Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Nov. 16
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY REPORT - NOV. 16 (PDF format)
CAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week: Shakir Brown, Jr., G/F, James Madison – In his JMU debut, Brown came off the bench to contribute a team-high 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in James Madison’s 87-75 road victory over Richmond. The junior wing went 6-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range, and also had two assists and two steals in 30 minutes.
CAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week: David Walker, Sr., G, Northeastern – Walker poured in a career-high 27 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Northeastern to an 87-84 overtime road win over rival Boston University. The senior guard came up big down the stretch, scoring the Huskies’ first seven points in the overtime period. Walker finished 10-of-14 from the floor, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, and also made two steals.
CAA Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week: Terrell Allen, Fr., G, Drexel – In his collegiate debut, Allen scored 18 points on 7-of-13 FG shooting in Drexel’s narrow 82-81 setback at Saint Joseph’s last Friday. The freshman guard also led the Dragons with four assists and four steals in 36 minutes of action.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
W&M NAMED TEAM OF THE WEEK BY ESPN: William & Mary was honored as the Team of the Week by ESPN.com’s Andy Katz on Monday after its season-opening 85-68 victory at N.C. State last Friday. The Tribe shot 51.7% from the floor and got double-digit scoring efforts from junior Daniel Dixon (19 points), junior Omar Prewitt (17 points) and senior Terry Tarpey (11 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals). Tribe head coach Tony Shaver was also named Coach of the Week by ESPN analyst Dick Vitale.
GREAT OPENING WEEKEND: It was a great opening weekend for CAA men’s basketball as the league’s 10 teams combined for an 8-2 mark. Five of those eight victories came on the road, including William & Mary rolling past ACC foe N.C. State, 85-68, James Madison topping Richmond, 87-75, and Elon defeating Charlotte, 85-74. Northeastern edged local rival Boston University, 87-84 in overtime, while Delaware won in-state bragging rights over Delaware State, 62-56. The CAA was a perfect 3-0 at home with Hofstra rallying past Canisius, 96-85, College of Charleston downing South Carolina State, 74-54, and UNCW beating Milligan, 100-62. Drexel and Towson suffered narrow road losses to Saint Joseph’s and La Salle by a combined three points.
OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS: There were numerous outstanding individual efforts turned in by CAA players last week. College of Charleston junior guard Canyon Barry scored a career-high 31 points in the Cougars’ victory over SCSU. Towson junior forward Arnaud William Adala Moto poured in a game-high 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his Tigers’ debut at La Salle. Northeastern senior guard David Walker tallied a career-high 27 points in the Huskies’ overtime win at Boston University. Hofstra junior guard Brian Bernardi tied his career high with 26 points and set a school record by going 8-of-11 from 3-point range as the Pride beat Canisius. Elon sophomore guard Dmitri Thompson scored a career-high 22 points on 9-of-12 FG shooting and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in a victory at Charlotte. UNCW senior guard Craig Ponder matched his career high with 26 points in a win over Milligan. JMU junior wing Shakir Brown posted a double-double with team highs of 20 points and 12 rebounds in a road victory at Richmond. Drexel senior Tavon Allen came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points in 24 minutes at Saint Joseph’s.
NEWCOMERS MAKE BIG IMPACT: Along with the efforts by transfers Arnaud William Adala Moto (Wake Forest) of Towson and Shakir Brown of James Madison noted above, several other transfers had impressive debuts. Hofstra’s Denton Koon (Princeton) had 14 points vs. Canisius. UNCW’s Chris Flemmings (Barton) had 10 points, six rebounds and five asssists vs. Milligan. Drexel’s Ahmad Fields (Utah) had nine points and five rebounds at Saint Joseph’s. W&M’s David Cohn (Colorado State) contributed nine points, seven rebounds and five assists at N.C. State.
TOURNAMENT TIME: Several CAA teams compete in tournaments this week. Elon faces #24 Michigan on Monday night and Syracuse on Saturday night as part of the Battle 4 Atlantic Mainland Tournament. Towson faces Oklahoma State on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the Charleston Classic, while Hofstra takes on Florida State on Friday in the opening round of the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands. Northeastern will play three games at Miami (Ohio) as part of the Men Against Breast Cancer Challenge, while James Madison will host four games in another bracket of the Men Against Breast Cancer Challenge.
College of Charleston
• Defeated South Carolina State 74-54 last Friday. It was CofC’s second straight season-opening win under coach Earl Grant.
• Junior Canyon Barry poured in a career-high 31 points vs. SCSU. It was just the second 30+-point effort by a CofC player since the 2012 season. He was 9-of-16 from the floor, hit four 3’s and was 9-10 at the line.
• Sophomore Cameron Johnson also posted a career-high with 18 points vs. SCSU. He was 5-of-10 from the floor and made three treys. He also grabbed five rebounds.
• Freshman Jarrell Brantley had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds in his collegiate debut against SCSU.
• CofC’s defense limited SCSU to 32.1% FG shooting, including 3-of-18 from three. The Cougars also had a 44-32 rebounding edge.
• Junior guard Joe Chealey, a two-year starter who averaged 12.4 ppg last season, is out for the season after suffering an injury in October.
Delaware
• Posted a 62-56 road victory at in-state rival Delaware State last Friday. It was UD’s first season-opening win in 10 years.
• Senior forward Marvin King-Davis recorded his fourth career double-double with a team-high 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds at DSU.
• Junior Cazmon Hayes, who had 20 double-digit games last season, tallied 12 points and eight rebounds in the opener at DSU.
• Guard Chivarsky Corbett, who made the CAA All-Rookie team last season, added 12 points and grabbed seven caroms.
• Devonne Pinkard hit 3-of-6 treys and chipped in 10 points and six rebounds off the bench at Delaware State.
• Delaware limited DSU to 28.1% FG shooting in the 2nd half, including 1-of-11 from three, as the Hens rallied from a 13-point deficit.
• The Blue Hens had a commanding 44-29 rebounding advantage against DSU.
Drexel
• Battled back from a 16-point first-half deficit before dropping an 82-81 decision at Saint Joseph’s last Friday.
• Senior guard Tavon Allen scored a team-high 20 points in 24 minutes off the bench. He tallied 16 points in the second half.
• Freshman guard Terrell Allen had an impressive collegiate debut with 18 points on 7-of-13 FG shooting. He also led the Dragons with four assists and four steals.
• Utah transfer guard Ahmad Fields contributed nine points and five rebounds in 18 minutes in his first game at Drexel.
• Forward Kazembe Abif returned to action for the first time in nearly 18 months and had eight points and seven rebounds.
• The Dragons made 18-of-28 at the free throw line at SJU, but hit only 2-of-7 in the second half.
• Drexel has finished .500 or better in CAA play for seven straight seasons, which is the longest streak in the conference.
Elon
• Rolled past Charlotte 85-74 last Friday. It was Elon’s first season-opening road victory since 2009-10.
• Sophomore guard Dmitri Thompson scored a career-high 21 points in just 22 minutes on 9-of-12 FG shooting at Charlotte. He also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
• Senior guard Tanner Samson, who tallied double figures 21 times last season, contributed 12 points in the opener at Charlotte.
• Junior point guard Luke Eddy, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last December, had five points, six rebounds and a game-high eight assists in his return at Charlotte.
• Freshman forward Tyler Seibring earned a start in his collegiate debut and scored 11 points on 5-of-6 FG shooting.
• Freshman guard Dainan Swoope hit 3-of-6 threes and added 11 points off the bench.
• Elon shot 57.6% from the floor, including 7-of-12 from three, and scored 53 points in the first half at Charlotte.
Hofstra
• Rallied from an 11-point 2nd-half deficit to beat Canisius 96-85. It was the most points in an opener against a D-I foe since 1994.
• Junior guard Brian Bernardi tied a career-high with 26 points on 8-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. The eight treys set a Hofstra single-game record.
• Juan’ya Green, the CAA Preseason Player of the Year, posted a double-double vs. Canisius with 16 points and 11 assists. It was his 9th double-double in 35 games at HU.
• Forward Denton Koon, a transfer from Princeton, scored 14 points in his HU debut.
• Senior Malik Nichols contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists in only 21 minutes off the bench.
• Sophomore Rokas Gustys also posted a double-double with 13 points on 6-of-7 FG shooting and 10 rebounds.
• Hofstra shot 53.8% from the floor, including 11-of-28 from three, in the Canisius win.
James Madison
• Went on a 15-3 run over the final 3:39 to win 87-75 at Richmond. It was JMU’s first season-opening victory since 2011-12.
• Junior wing Shakir Brown came off the bench to score a team-best 20 points and grab a game-high 12 rebounds in his JMU debut. Had 14 points in the second half.
• Senior guard Ron Curry, a preseason 1st team All-CAA selection, scored 19 points and dished out a team-high 8 assists at UR.
• Junior Tom Vodanovich added 15 points on 6-of-7 FG shooting, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
• JMU shot 50.8% from the floor and was 11-of-24 from 3 at UR. It was the most points scored against UR at home since 2006-07.
• JMU outrebounded UR 40-23 and scored 22 second-chance points on 16 offensive boards.
• Junior Yohanny Dalembert, a preseason All-CAA 2nd team selection, will miss the first 2-4 weeks with a knee injury.
UNCW
• Cruised past Milligan 100-62 in their home opener. UNCW had five players score double digits for the first time since Nov., 2014.
• Senior guard Craig Ponder matched a career high with 26 points, 20 of which came in the first half. He was 8-of-12 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
• Freshman forward Devontae Cacok came off the bench to score 13 points in 21 minutes on 5-of-8 FG shooting.
• Freshman guard C.J. Bryce had a strong all-around collegiate debut with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals.
• Barton transfer Chris Flemmings contributed 10 points, 6 rebounds, a team-high 5 assists and 4 steals in his first UNCW game.
• Junior Chuck Ogbodo tied a school record with six blocked shots against Milligan. He added eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Northeastern
• Pulled out an 87-84 overtime victory at rival Boston University. NU improved to 5-1 in its last six season openers against the Terriers.
• Senior guard David Walker scored a career-high 27 points on 10-of-14 FG shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3. He had NU’s first seven points in OT and also had 7 rebounds.
• Senior Zach Stahl tallied 15 of his 17 points in the first half. He also contributed six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Senior Quincy Ford added 13 points and moved into 22nd place on NU’s all-time scoring list with 1,153 career points.
• Senior sharpshooter Caleb Donnelly hit the game-winning 3-pointer at BU with 16 seconds left in OT. He finished with 9 points.
• Freshman Jeremy Miller, a 6-foot-10 forward, came off the bench and nailed a pair of three-pointers in his first collegiate game.
Towson
• Suffered a narrow 78-76 defeat at La Salle. Took a 71-70 lead with 4:22 remaining.
• Junior forward Arnaud William Adala Moto, a transfer from Wake Forest, scored a game-high 28 points with 9 rebounds in his Towson debut. It was the most points ever scored by a TU player in a season opener.
• Sophomore guard Byron Hawkins drained 4-of-6 from 3-point range and finished with 13 points, 4 assists and no turnovers.
• Junior Walter Foster grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds, including five offensively.
• All-CAA forward John Davis, who has been battling a leg injury during the preseason, chipped in nine points and eight rebounds in only 16 minutes off the bench.
• Towson, which ranked 3rd nationally in rebound margin (+8.7 rpg) last year, out-rebounded La Salle 45-32.
William & Mary
• Earned an 85-68 victory at ACC foe N.C. State, which advanced to the Sweet 16 last year and was receiving votes in the Top 25.
• Senior Terry Tarpey had a great all-around game with 11 points, a team-high 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals at NCSU.
• Junior Daniel Dixon nailed 4-of-9 threes and scored a team-high 19 points. Dixon ranked 5th in Div. I in 3-pt FG% (45.1%) last season.
• Junior All-CAA guard Omar Prewitt contributed 17 points and six rebounds at NCSU.
• Guard David Cohn, a transfer from Colorado State, had nine points, seven rebounds and a team-high five assists in his W&M debut.
• W&M shot 51.7% from the floor and made nine treys against the Wolfpack.
• The Tribe used an early 17-2 run to break the game open and led by as many as 23 points in the second half.