-to-back games for the second time this season with convincing home wins against Cheyney (91-60) and Shippensburg (94-75) last weekend … Has reached the 90-point plateau three times this season and the 80-point plateau six times … Junior Darrell Blanton averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists during two games … Blanton has reached the 20-point plateau in four consecutive games … Gannon dished out 26 assists compared to only five turnovers against Shippensburg … The 26 assists were the program’s most since matching that figure during an 89-70 victory against Ashland in the GLIAC Quarterfinals on March 1, 2008 .. .The five turnovers were the fewest miscues since turning the ball over only five times during a 68-57 loss at Michigan Tech on January 13, 2005 … Gannon shot 71 percent from the field in the second half against Cheyney and 60 percent in the final 20 minutes against Shippensburg.
IUP
A few days after dropping to 14th in the NABC national poll, IUP got two wins over the weekend, defeating ESU in a close battle 65-64 before holding off a late Kutztown rally to win 78-72 on Saturday … So. F Marcel Souberbielle's putback with five seconds left against the Warriors gave IUP the lead after ESU grabbed a one-point advantage with 1:19 left in the game … Sr. G Ashton Smith had a game-high 22 points on 8-15 shooting while Fr. G Devante Chance came off the bench to score 12 … On Saturday, IUP led by as many as 13 points before the Golden Bears rallied to take a one-point lead … IUP once again got on top big, leading by 12 before holding off a late Kutztown rally … Smith again came up huge with a career-high 33 points in the win.
Kutztown
The Golden Bears (4-5, 2-4 PSAC) split their weekend crossover games against Cal and IUP…Sr. G Nate Edwards tallied 25 points in each of the games, extending his streak to three games of scoring more than 20 points…He made a career-high 15 free throws on 18 attempts in KU’s 86-77 win over Cal, and was one away from tying the KU school record set in the 2009-10 season…KU made 35 of its 41 free-throws against the Vulcans, tying a school-record set back in 2007-08 against East Stroudsburg…Against IUP, the Golden Bears' starting five accounted for 65 of the team's 72 points…Sr. G Devon McBride remains KU’s leading scorer at 18.8 per game…Sr. F Eric Brennan had a career-high 13 rebounds against Cal and is KU’s top rebounder at eight per game…He is also averaging 13.9 ppg.
Lock Haven
Lock Haven dropped a pair of game this past weekend at home. LHU fell to Millersville (66-43) and West Chester (88-76) to fall to 0-7 on the year … The Haven is 0-6 in PSAC action. The Bald Eagles last win came on December 4 (2010) of last season (54-51 at home over Bloomsburg) … Following the lone win of the 2010-11 season, LHU closed out the year with 19 straight losses and the losing skid now sits at 26 games … There are a number of bright spots however for first-year head coach Mike Nestor and his staff … Freshman Terrell Johnson is averaging a team-best 13.9 points per game. Over the most recent two games, he averaged 13.5 with a career-high 18 vs. West Chester … Sophomore Anthony Baker is coming off the bench and adding 10.8 points per game. Baker’s played in six of seven games and leads the team in rebounds with 4.8.
Mansfield
The Mountaineers rebounded from a disappointed performance in a pair of lopsided loss at California and Indiana the weekend before but upsetting Mercyhurst 72-70 -- the Lakers first conference loss of the season -- and taking Slippery Rock to overtime before falling 78-72 ... Chuck Harper's midcourt 3-pointer as time expired lifted Mansfield to the win over Slippery Rock ... Harper, who was Mansfield's leading scorer and rebounder coming into the weekend, had missed the games at California and Indiana ... Freshman Joe Bell has been red-hot over the last four games for Mansfield leading the Mountaineers in scoring in each of the four games while averaging 17.0 points per game and shooting 56% from the floor.
Mercyhurst
The Lakers handed Bloomsburg its first conference loss of the season with a 70-66 decision at Bloom December 10...Matt Lee scored 25 points on 11-16 shooting...Luis Leao added 20 points and eight rebounds to help snap the Huskies' eight-game winning streak...Mercyhurst lost, 72-70, at Mansfield December 9 on Chuck Harper's 40-foot buzzer-beater...Five Lakers scored in double figures, led by Leao and Andrew Rickard with 13 points apiece...The Lakers host the Mercyhurst Invitational this coming weekend, taking on nationally-ranked Bowie State and Washington Adventist.
Millersville
Millersville split its PSAC road trip with Lock Haven and Edinboro. The win over Lock Haven was the team’s second road win of the season—one more than it had all of last season … Elijah Obade grabbed double-digit rebounds in both games, giving him four consecutive games with 10 or more and six consecutive games with at least nine rebounds … Millersville blocked 13 shots in the two games—six against Lock Haven and seven against Edinboro … Obade swatted career-high four shots against Lock Haven and blocked three against Edinboro … Jaymes Miller matched a career high with four blocks against Edinboro. Miller’s 21 points against Lock Haven was a season high … Larry Grant scored 18 against Edinboro, giving him 17 or more points in seven of 10 games. He is not only the team’s leading scorer but owns the longest streak of consecutive games with an assist at nine.
Shippensburg
Shippensburg hit the road for the first time after nine home games to start the season ... SU dropped road clashes with Clarion and Gannon ... All five of SU's starters are averaging 10.0 PPG or greater ... Three of SU's seniors continue to lead the team in scoring: Jordan Stasyszyn (13.4 PPG, 40.9% from 3-PT), Will Royal (13.2 PPG, 77.3% from FT) and Craig Van Scyoc (10.5 PPG, 41.5% from 3-PT) ... SU continues to pace the league with a field-goal percentage of .511.
Slippery Rock
Sr. PG Jon Valeriano scored a career-high 23 points to lead The Rock to an overtime win at Mansfield last Saturday ... Jr. C Luiz Santos (12 pts, 10 reb. at Bloomsburg) and fr. G Chaquille Pratt (10 pts, 11 reb. at Mansfield) recorded their first double-double of the season last weekend ... For the third time in as many PSAC crossover weekends, The Rock recorded a split ... Rock held an 11-point lead with 7:45 left at PSAC-East-leading Bloomsburg before sputtering to the finish line and losing by four points ... SRU outscored Mansfield by a 10-3 margin in the first 3:30 of overtime en route to four-point win ... Win at Mansfield was 62nd in four seasons for Kevin Reynolds and moved him one win away from a tie for fifth place on SRU's all-time wins chart ... Following break for fall-semester final exams, Rock opens five-game homestand Dec. 19 vs. Chestnut Hill.
West Chester
West Chester split its two PSAC crossover games on the road last weekend, falling to Edinboro (92-86), before defeating Lock Haven (88-76) ... Freshman guard Corey Blake continues his stellar freshman season ... he averaged 11.5 pppg and 6.0 rpg on the weekend ... Sophomore Jaleel Mack scored a career-high 26 points in the loss to Edinboro ... He averaged 17 ppg in the Rams' pair of contests ... West Chester had seven players average in double figures over the weekend.