PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week/Weekly Report - 7
Updated PSAC Standings
Updated PSAC Composite Schedule/Results
Lock Haven, Pa. - Bloomsburg's Dontahe Jordan and Slippery Rock's Torrance Timothy each turned in 20-point performances in their respective teams' lone game of the week to earn PSAC Athlete of the Week honors.
Mansfield's Joe Bell is the East Freshman of the Week, earning that award for the third consecutive week after averaging a double-double, while Gannon's Adam Blazek is the West Freshman of the Week, earning that award for the second time on the season, after posting a pair of 20-point games.
PSAC East Athlete of the Week
Dontahe Jordan, Bloomsburg
Sophomore, Forward
Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport
Jordan notched a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds to help Bloomsburg to an 87-86 road win over Chestnut Hill, which is in first place in the CACC, in the Huskies' only game of the week. In doing so, he becomes the third different Husky to be namd the East Athlete of the Week this season. Jordan, last year's PSAC East Freshman of the Year, made 10-of-16 shots from the field (62.5 percent) and 4-of-5 free throws. He committed just one turnover as the Huskies won their ninth game of the season.
PSAC East Freshman of the Week
Joe Bell, Mansfield
Freshman, Forward
Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove
Bell averaged 10.5 points and 10.5 rebounds as Mansfield went 1-1 over the holiday break period. He made 10-of-23 from the field (43.5 percent) and also averaged 1.5 assists per contest. In last Friday's loss to LeMoyne, Bell pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds and then contributed 14 points and eight rebounds in last night's win over Roberts Wesleyan.
PSAC West Athlete of the Week
Torrance Timothy, Slippery Rock
Senior, Guard
Yeadon, Pa./Penn Wood
Timothy put up a career-high 24 points in 26 minutes of action to help lead Slippery Rock to a 113-53 win over Ohio University-Eastern in The Rock's only game of the week last Friday. He made 8-of-14 from the field (57.1 percent), including 6-of-10 from three-point range and also hit on both of his free throw attempts. This came after he had hit on a combined 5-of-15 from beyond the arc in his first nine games of the season. Timothy also added three assists and a steal in Rock's winning effort.
PSAC West Freshman of the Week
Adam Blazek, Gannon
Freshman, Guard
Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep
Blazek averaged 21.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 7.0 steals during the 38th annual Porreco Cup last week, in which Gannon went 1-1. He was named to the All-Tournament team for his efforts, which also included a 53.6 shooting performance from the field (15-for-28) and a 10-of-12 showing from the charity stripe. Blazek scored 21 points in both games. In Thursday's 94-62 win over Malone, he recorded a season-high nine steals, which were the most in a game for a Golden Knight since at least the 2001-02 season, and also added five assists while shooting 10-of-16 from the floor. In a 103-100 double overtime loss to Seton Hill on Friday, he added another five steals and was 10-of-12 from the free throw line.
Team Notes
Bloomsburg
The Huskies beat Chestnut Hill when Larry Webster tipped in a missed shot with just seconds to go in the game last week. It was the third time this season the Huskies have won in the closing seconds of a game ... Dontahe Jordan had his first double-double of the season when he notched 25 points and had 10 rebounds against the Griffins ... Guard Trevon Johnson had a double-double as well with 11 points and 12 assists. He reached double figures the hard way scoring all of his points from the foul line (going 11-14 for the game) ... In the win over Chestnut Hill the Huskies had all five starters in double figures.
California
Cal U returned to action after a 10-day layoff last week at the Tangerine Tournament in Florida … The Vulcans suffered losses to West Georgia and Rollins at the tournament after both teams entered the week receiving votes in the latest NABC poll … Junior G Keith Lowe was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 13.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists … In the first game of the tournament, Cal U held a 10-point before West Georgia mounted a 20-0 run to claim the victory … The Vulcans were also in position to win the following day against Rollins before the Tars scored the last six points to post a 57-55 win.
Cheyney
The Wolves have been off for the past 26 days … The last time Cheyney took to the hardwood was back on December 10 at Clarion … Cheyney will return to the hardwood on January 6 & 7 when the Wolves travel to Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst.
Clarion
Clarion went 6-0 in December, its first 6-win December since 1982. The Golden Eagles have won 14 straight December games dating back to 2009. It’s the second-longest December-win streak in school history behind 16 in a row from 1980-83 ... Freshman Winfield Willis has scored 208 on the season, the 17th freshman at Clarion since 1970 to reach 200 points. He needs four points to tie Mike Archer (1991) and Dave Wojciechowski (1991) for 15th in freshman scoring since 1970 and 10 tallies to tie Chris Roosevelt (1980) and Mike Sisinni (1976) for 13th. Willis is Clarion’s leading scorer through 12 games at 17.3 ppg ... Jr. Calvin Edwards continues to play well in the first halves of games and has reached double figures in four straight first halves and six times on the year.
East Stroudsburg
ESU has been idle since a 79-65 win vs. USP on Dec. 19 that extended its home non-conference winning streak to 32 games ... Warriors (7-5) have 16 PSAC games remaining and are 3-3 entering 2012 ... ESU is 27-7 vs. PSAC West since 2006-07 and heads to Lock Haven and Edinboro next weekend ... Warriors have won 7 straight vs. Lock Haven, 6 by double-figures ... They have won 4 straight vs. Edinboro, none by more than 10 points ... Warriors were picked 2nd in PSAC East and open division play with home games vs. Mansfield and Kutztown ... ESU is averaging 79.8 ppg with four scoring 10+ - Fr. G Whis Grant (14.5), Jr. F Duane Johnson (12.0), Jr. F Terrance King (11.6) and Sr. G Russell Graham III (11.1) ... Johnson and King were preseason All-PSAC East ... Head coach Jeff Wilson enters the week with 148 career wins.
Edinboro
Edinboro played its first game since December 10 on December 30 and dropped a 73-61 decision at Ashland. The loss snapped a four-game losing streak, the longest since 2008-09 ... Edinboro came into the game tied for tenth in Division II in scoring at 87.2 ppg., but was held to a season-low 61 points ... Jay Fletcher paced the Scots with 16 points and Cory Somerville had 15, but the combination of Bryan Theriot and Clint Nicholson was held to just ten points. They came into the game averaging 36 ppg... The Ashland game was Edinboro’s last non-conference game, as the final 16 games are against PSAC teams ... Edinboro hosts Kutztown and East Stroudsburg on January 6 and 7, respectively, to complete PSAC crossover action ... Somerville has now moved to within 48 points of 1,000 for his career, including one season at Slippery Rock. He has 952 total points, with 779 at Edinboro.
Gannon
Gannon finished second at the 38th annual Porreco Cup after dropping a 103-100, double-overtime heartbreaker to Seton Hill in the finals … The Griffins hit a half-court shot at the second-overtime buzzer to win the game after erasing a 13-point deficit in the final five minutes of regulation … Adam Blazek and Darrell Blanton were named to the all-tournament team … Blazek scored 21 points during both games and recorded a season-high nine steals against Malone … It represented the most steals in a game by a Golden Knight since at least the 2001-02 season … Blanton averaged 17.5 points and eight rebounds in two games, including a career-high 28 points in the title game … Blanton also added 10 rebounds for this fourth double-double … Gannon shot 56.2 percent against Malone, hitting over 56 percent for the third consecutive game and over 53 percent for the fifth time this season.
IUP
The Crimson Hawks get back to action this weekend as they host West Chester on Friday and Millersville on Saturday at the Kovalchick Complex … IUP dropped to 20th in the latest NABC/Division II poll after splitting its games during the Indiana Regional Medical Center Classic on December 18 and 19 … The Crimson Hawks fell to streaking West Virginia Wesleyan 64-57 on Sunday night before beating Urbana 65-49 on Monday … Sr. G Ashton Smith combined for 43 points on 16-32 shooting over the weekend.
Kutztown
Kutztown returned from a 20-day layoff to defeat Sciences 95-72 in non-conference action ... Nate Edwards needed 27 points to reach 1,000 and erupted for a career-high 29 in the win to become the 22nd player in program history to reach the milestone ... He had a stellar all-around performance, going 9-of-18 shootings, 4-of-9 on threes, and a perfect 7-of-7 from the line to go along with five rebounds, four assists and five steals ... Over the last three games, Edwards is averaging 26.3 ppg ... Eric Brennan came within striking distances of a triple-double with 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists ... The Golden Bears shot a blistering 59 percent in the game and hit 11-of-21 threes (52 percent) ... KU also hit 12-of-15 free throws and currently leads Division II at .797 from the charity stripe.
Lock Haven
There is nowhere to go, but up for Lock in 2012. The Bald Eagles are still looking for their first win under first-year head coach Mike Nestor, a longtime assistant at Shippensburg. Lock Haven is 0-9 on the year and in the midst of a 28-game losing streak dating back to December 4 of last season … A huge bright spot for LHU is the play of true-freshman Terrell Johnson, the reigning PSAC West Freshman of the Week. He’s leading the Bald Eagles with 14.7 points per game, the 18th best mark in the PSAC … Sophomore Anthony Baker is netting 11.1 points per game off the bench. Baker’s played in eight of nine games this season, but yet to start a game after playing 23 games last year for LHU.
Mansfield
The Mountaineers posted a 1-1 mark over the past week to improve to 5-5 on the season ... Mansfield has lost all three of its road games this year but is 5-2 in the friendly confines of Decker Gymnasium ... Sophomore Kyle Brandley came close to recording a triple-double in a win over Roberts Wesleyan scoring 15 poins with a career-best 13 rebounds and eight assists ... The Mountaineers had five players average in double-figures during the week.
Mercyhurst
The Lakers have not played since December 18, when they defeated Washington Adventist, 100-86 ... Mercyhurst hosts Shippensburg and Cheyney in the final set of crossover games January 6-7 ... Sophomore Matt Lee has quickly established himself as one of the top scorers in the league, averaging 17.9 points a game ... Lee was named West player of the week for his efforts at the Mercyhurst Invitational, where he dropped a career-high 28 points against nationally-ranked Bowie State ... Hurst put up several impressive numbers in the win over Washington Adventist, dishing out 29 assists and shooting 65 percent from the field-both Hurst highs since at least the 1994-95 season.
Millersville
The Marauders have been idle since December 10 and will return to action January 6 at California when they resume PSAC play … Millersville split its PSAC road trip with Lock Haven and Edinboro in its last action. 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
SU played one game over the holiday break, using a 27-0 run to open the second half and eventually ease its way past non-conference opponent Penn State University Wilkes-Barre, 86-53, from Heiges Field House on January 3 ... The team is battling through injuries ... Senior Jordan Stasyszyn has posted 20+ points in five games...Freshman Reggie Charles dished out a career-high 10 assists against PSU-WB ... Sophomore Dylan Edgar scored a career-high 21 points against PSU-WB.
Slippery Rock
Torrance Timothy scored a career-high 24 points to lead Rock to an easy 113-53 win over Ohio University Eastern ... Win moved fourth-year head coach Kevin Reynolds (63-35 record) into a tie with Arthur Gant (1912-18) for fifth place on SRU’s all-time wins list. Reynolds needs two wins to tie Dave Rooney (1979-85) for fourth place ... Timothy hit eight of 14 shots from the field, including a 6-of-10 proficiency from beyond the 3-point arc after being just 5-of-15 from downtown in first nine games this winter ... Timothy was one of five Rock players who scored 10 or more points ... The 14 treys delivered Friday by The Rock were double its previous single-game high this winter ... Friday's game was only the second played by The Rock since Dec. 10 due to SRU fall-semester final exams and the NCAA-mandated "down period" from Dec. 20-26 ... The Rock continues its five-game homestand Jan. 6 and 7 with PSAC "crossover" games against Cheyney and Shippensburg, then entertains Lock Haven in the PSAC-Western Division opener Jan. 11.
West Chester
West Chester has enjoyed a mid-season break after splitting its last crossover weekend series with Edinboro and Lock Haven ... The Golden Rams added football RB Rondell White to its roster over the winter break ... White was a 1,000-point scorer in high school at nearby Rustin HS ... He will be a welcomed addition to the backcourt the second semester ... West Chester has positioned itself nicely in the Eastern Division standings as the Rams head into the final crossover weekend, before East play gets under way next week.
Previous 2011-12 Athletes of the Week
12/20 - East Athlete: Terrance King, East Stroudsburg
East Freshman: Joe Bell, Mansfield
West Athlete: Matt Lee, Mercyhurst
West Freshman: Terrell Johnson, Lock Haven
12/12 - East Athlete: Nate Edwards, Kutztown
East Freshman: Joe Bell, Mansfield
West Athlete: Ashton Smith, IUP
West Freshman: Winfield Willis, Clarion
12/5 - East Athlete: Trevon Johnson, Bloomsburg
East Freshman: Jerrod Johnson, Cheyney
West Athlete: Darrell Blanton, Gannon
West Freshman: Winfield Willis, Clarion
11/28 - East Athlete: Lance McDowell, West Chester
East Freshman: Reggie Charles, Shippensburg
West Athlete: Devin Taylor, Slippery Rock
West Freshman: Adam Blazek, Gannon
11/21 - East Athlete: Ed Hall, Bloomsburg
East Freshman: Matt Tobin, East Stroudsburg
West Athlete: Julian Sanders, IUP
West Freshman: Jeremy Posey, California
11/14 - East Athlete: Micah Fraction, Kutztown
East Freshman: Whis Grant, East Stroudsburg
West Athlete: Winfield Willis, Clarion
West Freshman: Tynell Fortune, California