PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week - 12
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Men's Basketball: East Athlete of the Week |
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Kelvin Parker
Millersville (Jr./ G)
York, Pa./ William Penn
By averaging 27.0 points per game, Kelvin Parker helped Millersville clinch a PSAC Tournament berth with two key wins. Parker hit 51.9% of his shots from the field, 9-of-18 3-point range, and 17-of-18 from the line. In his career-high 28-point performance against Mansfield, he scored 16 of Millersville's final 18 points and hit eight straight free throws down the stretch to clinch the three point 65-62 victory. At Kutztown Parker scored 26 points while hitting 4-of-8 3-pointers and all eight free throws. He also totaled three steals, four rebounds and a pair of assists. Parker has now scored 20-plus points in five of his last six games. |
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Men's Basketball: East Freshman of the Week |
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Josh Johnson
Kutztown (Fr./ F)
Norristown, Pa./ Norristown
Kutztown's Josh Johnson scored a career-high 23 points against Millersville last week. He registered two assists, a block, and one steal against the Marauders. In a 68-65 win against Cheyeny Johnson scored 11 points, pulled down nine rebounds, and had two blocks. On the week he shot 83.3% from the field and 57.1% from the free throw line. |
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Men's Basketball: West Athlete of the Week |
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DeMarius Miller
Clarion (Jr./ G)
Bolingbrook, Ill. / Romeoville
Clarion's DeMarius Miller recorded his third game of at least 34 points in a 91-74 win over California. He scored 34 points while also dishing out four assists. He shot 12-of-18 from the floor and 10-of-15 against Seton Hill. Against the Griffins, Miller netted 23 points giving him 28.5 points per game last week. The junior shot at a .667 clip from the field, and hit all 10 of his charity toss attempts. |
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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 helped the Golden Eagles to a 91-74 win over California. He went 2-of-5 from the field while scoring four points, grabbing five rebounds, three assists, and one steal. During 27 minutes of action against Seton Hill Andrews scored two points, had four rebounds, and two assists. |
TEAM NOTES
Bloomsburg
The Huskies (14-9, 9-4 PSAC East) split their two games this week, finishing non-conference play with a 94-67 win at home vs. Goldey-Beacom before dropping a 93-77 decision at number 6 East Stroudsburg. Against Goldey-Beacom on Wednesday, senior
Lorenzo Christmas led the Huskies with 20 points and five assists, draining five three-pointers to take over the BU career record for 3's (226). The 94 points represent a season-high for Bloomsburg. Junior
Alssene Saintilus posted 19 points at ESU on Saturday. Bloomsburg has secured a berth in the PSAC Tournament for the third straight year, the first time the Huskies have reached the conference post-season tournament three consecutive seasons since an eight-year run from 1995-2002. Next up is a key PSAC East matchup vs. West Chester at home on Wednesday with second-place in the conference standings on the line. Bloomsburg will finish the week at Mansfield on Saturday.
California
The Vulcans suffered a pair of losses last week and have now dropped five-consecutive games for the first time since the 2009-10 season. However, Cal U remains in contention for the sixth and final spot in the PSAC Tournament from the Western Division with two games left in the regular season. The Vulcans suffered their worst loss in over a decade on Wednesday, losing by 38 points to No. 7 IUP. Sophomore G
Jake Jacubec scored a career-high 22 points, including 17 in the second half,on Saturday in the loss at Clarion. He became the first player with six three-pointers in a game since the 2008-09 campaign. Junior G
Tynell Fortune posted 18 points against the Golden Eagles while making his first start since Dec. 21. Fortune has now made 20-consecutive free-throws and is shooting 95.3 percent (41-of-43) from the charity stripe since Jan. 11.
Cheyney
Cheyney only played one game last week with a losing score of 65-68 against Kutztown. Cheyney will next be in action at Millersville Wednesday the 19
th and hosting East Stroudsburg on Saturday the 22
nd.
Clarion
Sr.
Mike Kromka now has 696 rebounds and needs four more to become the first Golden Eagle to 700 since David Shearer in 2002. Clarion shot a season-high 59.6 percent in the win over Cal
Saturday, the 25th best mark since 1981 at Clarion, the best since Dec. 2011 (60.3 vs. Central Penn) and the best against a D-II opponent since Jan. 2011 (60.0 vs. West Chester). The Golden Eagles win over Cal was Clarion's first at home against the Vulcans in eight years and its first anywhere against Cal in four seasons.
Aaron Johnson recorded his second double-double of the season Wednesday. At Seton Hill, and his 14 rebounds vs. the Griffins were a season high. Jr.
Marques Jones is averaging 15.4 ppg over his last 8 games including 16.3 ppg over last six.
East Stroudsburg
ESU (23-1, 13-1), ranked number 6 in last week's NABC DII poll, secured its second straight PSAC East title and third in five years with two wins last week - 75-57 at Shippensburg and 93-77 vs. Bloomsburg (finished with 16-5 run in final 5:01). Warriors have won PSAC East titles in 1992, 2010, 2013 and 2014, and PSAC tournament championships in 1990 and 2012. ESU's 23 wins are one from its school record (24-6) set in 2009-10. ESU was ranked in the NABC DII Top 10 for the seventh straight poll, and ninth in school history, last week. Jr. G
Matt Tobin had an exceptional week, with nine points, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks at Shippensburg, and 18 points, four rebounds, nine assists (0 turnovers) and five steals vs. Bloomsburg.
Tobin leads PSAC in assists (6.0), assist-turnover ratio (2.8) and steals (2.3). ESU leads PSAC in scoring (87.2), scoring margin (19.3), assists (17.7), steals (10.7), assist-turnover margin (1.43) and turnover margin (+7.9). Warriors led Division II in turnover margin entering last weekend. Jr. G
Whis Grant scored 22 points vs. Bloomsburg for his 25th career 20-point game. Grant moved into ESU's career top 10 in scoring (1,339). R-Jr. G
Will Brown scored 17 of his season-high 19 in the first half of Wednesday's win at Shippensburg. Sr. F
Zechariah Runkle (4.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Jr. F
Lamont Tillery (6.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg) combined for 20 points and 13 rebounds vs. Bloomsburg. ESU is off Wednesday and travels to Cheyney Saturday. Warriors will host a PSAC Tournament quarterfinal game on Tuesday, March 4 and would host Final four with a victory. ESU last hosted the Final four in 2010.
Edinboro
The Fighting Scots fell to 9-14 on the season and 2-11 in PSAC West play with losses this week to local rivals Gannon and Mercyhurst. Edinboro dropped a heartbreaker at the buzzer to the visiting Lakers on Saturday by a score of 62-60 at McComb Fieldhouse. The Fighting Scots have lost at the buzzer twice this season, and also twice in overtime during head coach Pat Cleary's first season at the helm. Edinboro has played in ten games decided by seven points or less, as well. Unfortunately for the Scots, they are now 2-8 in these contests. Edinboro has dropped seven PSAC games this season by seven points or less or in overtime.
Bryan Theriot paced the Fighting Scots with 19 points against Meryhurst, connecting on all 11 of his attempts from the free throw line.
Xavier Churnac added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench. Gannon topped visiting Edinboro 71-54 at the Hammermill Center last Wednesday.
Henri Wade-Chatman tallied a team-high 17 markers for the Scots, while
Theriot dropped in 11 points to go along with eight rebounds. Edinboro travels to Slippery Rock and Indiana (Pa.) this week for a pair of PSAC West contests.
Gannon
Gannon swept a pair of games from rival Edinboro (71-54) and No. 7 IUP (67-62) last week to extend its current win streak to a season-best five games. The Golden Knights have won 10 of their last 11 games to move into sole possession of first place in the PSAC West with two regular-season games remaining. Juniors
Raphell Thomas-Edwards and
A'Darius Porter recorded double-doubles against Edinboro, becoming the first Gannon duo to produce double-doubles in the same game since Darrell Blanton and Robert Wilson performed the feat during an 81-66 victory against Notre Dame (Ohio) on December 14, 2012. Gannon swept the season series from both Edinboro and IUP. The Golden Knights hadn't swept a season series from either team since their first year as a PSAC member in 2008-09. Gannon clinched at least a home game in the PSAC Tournament first round and can clinch a first-round bye with a victory Wednesday against Clarion. Senior
Rogerio Livramento scored a career-high 25 points at IUP, surpassing his previous high by eight points. Junior
Adam Blazek became the 26th men's basketball student-athlete in school history to score 1,000 career points on a lay-up with 1:38 left in the first half at IUP.
Blazek later broke into Gannon's all-time top 25 in scoring, finishing the contest in 24th place with 1,008 career points. Gannon won for the fifth time this season when tied or trailing at halftime. After dropping six of their first seven games decided by five points or less this season, the Golden Knights have now been victorious in their last three games decided by that point spread.
IUP
The Crimson Hawks split this week's games, with a dominant win over California (Pa.) and a tough home loss to Gannon. Against the Vulcans, IUP claimed an 85-47 victory with five players in double figures. Led by a season-high 16 points from R-Jr. F
Jeremy Jeffers, the Crimson Hawks shot 61.5 percent from the floor to earn their sixth straight win. Moving on to host Gannon on Saturday, IUP dropped a 67-62 matchup in front of a record 3,621 crowd at the Kovalchick Complex. Sr. F
Marcel Souberbielle had another strong night, finishing with 21 points, but it was not enough as the team shot just 33.3 percent in the second half. One of the conference's best free throw shooting team, IUP was just 53.3 percent from the charity stripe in the game. Looking to get back on track, the nation's fifth-ranked team will finish out its three-game homestand, welcoming Mercyhurst on Wednesday and Edinboro on Saturday. Both tipoffs are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and Saturday'sgame will honor seniors
Souberbielle,
Mathis Keita and
Jesse Bosnik.
Kutztown
The Golden Bears (8-15, 6-7 PSAC East) split their games last week and can clinch the final spot in the PSAC playoffs with a win on Wednesday at home against Lock Haven. Last week,
Tracy Peal averaged a double-double with his fourth and fifth of the season. He averaged 25 points and 11 rebounds and shot 20-for-24 from the free throw line. He is 10th in the league in scoring at 16.5 per game. Freshman
Josh Johnson scored a career-high 23 points against Millersville on Saturday and averaged 17 points and eight rebounds last week. He shot 15-for-18 from the field and moved up to second in the PSAC in percentage at 60.4 percent.
Austin Beidelman (10.3) and
Ryan Connolly (10.0) round out Kutztown's double-digit scorers.
Beidelman has dished out a team-high 77 assists, and
Connolly has made a team-leading 39 three-pointers including the game-winner against Cheyney.
Lock Haven
Despite a pair of PSAC East losses last week, the Bald Eagles have clinched a PSAC playoff berth for the first time since the 2002-03 season. For the second time this year, LHU lost in overtime to West Chester and Saturday, LHU was upset at Mansfield. Lock Haven is 14-9 overall and 7-6 in league play. The 14 wins are most wins in a season since Lock Haven finished 14-12 in 1992-93. The Bald Eagles have already secured their first winning-season in 21 years (1992-93). The Haven hasn't won 15 games in a season since LHU went 26-7 in 1989-90.
Wali Hepburn scored 30 points
on Saturday at Mansfield and his 22 points per game on the season lead the PSAC.
Mansfield
Staying Alive has been the theme song for the Mountaineers over the past four games with Mansfield picking up three wins over that span to keep its PSAC playoff hopes alive. All four of those games have been decided by five points or less including three determined by one possession.
Joe Bell averaged 26 points during the week and has gotten a lot of help of late from fellow forward
Charles Pemberton who averaged 14.0 points and 10.5 rebounds
Mercyhurst
Mercyhurst won two Western Division games last week, moving to 10-3 in the PSAC. With wins in its final three regular season games, the Lakers can clinch at least a share of the Western Division title. With a 56-52 win over Slippery Rock Wednesday, the Lakers avenged a 21-point loss at The Rock earlier this season.
Jean Onana,
Paul Bilbo, and
Andy Hoying combined to score 36 points to lead Mercyhurst at the MAC. At Edinboro Saturday, the Lakers rallied from a 52-39 deficit to win at the buzzer, 62-60. Mercyhurst scored on 10 straight possessions to take a 60-58 lead in the final two minutes. Edinboro tied the game with two free throws, but
Anthony Lytle scored as time expired to lift the Lakers to a season sweep of Edinboro. Mercyhurst travels to IUP this Wednesday night.
Millersville
Millersville pulled its record back to .500 and moved above .500 in the PSAC East at 7-6 by beating Mansfield on Wednesday and scoring just its second road win of the season Saturday at Kutztown. The win at Kutztown was the 250th of Fred Thompson's Millersville career. He is the third Marauder coach with 250 wins and the second-fastest to reach the milestone (250-194). The win also clinched a second consecutive PSAC Tournament berth for the Marauders. Millersville hit 10-of-20 3-pointers against Kutztown, marking the 12th time it has hit at least 10 in a game. The Marauders boosted their season total to 221 makes, which sets a school record which was previously set in 2000-01. Few players in the PSAC are scoring like
Kelvin Parker right now. Parker averaged 27.0 points per game while shooting 14-of-27 from the field, 9-of-18 from three and 17-of-18 from the line last week. He has scored at least 20 points in five of his last six games and has hit the mark six times in his 10 games as a Marauder.
Carl Wallace scored a career-high 26 points against Kutztown, eclipsing his previous mark by 12. Since starting the season 2-6, Millersville is 9-5. Two of the last three games are at home where the Marauders own a 9-1 record.
Pitt-Johnstown
Pitt-Johnstown only played one game last week losing to Seton Hill with the score of 70-74. For this coming week Pitt-Johnstown will travel to California on Wednesday the 19
th and host Gannon that Saturday.
Seton Hill
SHU improved to 15-7 overall and 7-7 in PSAC West play following two victories this past week.
Nate Perry led the Griffins in scoring in both wins, scoring 21 points in each of the contests. SHU will be off on Wednesday and then hosts Slippery Rock for Senior Day on Saturday.
Shippensburg
Shippensburg went 0-2 this week against the top two teams in the PSAC East in No. 6 East Stroudsburg and West Chester. Sophomore
Joe Lococo scored a game-high 28 points (including 20 in the first half) against ESU as the Raider defense held the league's highest-scoring team more than 12 points below its season average in a 75-57 home loss on Wednesday. In both meetings this season with East Stroudsburg, SU committed 15 turnovers – which ties the fewest allowed by the Warriors in a game this season. The Raiders were outscored significantly in bench points in a 74-60 loss at West Chester on Saturday. Freshman
Abe Massaley and
Lococo led all players in scoring 20 and 18 points, respectively.
Slippery Rock
The Rock, who will be making their fourth consecutive trip to the PSAC postseason tournament, need to win two of their last three regular-season games to assure themselves of a host role for their first playoff game. Sr. C
Maurice Lewis-Briggs has scored 10 or more points in each of the last 14 games and 21 of 25 Rock games this winter. Sr. F
Tabari Perry has recorded a team-best six double-doubles, while
Lewis-Briggs has recorded five.
West Chester
West Chester moved into second place in the PSAC with a pair of victories, to improve to 10-4 in the east. The Golden Rams honored six players in their last home games Saturday. Senior
Ryan McKeaney went 6-6 in his final home game and scored a career high 14. West Chester travels to Bloomsburg on Wednesday for a second place showdown with the Huskies.