PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week - 8
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Men's Basketball: East Athlete of the Week |
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Wali Hepburn
Lock Haven (Jr. / G)
Philadelphia, Pa. / Neumann-Goretti
Junior guard Wali Hepburn led Lock Haven to two PSAC East wins last week. Hepburn led The Haven with 25 points in an 85-78 win over Mansfield. Hepburn added seven rebounds and six assists in the win. In a 62-58 win over Kutztown, the Philadelphia native scored a game-high 28 points, including 20 in the second half. Hepburn hit what would be the game-winning shot with 16 seconds remaining to seal the win for The Haven. He notched six assists and four rebounds in the win. On the week, Hepburn averaged 26.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and six assists. |
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Men's Basketball: East Freshman of the Week |
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Bootsie Walker
Lock Haven (Fr. / G)
Chester, Pa. / Chester
Lock Haven's Bootsie Walker helped The Haven to a two conference wins last week. In an 85-78 win over Mansfield he recorded his first career double-double and set career-highs in both points and rebounds. Walker recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds against the Mounties. In a 62-58 victory against Kutztown, Walker totaled 11 rebounds, six points, and three steals. On the week, Walker averaged 13 points and 11 rebounds per outing. |
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Men's Basketball: West Athlete of the Week |
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Adam Blazek
Gannon (Jr. / G)
Erie, Pa. / Cathedral Prep
Adam Blazek led Gannon to a perfect 2-0 week with victories against No. 5 IUP and on the road at Edinboro, increasing Gannon's win streak to a season-best four games. Blazek hit a game-tying jumper against IUP with 40 seconds left to force overtime. He then sunk a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 2:31 left in overtime to give Gannon a one-point lead that it would not relinquish for the remainder of the contest. Blazek finished the game with 13 points, six rebounds, and four assists. In a 71-59 win at Edinboro he finished with a game-high 18 points, while going 7-of-7 from the free throw line. Blazek added three assists and four steals in the win. |
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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
Clarion's BJ Andrews had another steady week for the Golden Eagles scoring nine points, while tying a season-high with six rebounds in both of Clarion's PSAC games last week. The freshman added three assists against California. Andrews helped his team take a 64-61 victory over Seton Hill to give head coach Ron Righter his 400th career victory. |
TEAM NOTES
Bloomsburg
The Huskies (9-6, 5-1 PSAC East) stand in second place in the Eastern Division after traveling to West Chester and scoring a key 77-76 victory over the Golden Rams.
Alssene Saintilus registered a slam dunk with just over seven seconds remaining to give the Huskies the win, snapping what was a six-game winning streak for West Chester.
Lorenzo Christmas led the team in scoring with 19 points, hitting his 200th career 3-pointer and now is 25 away from the all-time school record.
Charles Haigler added 15 points and four assists. Bloomsburg dropped a 74-63 decision vs. No. 8 East Stroudsburg on Wednesday, suffering their first divisional setback of the year.
Saintilus matched a career-high 21 points vs. ESU. Bloomsburg has now played 10 contests decided by 10 points or less this season, owning a 5-5 record in such games. The Huskies host Mansfield this Wednesday and travel to Kutztown on Saturday.
California
Cal U won back-to-back games in PSAC West play for the first time this season, claiming victories over Clarion and IUP. The Vulcans have now won eight-consecutive meetings, and 16 of the last 17, against the Golden Eagles. This week, Cal U also snapped a seven-game road losing streak in the series with rival IUP, posting its first win at IUP since the 2007-08 campaign. Sophomore guard
Jake Jacubec has led the team in scoring for five-straight games and is averaging a team-best 15.7 points since the start of 2014. He is shooting an impressive 47.4 percent (18-of-38) from beyond the arc during that span, making at least three three-pointers four times. Junior forward
Alonzo Murphy set a season high with 12 rebounds at IUP and is averaging 10.5 points and 8.2 rebounds over the last six games.
Cheyney
In their only game of the week, the Wolves fell to Millersville 69-65. The loss pushes the Wolves losing streak to eight.
Deshawn Curtis paced the Wolves with 23 points while
Jerrod Johnson added 18.
Calvin Brown led all players with nine rebounds. Cheyney jumped out to an early double digit lead but was unable to hold on. It was the first time since the season opener that the Wolves had 20 or more turnovers in a game. The Wolves played without head coach Dominique Stephens. Coach Stephens was being recognized by North Carolina Central University. It was 25 years ago the Stephens as a player helped guide UNCC to the most lop-sided Division II men's basketball championship. Cheyney will travel to league leader East Stroudsburg on Wednesday before hosting Lock Haven on Saturday.
Clarion
A come-from-behind 64-61 win over Seton Hill Saturday gave head coach Ron Righter his 400th win at Clarion. Righter, who has won three PSAC West and one PSAC titles in his 26 years at Clarion, is 400-290 at Clarion and has 15 seasons of at least 15 wins including 3 20-win seasons. The Golden Eagles trailed by 7 in the game with under 4 minutes to play but used a 13-0 run to give Righter the milestone win ... Fr.
BJ Andrews twice tied his season high for rebounds during the week recording six at both Cal Wednesday and vs. Seton Hill Saturday.
Marques Jones had his third double-digit game in four tries Saturday with a team-high 17 points, his 2nd best showing of the year. Clarion has announced its game with Central Penn ppd in Nov. will be made up at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 at Tippin Gym.
East Stroudsburg
ESU (16-0, 6-0), ranked #8 in last week's NABC DII poll, won 74-63 at Bloomsburg in its only game last week .The Warriors have set school records for overall start and divisional starts. ESU is the last remaining unbeaten in the PSAC, and one of 5 in DII (291 schools) .The record of 16-0 is the best start in the PSAC since 1994-95, when IUP was 21-0. The Warriors have 2nd-longest active winning streak in DII behind Florida Southern (17-0). 14 of ESU's 16 wins are by double figures (closest margin 6 points). 12th-year head coach
Jeff Wilson enters this week at 199-127 record. Warriors have 995 wins in program history. Jr. G
Whis Grant scored 16 of his 21 points in the 2nd half at Bloomsburg for his 21st career 20-point game (ESU is 17-4). Freshman Forward,
Rasheed Moore had 12 points and 13 rebounds for his 3rd career double-double ... Jr. guard
Matt Tobin, last week's PSAC East Co-Athlete of the Week, had 17 points and 4 assists (24 assists, 3 turnovers previous week). East Stroudsburg leads PSAC in 10 categories - scoring (87.3), scoring margin (+20.8), field goal % (47.4), 3-point % (38.7), turnover margin (+8.1), fewest turnovers (12.3), turnovers forced (20.4), assist-turnover ratio (1.45), assists (17.9) and steals (10.9).
Tobin leads PSAC in assists (5.6) and assist-turnover ratio (2.9).
Tobin's 13 assists at UPJ on Jan. 8 are the most in the PSAC this year.
Grant leads ESU with 17.0 ppg, followed by Sophomore Guard
Jamal Nwaniemeka (13.2) and
Moore (13.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg). ESU hosts Cheyney Wednesday, and travels to West Chester Saturday.
Edinboro
Bryan Theriot extended his streak of consecutive double figure scoring games to 19 as the center posted 14 and 17-point efforts last week against Mercyhurst and Gannon, respectively. The Fighting Scots fell in overtime to the Lakers, 77-65, before dropping a 71-59 decision to the visiting Golden Knights on Saturday afternoon.
Theriot made six of seven shots from the floor against Mercyhurst. The senior also made five of six free throws on the day, tying Jim Prokell for the second-most made free throws in school history with 358. Prokell played for Edinboro from 1969-72.
Theriot is only seven made free throws away from setting the new school record in made free throws in a career.
Henri Wade-Chatman averaged 16.0 points per contest during the week, including a team-high 22-point game in the loss at Mercyhurst on Wednesday. The sophomore guard shot a season-high 64.3 percent (9 of 14) against the Lakers. Jonny Marsh, the Scots’ second-leading scorer, averaged 11.5 points per game last week, knocking down six of six free throws at Mercyhurst on Wednesday. The Fighting Scots take on Indiana Pa. at McComb Fieldhouse on Wednesday before travelling to Clarion on Saturday night.
Gannon
Gannon posted a perfect 2-0 record last week, knocking off fifth-ranked Indiana (Pa.) 67-61 in overtime and winning at Edinboro 71-59. The Golden Knights have won a season-best four games in a row. Gannon has defeated IUP two consecutive times. Gannon’s game against IUP was its first at home in 28 days after a fire forced practices and games to be held at Penn State Behrend. Head coach
John T. Reilly became the second men's basketball coach in school history to reach 150 victories with Gannon’s victory against IUP. Junior
Girbran Smith set a new career-high for the third consecutive game with 18 points against IUP. Since being inserted into the starting line-up four games ago,
Smith has scored 57 points during that stretch after having six points during the first 13 contests. Gannon won at Edinboro’s McComb Fieldhouse for the third consecutive time. Gannon has out-rebounded 17 consecutive opponents.
IUP
The IUP men’s basketball team suffered its first two losses of the season this past week, dropping an overtime contest with Gannon 67-61 and falling in their first home game since February 13, 2013 to California 59-56. Led by Sr. G
Mathis Keita who posted 20+ point performances in both games, the Crimson Hawks managed to put up just 117 points in 85 minutes of play.
Keita scored 21 points against Gannon, including four free throws in overtime which were the only points put up by IUP in the bonus period. He added five rebounds, six assists, and one block against the Golden Knights. At the Kovalchick Complex against rival California,
Keita finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists. The Frenchman is shooting 52.9 percent from the floor, sixth in the conference. IUP still leads the nation in scoring defense, giving up just 57.4 points per game. They’ll travel to Edinboro Wednesday to take on the Fighting Scots before returning home Saturday for a PSAC championship game rematch with Slippery Rock.
Kutztown
The Golden Bears (4-12, 2-4) dropped their pair of games last week, both by less than six points. Kutztown's last four losses have been by six points or less.
Tracy Peal has increased his scoring output to 15.9 points, good for 12th in the PSAC. He also averages six rebounds and is shooting 47 percent from the field.
Josh Johnson has scored in double figures in three straight games, and in 13 of Kutztown's 16 games this season. He has also grabbed six or more rebounds in nine of Kutztown's last 10 games. He averages 12.3 points and seven rebounds per game.
Austin Beidelman also averages double figures at 10.9 per clip with a team-leading 52 assists.
Ryan Connolly averages 9.4 per game and is shooting a team-leading 85.3 percent from the free throw line.
Lock Haven
The Lock Haven University men’s basketball team improved to 10-6 overall, 3-3 in the PSAC East with a pair of conference wins this week. The Bald Eagles downed Mansfield at home on Wednesday and followed that up by defeating Kutztown at Thomas Fieldhouse on Saturday. The two wins moved LHU into a tie with Millersville for fourth in the PSAC East. LHU and will host Millersville next Wednesday, January 22. LHU is led by
Wali Hepburn, who is second in the PSAC in scoring at 22.0 points per game. Hepburn is averaging 26.6 points over his last five games.
Mansfield
Mansfield -- The Mountaineers went 1-1 on the week to move back into contention for a PSAC playoff berth. Joe Bell recorded another exceptional week averaging 22.5 points per game and moved into 10th place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,278 points. Mansfield has won two of its last three games and gotten a big boost with the return of senior guard
Charles Becoats from injury. Becoats has scored in double-figures in each of the four games since he returned, averaging 19.0 in two games last week.
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst split a pair of Western Division games, beating Edinboro, 77-65 in overtime, before falling, 64-43, at Slippery Rock. In the game against Edinboro, the Lakers rallied late in regulation, with
Andy Hoying making a layup with five seconds left to force overtime. Mercyhurst then scored the first nine points in the extra session, eventually scoring 17 points in overtime. It’s the most points by a Laker unit in overtime since January 19, 2011, when Mercyhurst put up 18 points in a 90-81 win over Clarion.
Anthony Lytle scored 17 points to lead the Lakers past the Scots Wednesday. At The Rock, Mercyhurst scored a season-low 43 points.
James Ewing posted nine points and eight rebounds in the loss. Mercyhurst hosts Clarion in a Western Division game January 22.
Millersville
Millersville scored back-to-back PSAC East wins, pulling its divisional record even at 3-3 and its overall record to within one win of .500. Millersville's win over Cheyney was its first road win of the season in eight tries. The win over Kutztown improved the team to 6-1 at home. Despite winning by just four points in both games, the Marauders led Cheyney by 22 and Kutztown by as many as 27. The Marauders are 5-2 over the last seven games, with both losses coming by single digits on the road. In the five wins, the Marauders have led each game by as few as 19 points and by as many as 42. Millersville played 13 players in both games.
Tavon Parker was the lone Marauder to score in double figures in both. The freshman has scored in double figures in six consecutive games--a feat that hasn't been accomplished by a Marauder rookie since 2010.
Pitt- Johnstown
Scored game-high 24 point and made 6-8 3-pointers in loss at Seton Hill. Pitt-Johnstown suffered 83-80 loss at Seton Hill in only game of the week
Shippensburg
SHIP dropped games this week to West Chester and Mansfield. Sophomore guard
Joe Lococo set two single-game career highs this week, grabbing 10 rebounds versus West Chester and making six steals at Mansfield. Redshirt freshman
Marcus Williams had nine blocks this week, giving him 26 -- the most by a Raider since the 2008-09 season.
Lococo ranks fourth in the PSAC with 19.8 ppg and second with 2.1 spg. While
Williams ranks third in the PSAC with 8.3 rpg and sixth with 1.7 bpg.
Slippery Rock
Rock remainded took over sole possession of first place in the PSAC West when it rolled past Mercyhurst, 64-43, last Saturday in their only game last week. Defensive effort was SRU's best vs. an NCAA Division II team since Ded. 9, 1989, when Rock held Mercyhurst to only 40 points in a 72-40 win in Slippery Rock. Rock are now one win away from assuring themselves a sixth consecutive winning season, a feat the SRU men's program hasn't accomplished since 1928.
Sr. C Maurice Lewis-Briggs recorded his seventh consecutive double-digit scoring total Saturday with 10 points to go along with nine rebounds. SRU hosts Seton Hill and travels to No. 5 Indiana in PSAC West action next week.
Seton Hill
This week Seton Hill lost to Clarion 61-64. Pitt-Johnstown falls to Seton Hill this week with the score of 83-80. The next contest for Seton Hill will be 1/22/14 at Slippery Rock.
West Chester
West Chester split a pair of Eastern Division games to sit at 5-2 on the season. The Golden Rams defeated Shippensburg on Wednesday 81-65, and dropped a 77-76 home contest Saturday to Bloomsburg. West Chester hosts undefeated East Stroudsburg on Saturday.