PSAC Men's Basketball Athletes of the Week - 12
Men's Basketball: Eastern Division Athlete of the Week
 |
Ethan Ridgeway
Kutztown (Jr. / G)
West Chester, Pa. / Bayard Rustin
Ridgeway was KU's consistent leader last week, as KU defeated #9 Shippensburg by six on the road and Lock Haven at home on Saturday by 31. Ridgeway led the team with 19 ppg and 9.5 apg, while also adding 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. At SHIP, he led the charge offensively with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Saturday, he once again flirted with a triple-double. The junior notched 18 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and three steals for his team-leading sixth double-double of the season. He shot 7-of-12 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Ridgeway is three assists shy of breaking KU's single-season assist record. |
Men's Basketball: Eastern Division Freshman of the Week
 |
Amir Hinton
Lock Haven (Fr. / G)
Philadelphia, Pa. / Abington
Despite a loss at No. 10 Kutztown, Hinton was it again and scored a game-high 27 points. He was 11 of 21 from the field, hit one 3-pointer (1 of 3) and he was 4 of 5 from the free-throw line. He added four rebounds (3 Off.), an assist, a block and a steal in 34 minutes of play. Hinton is averaging 23.6 points per game this season through 20 total games and ranks No. 2 in the PSAC. |
Men's Basketball: Western Division Co-Athlete of the Week
 |
Jake Laravie
Pitt-Johnstown (Sr. / G)
Kettering, Ohio / Archbishop Alter
Game-high 19 points at Gannon on 02/01/17 --Career-high 33 points vs. Edinboro on 02/04/14 --Broke Pitt-Johnstown school records with 11 3-pointers and 10 assists without a turnover vs. Edinboro --shot 11-14 from field and 11-13 from 3-point range vs. Edinboro |
Men's Basketball: Western Division Co-Athlete of the Week
 |
Noah Davis
Seton Hill (Sr. / F)
Bellwood, Pa. / Bellwood-Antis
Davis averaged 24.5 points per game as SHU went 2-0 on the week. He scored 26 points in the win over Clarion and added 23 points in the come from behind win over Gannon. Davis shot 17-26 from the floor and added 10 rebounds. |
Men's Basketball: Western Division Freshman of the Week
 |
Nathan Davis
Seton Hill (Fr. / G)
Bellwood, Pa. / Bellwood-Antis
Davis helped the Griffins to a 2-0 week by averaging 16.5 points per game. He scored a game high 28 points in the Griffins come from behind win over Gannon. Davis scored 20 points in the second half vs Gannon on 7-10 shooting from the floor as SHU overcame a 17 point halftime deficit. |
TEAM NOTES
Bloomsburg: Bloomsburg went 1-1 during the week the remain in fourth place in the PSAC Eastern Division with a 12-9 overall record and an 8-9 mark in league play. The Huskies completed a season sweep of West Chester on Wednesday with an 83-73 win over the Golden Rams. Christian Mortellite scored 30 points, which included five three-pointers and a perfect 11-of-11 outing at the free throw line. His fifth three-pointer of the game gave him 83 for the season which broke the single-season school-record of 82 set by Jay DeShields during the 2001-02 season. Yammer Greenly added 23 points – the fourth time this season that both Mortellite and Greenly have scored at least 20 points in the same game. Carnell McGirt had 12 points and eight rebounds and Kyle-Michael Rose chipped in with 10. On Saturday, Mortellite was held to 11 points as the Huskies dropped an 84-59 decision to Shippensburg. McGirt led the Huskies with 18 points. Mortellite is third in the PSAC in scoring (23.0) and leads the conference in threes-per-game (4.05). He has hit double figures in 57 of his last 59 games. Greenly, meanwhile, scored 12 points on Saturday and has reached double figures in all 12 of his games this season.
Gannon: Gannon split a pair of games last week, defeating Pitt-Johnstown (71-70) and falling at Seton Hill (71-65) … after UPJ took a 70-69 lead during the first game of the week, Gannon immediately pushed the ball after the made basket … freshman Jimmy Berger drove to the top of the key where he made a pass to junior Damon Miraud on the right side of the paint, who in turn redirected the pass to sophomore Evan Phoenix for a game-winning lay-in on the left side with nine seconds left … Miraud recorded his third double-double, turning in 13 points and 14 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes … Gannon clinched its sixth PSAC Tournament spot in the last nine years with its victory against Pitt-Johnstown … sophomore Joe Fustine had reached double-digits in playing minutes only twice this season, before logging 25 minutes against UPJ and scoring a career-high 12 points … Fustine’s playing time was seven more minutes than his previous career-high … Berger dished out at least eight assists for the eighth time this season … The Golden Knights produced more bench points against UPJ than during their last six games combined … Gannon improved to 48-14 in home games following a home loss during the last 17 seasons … the Golden Knights dished out at least 20 assists for the 10th time … Gannon won for the fifth time in seven games this season when trailing at halftime … Miraud recorded his second consecutive double-double and fourth of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds at Seton Hill … junior Zay Jackson has reached double digits in scoring during 20 straight games while senior Matthew Dogan has done so in 18 consecutive contests … in contrast to its five victories when trailing at halftime this season, Gannon has lost three contests when leading at halftime.
Kutztown: No. 10 Kutztown (18-2, 14-2 PSAC) extended its winning streak to 10 – its longest streak since 2011 – and clinched a spot in the PSAC Tournament for a fourth straight year with two wins last week. The week began with their biggest victory of the year on Wednesday, Feb. 1, as the Golden Bears took down No. 9 Shippensburg 81-75 in the first top-10 meeting in either program’s history. Ethan Ridgeway led the charge offensively with 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to move into second in KU’s single-season history with 157 assists and fourth all-time with 362. Dan Cuevas added 18 points (8-for-11 FG) and eight rebounds. The Maroon and Gold then took down Lock Haven 100-69 to make it ten in a row on Saturday. Josh Johnson registered 20 points and a career-14 rebounds as he moved into fourth place in program history with 1,544 career points. Once again, Ridgeway neared a triple-double with 18 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and three steals. KU shot 25-of-26 from the free throw line as a team, its highest percentage in a game since going a perfect 13-for-13 at Mansfield on Jan. 25, 2012. The Golden Bears look to extend its win streak to 11, which would be its longest since beginning the 2009-10 season 14-0, at home on Wednesday, Feb. 8 against Mansfield.
Lock Haven: The LHU men’s basketball team heads into a busy week with a 10-10 overall record as the Bald Eagles look to not only push above .500, but also try and secure a playoff spot … LHU is 6-10 in PSAC action … Leading the way for Lock Haven is freshman Amir Hinton who is averaging 23.6 points per game (20 GP/19 GS) … Hinton ranks second in the PSAC in scoring and is listed among the top-10 in all of NCAA Division II men’s basketball … Last week, Lock Haven enjoyed it’s mid-week bye and only played once, a tough-loss at nationally-ranked Kutztown … This week, Lock Haven is set for a pair of road games … The Bald Eagles head to nationally-ranked Shippensburg Wednesday and are at Millersville Saturday.
Seton Hill: The Griffins went 2-0 on the week after a 79-76 home win over Clarion on Wednesday and a 71-65 win over Gannon on Saturday. SHU overcame a 17 point halftime deficit in the Gannon contest. Seton Hill scored 52 points in the second half of the game. Noah Davis led the Griffins averaging 24.5 points per game. The Davis brothers carried the Griffins in the win over Gannon. They scored 51 of the 71 total points and 41 of the 52 second half points. Nathan finished with 28 points while Noah added 23. Spencer Casson finished with 6 points, 8 rebounds and 10 blocks. The 10 blocks tie a career high. SHU is currently in sixth place in the west, a half game out of fifth place and a game and a half ahead of seventh place Cal. SHU will travel to Edinboro on Wednesday and host California on Saturday.