PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week/Weekly Report - 4
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Updated PSAC Composite Schedule/Results
Lock Haven, Pa. - Gannon's Darrell Blanton averaged a double-double while Bloomsburg's Trevon Johnson recorded a 3:1 assist to turnover ratio in a 3-0 week for the Huskies and they are the PSAC West and East Athletes of the Week, respectively.
Clarion's Winfield Willis, who earlier this season was named a West Athlete of the Week, earns his first West Freshman of the Week award after averaging more than 20 ppg in leading Clarion to a trio of wins. Cheyney's Jerrod Johnson also hit the 20-point mark in average points last week to earn the East Freshman of the Week honor.
PSAC East Athlete of the Week
Trevon Johnson, Bloomsburg
Senior, Guard
Snow Hill, Md./Snow Hill
Johnson averaged 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 7.0 assists and made 16-of-17 free throws (94.1 percent) to help lead the Huskies to a 3-0 record last week, which included road wins at California and at two-time defending PSAC champion IUP. He made just 9-of-23 from the floor but as the team's point guard, posted a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. He played just 18 minutes and recorded eight points and six assists in last Monday's win over Penn State-Hazleton. In Saturday's 66-64 win at IUP, Johnson notched a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 10 assists, including a helper on the game-winning three-pointer by Lorenzo Christmas with seven seconds remaining. He also committed just two turnovers in 36 minutes of play. Johnson followed that up with 14 points, five assists and five rebounds to go along with an 8-for-8 performance from the charity stripe in Sunday's 71-65 win at California.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Jerrod Johnson, Cheyney
Freshman, Guard
Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Learning Center
Johnson averaged 20.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 blocks per game, which included tallying career-highs for points and back-to-back contests, in helping Cheyney to its first PSAC win of the season in a 1-1 week of for the Wolves. Johnson converted on 57.1 percent of his shots from the field (12-of-21), including 6-of-11 from three-point range (54.5 percent) and also made 10-of-13 free throws (76.9 percent). In Saturday's 73-64 win over Lock Haven, Johnson tallied a game-high 19 points to go along with four boards and three assists. In Sunday's eight-point loss to Edinboro, Johnson was one of four Wolves in double figures with a career-high 21 points and he also added four assists.
PSAC West Athlete of the Week
Darrell Blanton, Gannon
Junior, Forward
Cleveland, Ohio/Euclid
Blanton recorded a pair of double-doubles in Gannon's 1-1 week, which included an overtime win and an overtime loss, both on the road. He averaged 23.0 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals and only committed five turnovers in 73 minutes of action. He shot 63.3 percent from the field (19-of-30) and 8-of-9 (88.9 percent) from the charity stripe. Blanton opened the weekend by finishing with 21 points and 11 boards in a 98-97 win over Millersville on Saturday. He followed that up 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, 11 rebounds and four steals in Sunday's 83-79 loss to West Chester. Blanton has now recorded three double-doubles on the season.
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Winfield Willis, Clarion
Freshman, Guard
Baltimore, Md./St. Paul's
Willis guided Clarion to three wins last week as he averaged 21.0 points and 2.3 rebounds for the Golden Eagles in wins at home over Susquehanna and on the road over West Chester and Millersville. He made 23-of-48 shots from the field (47.9 percent), including 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from beyond the arc, and 8-of-13 free throws (61.5 percent). He started the week with 20 points in the non-conference win over the Crusaders last Tuesday. On Saturday, he knocked down 19 points and also had four assists, three steals and two rebounds in an 80-77 overtime win at West Chester. Willis hit two of the Eagles' three field goals in the extra session. In Sunday's 77-71 win at Millersville, Willis contributed 24 points, three rebounds and played a key role in Clarion's 22-4, game-changing scoring run as he chipped in eight points during that span.
Team Notes
Bloomsburg
The Huskies are off to a 7-1 start, the team's best since the 2006-07 season when it began 6-0...Bloomsburg picked up two big road wins over the weekend downing #8 IUP and Cal....The win over a ranked IUP is the Huskies best over ranked opponent since knocking off 7th-ranked Kutztown in the 2009-10 season...In the win over IUP Lorenzo Christmas hit a three-pointer with seven seconds to go...The final seconds win was the second for BU this season after beating Pitt-Johnstown at the buzzer in the second game of the season...Senior Larry Webster is now just 112 points shy of reaching the 1,000 point plateau for his career.
California
The Vulcans extended their season-opening win streak to five games on Saturday before suffering their first loss on Sunday to PSAC East-leading Bloomsburg … The weekend marked the debut of the new Cal U Convocation Center … In the first game at the facility, the Vulcans posted a 91-65 victory over Mansfield on Saturday … The Vulcans made 21-of-21 from the free-throw line in the second half against the Mountaineers … Senior Chad Tipton has scored in double-figures five times and leads the team in scoring with a career-high 14.8 points/game … Freshman F Jeremy Posey is averaging 9.0 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in the last four games after playing only six minutes in the first two games of the year … Cal U is in the middle of a stretch of playing five games in eight days against teams that have a combined 20-13 record this year
Cheyney
Cheyney earned their first PSAC victory of the season with a 73-64 win over Lock Haven. The Wolves played all 12 players that dressed and 10 of them scored…The following afternoon the Wolves got all 82 points from four players but wound up on the wrong side of a 90-82 decision against Edinboro. The 82 points scored was a season high…Brandon Baylor and Jason Sabb have tallied double figures in every game this season…Cheyney grabbed a season high 34 rebounds against Edinboro but were out-rebounded.
Clarion
Clarion has won a season-high four straight games, the Golden Eagles longest win streak since starting the 2010-11 season 9-0 ... Clarion has shot 50 percent or better 3 times in the first eight games and just missed by a shot a 4th time ... So. F Mike Kromka had a career-high 16 points and tied a career-best with 12 rebounds in a win over Suquehanna Tuesday ... Fr. Winfield Willis continued his solid play leading the Golden Eagles in scoring in all three games during the week. He has led Clarion in scoring in five of the eight games on the year ... Clarion could reach 400 wins at Tippin Gym this week. With three homes games, the Eagles have 397 all-time wins at Tippin, which hosted its first game Dec. 4, 1968. The Eagles are 397-166 at Tippin ... Clarion's OT win at West Chester was its first OT win since a win at Slippery Rock Feb. 20, 2010.
East Stroudsburg
Warriors are 5-4 (2-2 PSAC) after a 2-1 week ... Beat Molloy 82-65 last Monday to extend home non-conference winning streak to 31 games ... ESU finishes non-conference schedule on Dec. 19 vs. USP ... Warriors won 64-55 at Slippery Rock on Saturday before falling 70-65 at Mercyhurst ... ESU is 26-6 vs. PSAC West in mandated games since 2006-07 and hosts IUP and California next weekend ... Fr. G Whis Grant remains ESU's top scorer with 15.0 ppg and has been the leading scorer in 3 of 4 PSAC games (13.8 ppg) ... Four Warriors average double figures in Grant, Jr. F Duane Johnson (13.2), Jr. F Terrance King (12.0) and Sr. G Russell Graham III (10.1) ... Fr. G Matt Tobin is at 9.7 ppg overall (14.0 ppg, 13-21 on 3's in home games) ... ESU is 4-1 at home and 1-3 in road/neutral site games ... Jeff Wilson is closing in on 150 career wins in his 10th season (146-112).
Edinboro
Edinboro will hold Toy for Tots Weekend this weekend when West Chester and Millersville visit McComb Fieldhouse. Anyone bringing a new unwrapped toy to the games will be admitted free of charge…Edinboro completed a stretch of five road games in the first six games with a 3-3 record, and the Fighting Scots are 2-2 in the PSAC, all four contests in the east…Bryan Theriot has now scored in double figures in all six games. The 6’9” sophomore needed to head to the hospital for some medical attention following the Shippensburg game after suffering a huge gash in a collision. He came back the next day at Cheyney to lead the Fighting Scots to a 90-82 win, scoring 26 points. He fell one rebound shy of his third double-double…Cory Somerville added a season-high 21 points against the Wolves…Clint Nicholson had a tough game at Shippensburg, going scoreless. He made up for it the next day with 15 points, making three 3-pointers.
Gannon
Gannon played back-to-back overtime games last weekend at Millersville and West Chester, the first time the program has played consecutive overtime games since the 2001-02 season against Northwood and Wayne State … The win at Millersville was Gannon’s 10th in its last 11 overtime games dating back to the 2001-02 campaign … the Knights are now 5-2 in overtime games under head coach John Reilly … redshirt junior Darrell Blanton recorded double-doubles in both games, giving him three this season … Blanton posted season-highs in points (25), rebounds (11) and steals (4) at West Chester … Gannon erased a 14-point deficit at Millersville … The 98 points at Millersville were the most scored during a road contest since a 99-95 victory at Edinboro on February 3, 1997 … The 195 combined points were the most during a road game since a 115-83 loss at Wayne State on February 24, 1996.
IUP
Moving up in the NABC national polls to number eight, IUP split its PSAC crossover games over the weekend, falling to Bloomsburg in the last second 66-64 before rallying the following day to defeat Mansfield 76-51…The loss to the Huskies was the first of the season for the Crimson Hawks, who got a three by Ashton Smith with 28 seconds left to take a 64-63 lead…Bloomsburg then sat on the ball for just about 20 seconds, finally getting it to Lorenzo Christmas in the corner for the go-ahead three-pointer with seven seconds remaining, eventually winning by the two-point margin…Smith scored 17 of his 25 in the second half, when the game was the closest…IUP took an early lead on the Mountaineers on Sunday, going up by as many as 15 in the first half, en route to the 25-point win.
Kutztown
Kutztown opened the week with a 95-66 non-conference win over Penn State-Berks…Freshman Mike John scored 10 of his 17 points off the bench in the second half. The 17 points were a career-best, as were his seven field goals made...KU dropped both of its PSAC games over the weekend as it traveled to Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock…In the 84-73 setback to the Lakers, all five starters scored in double figures. Senior Devon McBride paced the Golden Bears with 20 points in the contest, hitting 8-of-13 field goals…McBride led KU again in the 80-68 loss to The Rock on Sunday. He dropped more than 20 points for the fifth consecutive game with a 25 point effort including 10-for-11 from the free-throw line.
Lock Haven
Lock Haven dropped a pair of PSAC games over the weekend at Cheyney and Shippensburg. The Bald Eagles are 0-5 overall and 0-4 in conference play with a pair of games on the horizon this weekend. True-freshman Terrell Johnson has been a huge bright spot for the Bald Eagles this season. He’s leading the team in scoring with 14 points per game and scored 17 and 15 this past weekend on the road at CU and Ship. Sophomore Anthony Baker is scoring 10.5 points per game off the bench for LHU. Yesterday marked a homecoming of sorts at Shippensburg for The Haven coaching staff. Both head coach Mike Nestor and assistant Brian Olesksiak spent significant time at Ship. Nestor coached at Ship since 2000 and both Nestor and Olesksiak enjoyed standout playing careers with the Red Raiders.
Mansfield
The Mountaineers struggled on the their first road trip of the season dropping back-to-back games against California and IUP ... Mansfield, playing without the services of leading scorer and rebounder Chuck Harper, averaged just 58 points per game on the road trip while shooting 36.2% from the floor ... Freshman Joe Bell was a bright spot averaging 12.5 points per game along with 7.5 rebounds ... Bell recorded his first collegiate double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds at California.
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst swept Kutztown and East Stroudsburg at home this past weekend, beating the two teams picked to finish atop the PSAC Eastern Division in the preseason poll…the Lakers defeated Kutztown 84-73 Dec. 3, as Luis Leao made his 2011-12 debut, scoring 23 points in 24 minutes to lead Hurst to the win…Mercyhurst held a 33-0 advantage in bench points, led by Andrew Rickard, who posted 15 points, including three treys…the following day, the Lakers avenged last season’s overtime loss at ESU by beating the Warriors 70-65…Rickard led the way with 24 points on 7-11 shooting, making five three-pointers…Jamal Turner dished out 10 assists with just two turnovers…’Hurst held East Stroudsburg to 38 percent shooting from the field…the Lakers are now the lone PSAC West team at 4-0 in conference play…they head to Mansfield (Dec. 9) and Bloomsburg (Dec. 10) this coming weekend.
Millersville
Millersville dropped three games during the week but saw Larry Grant emerge as its offensive leader. Grant scored at least 19 points in all three games and dropped 20 or more twice, giving him three 20-point games on the season. Grant averaged 22.0 points and 4.7 assists per game. He shot 53.5 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three. Grant’s 27 points against Gannon was a career high…Elijah Obade set career highs in rebounds twice during week, first grabbing 11 against Gannon and then 12 against Clarion. Along with 11 rebounds against Gannon, Obade scored 15 points for his first career double-double…Mike Seibert scored a season-high 20 points against Gannon, giving the Marauders five 20-point performances this year…The team combined for just four 20-point scoring performance last season…Obade blocked five more shots during the week, giving him 17 on the season, one in each game and an average of 2.13 for the season.
Shippensburg
Shippensburg went 3-0 this week, picking up PSAC wins over Edinboro and Lock Haven to finish off a nine-game, season-opening homestand in which the Raiders went 4-5...four players are averaging 10 or more points for a squad itself averaging nearly 80 points per game as a team...SU is also shooting 52 percent from the floor while grabbing a decisive 4.2 rebounds per game margin...Senior Will Royal is averaging 12.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game to pace the Raiders...Senior Jordan Stasyszyn is averaging 12.6 points per game while shooting 45 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line.
Slippery Rock
Rock overcame a 23-14 personal foul, 26-7 free throws made and 30-14 free throws attempted deficits to beat PSAC East preseason favorite Kutztown and even its PSAC record at 2-2 ... SRU trailed on only one occasion (20-19) in the game ... Sr. Devin Taylor tied his career-high mark with 26 points vs. Kutztown ... Win was 61st in four seasons for Rock head coach Kevin Reynolds (61-33, .649) ... Reynolds leads Rock vs. his alma mater, PSAC East leader Bloomsburg, in SRU's next game.
West Chester
West Chester split its two PSAC crossover games for the second weekend in a row ... Both games went overtime with the Rams beating Gannon on Sunday (83-79), after dropping its contest to Clarion the day before (80-77) ... It marked the first time in school history that West Chester played consecutive OT games on consecutive days ... It also marked the first time in head coach Damien Blair's four years that the Golden Rams have gone extra time ... Feb. 2, 2008, was the last time that WCU played an overtime game ... Freshman guard Corey Blake is rapidly becoming one of the top first-year players in the conference ... He scored 37 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the weekend crossover games ... he made his first college start on Sunday ... West Chester's win over Gannon was its first career win against the Knights ...The overall series stands at 1-1.