Northeastern's T.J. Williams
Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Jan. 5
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY REPORT - JAN. 5 (PDF format)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
T.J. Williams • Northeastern
So., G, 6-3, 201 - Pflugerville, Texas/Pflugerville
Williams averaged 16.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in Northeastern’s two road victories last week. The sophomore guard scored 15 of his career-high 20 points in the second half of a 58-57 triumph at Richmond, including a game-winning trey with 18 seconds left. He also had six rebounds and six assists vs. the Spiders. Williams followed with 12 points, five boards and four assists as the Huskies defeated Delaware 72-53 in their CAA opener. For the week, Williams shot 52.4% from the floor, including 7-of-9 from beyond the arc.
PLAYER AND ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Elijah Bryant • Elon
Fr., G, 6-4, 225 - Gwinnett, Ga./New Hampton School
In Elon’s inaugural CAA game, Bryant poured in a career-high 32 points and grabbed a season-best seven rebounds as the Phoenix posted a 77-67 road victory over Drexel on Saturday. It was the most points by an Elon player since 2012 and was Bryant’s third game with 20+ points this season. He finished 10-of-20 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three, and made 9-of-10 at the free throw line. He leads all CAA freshmen in scoring with 13.9 ppg.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
BUSY STRETCH OF CONFERENCE PLAY CONTINUES: Conference play in the CAA resumes on Monday night with all 10 squads in action. For the first time since 2004-05, teams will play a double round-robin 18-game slate where all schools meet each other at home and on the road. The schedule gets off to a busy start with four conference games over an eight-day stretch between January 3-10.
ROAD TEAMS GO 3-2 IN CAA OPENERS: Away teams won three of the five conference openers on Saturday afternoon. Elon, which was playing its inaugural CAA contest, Hofstra and Northeastern all picked up victories on the road, while James Madison and William & Mary came out on top at home. Last season, home teams went 44-28 (61.1%) in conference play.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: There are only seven seniors among the CAA’s top 30 in scoring, five seniors among the league’s top 20 in rebounding and two seniors among the top 15 in assists. Through games of Jan. 4, there were 11 sophomores, 10 juniors and two freshmen on the list of top 30 scorers, while there were 10 juniors and five sophomores on the list of top 20 rebounders.
FRESHMEN MAKING AN IMPACT: Freshmen are making a big impact for several CAA teams this season. Four freshmen have topped the 20-point mark in a game over the past two weeks. Elon guard Elijah Bryant poured in a career-high 32 points at Drexel last Saturday and also had 25 points in a win at Kennesaw State on Dec. 22. Delaware guard Kory Holden tallied a career-best 27 points in a victory over St. Bonaventure last Tuesday. On Dec. 22, Towson guard Byron Hawkins contributed a career-high 23 points at Navy and Delaware guard Chivarsky Corbett netted a career-best 21 points at Robert Morris. Hofstra forward Rokas Gustys grabbed 10 rebounds at UNCW last Saturday. Gustys has been limited to seven games due to injury, but has had 10 or more caroms in four of them.
CAA TEAMS AMONG TOP 25 IN NATIONAL STATS: Several CAA teams ranked among the top 25 nationally in various statistical categories through games of Jan. 4. Hofstra is 12th in Division I in 3-point FG percentage (40.4%), 11th in 3-pointers per game (9.4 pg) and 17th in scoring offense (80.4 ppg). Northeastern is 11th in free throw percentage (75.7%). Towson ranks 10th in rebound margin (+10.1 rpg).
MCGLYNN LEADS NATION IN FT PERCENTAGE: Towson junior guard Four McGlynn was 8-for-8 at the free throw line against Fairleigh Dickinson last Monday, continuing his near-perfect accuracy. For the season, he is an incredible 66-of-69 (95.7%) at the charity stripe, which currently leads the nation. Last season, McGlynn led the CAA and ranked sixth nationally in free throw percentage at 91.3%.
DREXEL’S LEE RANKED 9TH NATIONALLY IN SCORING: Drexel junior guard Damion Lee is ranked 9th nationally in scoring with 20.5 ppg. He had a team-high 29 points against Elon last Saturday, which was his sixth 20+-point effort of the season. Hofstra’s Ameen Tanskley is 32nd in scoring (19.1 ppg) and W&M’s Marcus Thornton is 38th (18.8 ppg).
HOFSTRA’S 3-POINT THREATS: Hofstra features two of the nation’s top three-point threats this season. Junior Ameen Tanksley is shooting 48.7% from beyond the arc, which ranks 10th in Division I, while sophomore Brian Bernardi is 18th nationally with 3.14 treys per game and 13th in 3-point percentage (48.4%). Feeding them the ball is junior Juan’ya Green, who is 12th in Division I in assists (6.4 apg) and 15th in assist/turnover ratio. Green is the only player in the nation to be averaging at least 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per contest.
For more CAA news and notes, click on the PDF link above for the entire weekly release or check out the
Men's Basketball Notebook on our Hoop Scoop blog.