PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week - 7
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Men's Basketball: Co-East Athlete of the Week |
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Joe Bell
Mansfield (Jr. / F)
Pottstown, Pa. / Pottsgrove
Mansfield's Joe Bell averaged 30 points per game last week, while leading the Mountaineers to their first PSAC East win of the season. The junior forward shot 61.1% from the floor and 76.2% from the free throw line, while averaging 8.5 points per game and dishing out five assists. In a one-point win over Millersville, Bell scored a career-best 41 points, including the game-winning last two points of the contest with 3.2 seconds remaining. He also pulled down six rebounds in the victory while hitting 14-of-20 from the floor. Earlier in the week Bell recorded his fifth double-double of the season with a 19-point, 11-rebound performance at California. |
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Men's Basketball: Co-East Athlete of the Week |
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Matt Tobin
East Stroudsburg (Jr. / G)
Hopetcong, N.J. / Hopatcong
East Stroudsburg's Matt Tobin led the No. 10 Warriors to wins at UPJ (81-68) and against Shippensburg (101-71), as they set multiple school records for the longest unbeaten start and longest single-season winning streak. Tobin averaged 10 points and 12 assists per outing. His 24 assists, with only three turnovers, helped guide the PSAC's top scoring, field goal percentage and three-point percentage offense to two wins. Tobin notched 11 points and as many assists for a double-double against Shippensburg, while recording nine points and 13 assists at UPJ. His 13 assists against the Mountain Cats are the most assists by an ESU player in at least 12 years. |
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Men's Basketball: East Freshman of the Week |
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Tavon Parker
Millersville (Fr. / G)
York, Pa. / William Penn
Millersville's Tavon Parker averaged 22.5 points while shooting 50% from three-point land in a pair of back-to-back road games. Parker followed last week's career high of 23 point with a new career high of 26 points in 29 minutes at Mercyhurst. Parker hit 5-of-8 three-pointers, 7-of-8 from the line and 7-of-12 shots overall. His 29 points was the most points scored by a Marauder freshman since 2010. On Saturday at Mansfield, Parker hit 4-of-10 threes and poured-in 19 points in just 18 minutes of play. He also grabbed six rebounds. Parker has scored at least 19 points in three consecutive games and double figures in four consecutive games. |
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Men's Basketball: West Athlete of the Week |
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Bryan Theriot
Edinboro (Sr. / C)
Middleburg Heights, Ohio / Midpark
Bryan Theriot of Edinboro notched his fifth double-double of the season and 22nd of his career with a 25-point, 10-rebound performance to lead Edinboro past Shippensburg, 64-54. The preseason All-PSAC West selection averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 boards per contest for the week, shooting 13-of-18 from the field. Against Slippery Rock, Theriot recorded 12 points along with eight boards, while going 4-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. He sits at sixth in the PSAC in scoring average at 19.1 points per game and fifth in the conference in rebounding at 8.3 boards per contest. |
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Men's Basketball: West Freshman of the Week |
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BJ Andrews
Clarion (Fr. / G)
Pikesville, Md. / McDonogh School
BJ Andrews of Clarion continued to be a bright spot for the Golden Eagles scoring a season-high 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 7-of-8 from the line to go with six rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal against West Chester. Versus Gannon, Andrews added 15 points, with three boards, two assists, and a steal. On the week, he averaged 16.5 points per game, while shooting 50% from the field and 92.9% from the charity stripe. |
TEAM NOTES
Bloomsburg
The Huskies (8-5, 4-0 PSAC East) played just once during the past week, taking No. 6 IUP to the wire before dropping a 63-53 decision on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Bloomsburg held a seven-point lead during the second half before undefeated IUP mounted a late rally to secure the win. Senior guard
Lorenzo Christmas led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and sophomore guard
Charles Haigler had a season-high 18 points. Junior guard
Jon Riles extended his streak of handing out at least one assist in every game this year with three on Wednesday. Bloomsburg will host No. 10 East Stroudsburg in a match-up of Eastern Division co-leaders on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at Nelson Field House and travel to West Chester this Saturday.
California
Cal U took a split last week, winning at home against Mansfield and falling on the road to Pitt-Johnstown. The Vulcans have posted just a 1-6 record on the road this season, losing all three PSAC West games away from the Convocation Center. Sophomore
Jake Jacubec is averaging 16.3 points over the last four games, scoring a combined 40 points against Kutztown (Jan. 4) and Mansfield (Jan. 8). Junior forward
Alonzo Murphy is averaging 12.8 points and 7.0 rebounds over the last five games, scoring in double-digits each time.
Cheyney
Mike Drinks netted a career high 12 points and the Wolves shot a season best 47% but came out of the short of a decision at Kutztown. PSAC leading scorer Deshawn Curtis has tallied double figures in all but one contest this season. He is averaging 22 points per game. Cheyney has dropped their last seven contests. The Wolves do not play again till Saturday when Cheyney will host Millersville.
Clarion
Freshman
BJ Andrews continued his nice development scoring 33 points in two games to go with 9 rebounds this past week including a season-high 18 Wednesday vs. West Chester followed by his second highest total (15) Saturday vs. Gannon. His 6 rebounds vs. West Chester was also a season high, After scoring in double digits just once in his first five Games, Andrews has reached double figures in 5 of his last 7.
Aaron Johnson has been a steady hand for the Golden Eagles since entering the starting lineup six games ago averaging 7.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per game during that stretch. His 11-rebound effort Saturday vs. Gannon marked the 3rd time he has reached double digits in boards in his past 5 games.
DeMarius Miller has now scored in double figures in 9 straight games and in 11 of his 12 games this year
East Stroudsburg
#10 Warriors (15-0, 5-0) set multiple school records last week - unbeaten start (surpassing 13-0 in 2009-10), single-season win streak (surpassing 14 in 1940-41 and 2012-13), tied record for best PSAC East start (5-0), and tied mark for most 100-point games in a season (5). ESU has made 40 3-pointers in its last 3 games (10+ in 3 straight for 1st time in 12 years under Jeff Wilson). It made 12 in 81-68 win at UPJ, and 13 in 101-71 win vs. Shippensburg. Jr. G
Matt Tobin, who leads PSAC in assists (5.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.0), spearheads PSAC's top offense. Tobin had 13 assists at UPJ and 11 vs. Ship (24 assists, 3 turnovers last week). ESU leads PSAC in scoring (88.2 ppg), field goal % (47.5) and 3-point % (39.3). Warriors rank in top 5 in DII in turnover margin (+8.6) and steals (10.93). The Warriors have 10 or fewer turnovers in 7 of last 8 games (7 in each of last 3 games). So. G
Jamal Nwaniemeka is averaging 19.3 ppg in the last 4 games. Jr. G
Whis Grant moved into 16th at ESU in career points (1,176). Grant (37), R-Jr. G Will Brown (30), Nwaniemeka (19), Tobin (15), Sr. F
Zechariah Runkle (10) and Jr. F
Lamont Tillery (10) have all made at least 10 3's. ESU is at Bloomsburg on Wednesday, and idle Saturday.
Edinboro
Bryan Theriot notched his fifth double-double of the season and 22nd of his career with a 25-point, 10-rebound performance to lead Edinboro past Shippensburg last Wednesday. The preseason All-PSAC West selection averaged 18.5 points and 9.0 boards per contest for the week, shooting 13 of 18 from the field. The senior center has scored in double figures in all 14 games this season and ranks 19th in school history with 1,173 career points and 21st in career rebounds with 582. The Scots’ comeback effort after facing a 14-point second half deficit against Slippery Rock fell short as Edinboro dropped a 64-54 decision on Saturday afternoon.
Jonny Marsh paced the Scots with 14 markers against the Rock. The junior averaged 16.5 points for the week. Theriot sits at sixth in the PSAC in scoring average at 19.1 points per game and fifth in the PSAC in rebounding at 8.3 boards per contest, while Marsh ranks eighth in the conference averaging 17.7 points per game. Edinboro faces off with local rivals Mercyhurst and Gannon this week.
IUP
The sixth-ranked Crimson Hawks remained unbeaten, claiming victories over Bloomsburg and Mercyhurst. In their first home action since Dec. 18, IUP downed the Huskies 63-53, led by Jeremy Jeffers who scored 14 points, adding two rebounds, one block and one steal. Heading to Mercyhurst on Saturday, the Crimson Hawks claimed their first road win over the Lakers since the 2009-10 season, holding off a last minute comeback to claim the 53-50 victory.
Marcel Souberbielle was IUP' s leading scorer, finishing with 14 points, three rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. The senior is just 33 points shy of 1,000 for his career. Allowing just 56.6 points per game, the Crimson Hawks boast the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense. They’ve held opponents to under 60 points in 10 of their 14 games and have never allowed more than 70. They are second in the PSAC in scoring margin, defeating their opponents by an average of 14.6 points per game. IUP will head to Gannon on Wednesday and return home to host California on Saturday.
Gannon
Gannon swept a pair of games last week against Cheyney (68-41) and Clarion (60-45). The Golden Knights held consecutive opponents to 45 points or less for the first time since the 1961-62 campaign when they defeated Pikesville 73-44 (Dec. 7, 1961) and St. Vincent 61-37 (Dec. 9, 1961). Junior
Girbran Smith scored a career-high 15 points to go along with seven rebounds at Clarion during his second career start. Smith scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds during two games last week after producing six points and one rebound during the first 13 contests of the season. Freshman
Matthew Dogan netted 20 points during last week’s games after scoring 19 points during the previous nine contests. Gannon has defeated Clarion eight consecutive times. The Golden Knights have out-rebounded all 15 opponents this season, including three by at least 22 boards. Gannon held a dominating 52-27 rebounding edge against Cheyney, representing the program’s largest rebounding advantage since out-rebounding California (Pa.) 49-24 during an 83-59 victory on February 7, 2009.
Kutztown
The Golden Bears (4-10, 2-2) split their pair of games last week, but won the more important game with a 76-74 divisional win against Cheyney. They made a season-high 27 free throws in their first win at Keystone Arena in nine tries this season.
Tracy Peal averaged 20 points per game last week, and averages a career-high 16 per clip this season. He shot an impressive 11-for-12 at the free throw line against Cheyney, marking a career-high in free throws. He is averaging 23 points per game in Kutztown's last three games, seven above his team-leading season average.
Josh Johnson scored a career-high 22 points against Cheyney, and is averaging 12.1 points per game this season along with 6.9 rebounds, good for 12th in the PSAC.
Austin Beidelman dished out a career-high seven assists against Cheyney and is averaging 10.9 points per game. He is eighth in the PSAC in assists (3.4) and is fourth with a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio.
Lock Haven
The Lock Haven University men’s basketball team is 8-6 overall after going 1-1 last week. Lock Haven took down Seton Hill on the road Wednesday night, 82-77. The Bald Eagles finished their run through PSAC Western Division opponents at 4-2, only losing to Gannon on the road and No. 6 IUP. LHU was 4-18 last season as a member of the Western Division. On Saturday, Lock Haven lost a tough one on the road at West Chester in the Bald Eagles return to PSAC East play. The 91-87 overtime loss at West Chester dropped LHU to 1-3 in PSAC East play with Mansfield and Kutztown on tap this week. On the season, LHU is 1-1 in OT games. Leading the way for Lock Haven is
Wali Hepburn, who is averaging 21.4 points per game, the second most in the league.
Kasheef Festus is knocking down 13 points a game and adding a team-best 6.9 rebounds.
Bootsie Walker continues to impress in his first season with LHU, while averaging 9.5 points per game. Newcomer
Theo West, who transferred over the semester break, had his best game thus far for Lock Haven. He had 12 points and eight rebounds at West Chester. Lock Haven’s eight wins are more than all of last season and the most since Lock Haven recorded 10 (10-17) in 2002-03.
Mansfield
The Mountianeers snapped a four-game losing streak and picked up their first PSAC East win of the season with an 88-87 win over Millersville.
Joe Bell had one of the best games in school history in the win scoring a career-high 41 points. It was the most points scored by a Mountaineer since
Kevin Hill recorded 47 points in a win over Seton Hill during the 2007-08 season.
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst split two games last week, moving to 7-7 overall and 3-1 in the PSAC. The Lakers beat Millersville, 69-63, on January 8. Eleven different Lakers scored in the win, which saw Mercyhurst shoot 63 percent from the field in the second half. On January 11, the Lakers fell, 53-50, to #6 IUP.
Callon Dailey scored a game-high 20 points. Mercyhurst allowed a season-low 53 points in the defeat, extending its string of games holding its opponents below their season scoring average to 14. Coach Gary Manchel's squad is 3-1 in the Western Division entering Wednesday's game against Edinboro at the MAC.
Millersville
Millersville suffered back-to-back road losses to fall to 0-7 away from Pucillo Gymnasium. Six of Millersville's eight losses have come by single digits. The Marauders played without starters
Jalen Lester and
Anthony Coleman at Mercyhurst and lost by six. They were then victimized by a last-second shot at Mansfield. After missing the first 12 games, the Marauders finally saw their first glimpse of junior
Kelvin Parker, and he did not disappoint, scoring 24 points in 24 minutes, hitting 10-of-19 shots. Little brother
Tavon Parker was outstanding as well, sinking 4-of-10 threes for 19 points in 19 minutes. Tavon scored a career-high 26 points--the most by a Marauder freshman since 2010--against Mercyhurst, giving him four consecutive games in double figures. He has hit 18 of his last 32 3-pointer attempts and averaged over 20 points per game despite playing an average of only 22.5 minutes per game. Senior
Anthony Coleman, slowed by injury early, finally had a breakout performance in the second half against Mansfield. He scored 14 of his 17 points in the half, including 13 in an eight minute run in which the Marauders erased a 17-point deficit. Coleman is now 151 points away from becoming the 37th 1,000-point scorer for the Marauders.
Pitt-Johnstown
Pitt-Johnstown rebounded from a loss to #10 East Stroudsburg on Wednesday with a 78-64 win over California (PA) on Saturday.
Seton Hill
Seton Hill saw their five game winning streak come to an end with a 82-77 loss at home to Lock Haven. The Griffins dropped to 10-4 after the loss.
Malachi Leonard scored 32 points in the loss, the most points scored by a Griffin this season. He just missed a double-double with 9 rebounds. SHU will return to PSAC West action this week when they host Pitt Johnstown on Wednesday and travel to Clarion on Saturday.
Shippensburg
SU dropped an 84-81 decision at Edinboro and also lost on the road at No. 10 ESU. At Edinboro, freshman guard
Abe Massaley finished with 27 points – the most by a SU rookie since 2004 – and matched a career high with eight assists. Also at EU, sophomore guard
Jay Hardy scored a career-high 21 points and then added 17 more points and a career-high eight rebounds. Shippensburg entered the week ranked fourth in all of Division II in three-point percentage defense, holding opposing teams to just 26.8 percent (60-of-224) from downtown. Sophomore
Joe Lococo ranks fifth in the PSAC in scoring, averaging 19.5 ppg. Freshman center
Marcus Williams ranks seventh in the PSAC in rebounding, averaging 7.7 rpg. Lococo is 15th in the PSAC in FG% while sophomore Jay Hardy is ninth in 3-point percentage (37.3).
Slippery Rock.
Rock remained in sole possession of 2nd place in PSAC-West standings with a 64-54 win at Edinboro last Saturday. Rock also closed out crossover schedule with 4-2 record after beating Kutztown 54-48. Rock rode strong closing run to wins in both games. Sr. C
Maurice Lewis-Briggs averaged 17.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last week. Jr. F
Kelvin Dixon scored season-high 23 points in win at Edinboro and averaged 15.0 points and 7.5 rebounds last week. Sr. F
Tabari Perry averaged 9.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game last week. Rock are idle until Jan. 18 when they host third-place Mercyhurst in the first of back-to-back PSAC-West home games. SRU then hosts Seton Hill and visits #6 IUP the following week to close out the first round of divisional competition.
West Chester
West Chester picked up a pair of victories last week,77-65 at Clarion and 91-87 (OT)at home vs Lock Haven.
Cory Blake had a pair of double doubles while making all 11 of his free-throws to run his streak to 22 straight.
Troy Hockaday is the teams leading scorer at 16.9 per game this season, five Golden Rams average double figures in scoring. West Chester travels to Shippensburg on Wednesday, and hosts Bloomsburg Saturday afternoon.