Men's Basketball Weekly Honors - Nov. 14
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL WEEKLY REPORT - NOV. 14 (PDF format)
CAA Men's Basketball Player of the Week
T.J. Williams, Sr., G, Northeastern (Pflugerville, Texas/Pfluggervile)
Williams scored a career-high 30 points and tied his career-high with eight assists in Northeastern’s 87-77 victory over city rival Boston University last Friday. The senior guard was 9-of-15 from the floor, made 11-of-15 at the free throw line and also contributed four rebounds and two steals. The 30 points were the most by an NU player in a season opener since Reggie Lewis scored 32 in 1986.
CAA Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week
Eli Pemberton, Fr., G, Hofstra (Middletown, Conn/Cheshire Academy)
Pemberton came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points in 25 minutes as Hofstra rallied for a 74-72 victory over Coppin State last Friday. The freshman guard tallied 13 second-half points, including consecutive 3-pointers that put the Pride ahead for good, 69-66, with 2:26 remaining. He finished 7-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc, and scored the most points by a Hofstra freshman in their first game since 2004.
CAA Men's Basketball Rookie of the Week
Grant Riller, Fr., G, College of Charleston (Ocoee, Fla./Ocoee)
Riller came off the bench to score 21 points in 24 minutes as College of Charleston defeated city rival The Citadel, 81-68. The freshman guard, who missed all of last season after suffering an ACL injury, hit 6-of-9 from the floor and was a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line in his Cougars’ debut. Riller added three rebounds and two steals in the win.
CONFERENCE NOTES:
CAA STARTS THE SEASON STRONG: It was a strong opening weekend in CAA men’s basketball as the league’s 10 teams combined for a 9-4 record. Delaware, under first-year head coach Martin Ingelsby, defeated Goldey-Beacom and Bradley to start 2-0 for the first time since 2005-06. Eight of the league’s 10 teams captured their opening contests, including Towson beating George Mason on the road and College of Charleston and Northeastern knocking off city rivals at home.
TOUGH TESTS IN WEEK AHEAD: Several CAA teams will face challenging non-conference games this week. Tonight, William & Mary visits #12 Louisville, while Northeastern travels to Connecticut. College of Charleston stays at home to face a strong field in the Charleston Classic starting on Thursday. On Sunday, Towson makes the short trip to meet #24 Maryland. Making things more difficult is that 18 of the 25 contests this week will be played on road or neutral courts. Last season, CAA teams recorded 21 victories in true road games, which was the 3rd-most among all conferences.
FRESHMEN MAKE IMMEDIATE IMPACT: The future appears to be bright based on performances from freshmen around the conference on the opening weekend. Guard Grant Riller scored 21 points in College of Charleston’s victory over The Citadel, guard Eli Pemberton poured in a team-high 20 points in Hofstra’s triumph over Coppin State, wing Justin Pierce had 17 points, six rebounds and four steals as William & Mary rolled over Bridgewater and guard Kurk Lee tallied 17 points at Monmouth and followed with 14 points and six assists at Rutgers.
HOFSTRA’S GUSTYS PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: Hofstra junior Rokas Gustys posted a double-double with 10 points and 23 rebounds in the Pride’s win over Coppin State last Friday. Last season, he grabbed 20 or more rebounds six times, which was the most by any Division I player in a season since Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried had six in 2010-11. He also became the first Division I player in six years to record back-to-back “20-20” games when he tallied a career-high 25 points and a career-best 20 rebounds vs. JMU, followed by 23 points and 20 boards at Northeastern last January. His 442 total rebounds in 2015-16 were the 2nd-most in a season in CAA history, trailing only Navy All-American David Robinson (455 in 1985-86). Gustys had 22 double-doubles last season.
College of Charleston
• Beat The Citadel 81-68 last Friday to improve to 14-2 in their last 16 openers.
• Guard Joe Chealey scored a team-high 24 points vs. The Citadel, while freshman Grant Riller added 21 points off the bench. Both players missed last season due to injuries.
• Jarrell Brantley, who was named CAA Rookie of the Year and to the All-CAA third team last season, nearly ecorded a double-double vs. The Citadel with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
• Nick Harris grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds against The Citadel.
• CofC limited The Citadel to 29.1% FG shooting. CofC ranked 8th nationally in scoring defense (62.0 ppg) last year. The Cougars held 16 of 18 CAA opponents to 65 points or less and gave up just 59.2 ppg in CAA play.
• Cameron Johnson earned All-CAA third team and All-Defensive team accolades last year. He averaged a team-high 12.3 ppg and scored double figures 22 times.
Delaware
• Off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2005-06 after wins over Goldey-Beacom and at Bradley last weekend.
• Senior Cazmon Hayes averaged 11.0 ppg and 9.5 rpg last week. He had a team-high 16 points against Goldey-Beacom and grabbed a career-high 12 boards at Bradley.
• Sophomore Eric Carter posted his first double-double vs. Goldey-Beacom with career-highs of 14 points and 15 rebounds.
• Anthony Mosley scored a team-high 16 points on 5-of-8 FG shooting and made three steals in the win at Bradley.
• Senior Devonne Pinkard chipped in 14 points in the Bradley victory.
• George Washington transfer Darian Bryant contributed 13 points off the bench in his UD debut vs. Goldey-Beacom and added 8 points and 9 rebounds at Bradley.
• UD has out-rebounded its first two opponents by 41.
Drexel
• Dropped road games at Monmouth (78-65) and Rutgers (87-66) last weekend.
• Senior forward Rodney Williams scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-17 FG shooting at Rutgers and just missed a double-double with 9 points and 10 boards at MU.
• Williams blocked three shots in each of the first two games and now has 107 career blocks, which ranks in Drexel’s top 10.
• Guard Sammy Mojica went 3-of-6 from 3-point range and contributed 13 points and 7 rebounds at Monmouth. He added 10 points and 7 boards vs. Rutgers.
• Freshman guard Kurk Lee had a team-high 17 points, five rebounds and three assists at Monmouth and followed with 14 points and six assists at Rutgers. Lee’s father played in the NBA for the New Jersey Nets.
• Kari Jonsson hit three treys and scored nine points in each game.
• Drexel lost 64 percent of its scoring and 52 percent of its rebounding from a year ago.
Elon
• Rolled past William Peace 101-68 in their season opener last Friday.
• Forward Tyler Seibring poured in a career-high 19 points and added 8 rebounds and 3 steals. He was 8-of-12 from the floor and hit 3-of-5 treys.
• Guard Dainan Swoope matched their career high with 16 points and also had four steals.
• Guard Dmitri Thompson just missed a double-double with 11 points and a team-high 9 rebounds.
• Point guard Luke Eddy scored nine points and tied a career-high with 9 assists.
• Reserve guard Sheldon Eberhardt was 3-for-3 from 3-point range and tallied 11 points in 16 minutes.
• Elon, which averaged a CAA-best 9.5 threes per game last season, hit 10 treys against William Peace.
• Elon reached the 100-point mark for the first time since Dec. 2015.
Hofstra
• Rallied past Coppin State 74-72 last Friday to improve to 3-1 in season openers under Coach Joe Mihalich.
• Junior Rokas Gustys posted a double-double with 10 points and a career-high tying 23 rebounds vs. CSU. It was his 7th career game with 20+ rebounds. Gustys had a league-high 22 double-doubles last season.
• Freshman Eli Pemberton came off the bench to score a team-high 20 points in 25 minutes vs. CSU. He was 7-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
• Deron Powers, a transfer from Hampton, contributed 12 points and a team-high five assists in his Pride debut against CSU.
• Sophomore Justin Wright-Foreman scored nine points in only 14 minutes vs. CSU.
• Hofstra drained 11 three-pointers against CSU.
• Hofstra’s 24 victories last season were the most for the program since 2005-06.
James Madison
• Suffered losses at Old Dominion (62-55) and to Rice (94-70) last weekend.
• Point guard Joey McLean scored a career-high 20 points vs. Rice and had 10 points at ODU. McLean was 8-of-13 from the floor and 11-of-12 at the FT line over the two games.
• Shakir Brown poured in a team-high 16 points at ODU and chipped in 10 points vs. Rice. He made a pair of 3-pointers in each game.
• Jackson Kent grabbed a team-high nine rebounds at ODU and scored nine points vs. Rice.
• JMU committed 25 turnovers against Rice and 16 turnovers at ODU.
• Paulius Satkus had 8 points on 4-of-5 FG shooting against Rice.
• JMU led the nation in 3-pt FG percentage defense (29.0%) last season and topped the CAA in FG percentage defense (39.6%).
UNCW
• Cruised past Claflin 110-64 in their opener last Friday. The 110 points was tied for the 3rd-most in school history. All five UNCW starters scored in double digits.
• CAA Preseason POY Chris Flemmings scored a team-high 28 points in 21 minutes vs. Claflin. He was 8-of-12 from the floor, hit three treys and also made four steals.
• C.J. Bryce contributed 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. He made the CAA All-Rookie team in 2015-16.
• Transfer Ambrose Mosley hit 4-of-6 treys and scored 16 points in his UNCW debut.
• Devontae Cacok posted a double-double with 14 points and a career-high 16 boards.
• Guard Denzel Ingram just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine assists.
• Kevin Keatts has earned CAA Coach of the Year honors in each of his first two seasons. He’s the only person to ever receive the award in back-to-back years.
Northeastern
• Defeated rival Boston University 87-77 in their home opener last Friday. It was NU’s third straight season-opening win.
• Senior T.J. Williams poured in a career-high 30 points and tied a career high with eight assists vs. BU. The 30 points were the most by an NU player in a season opener since Reggie Lewis scored 32 in 1986.
• Graduate transfer Alex Murphy scored 20 points on 7-of-10 FG shooting in his NU debut. He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
• Guard Donnell Greshman was 2-for-2 from 3-point range and added 12 points vs. BU.
• Northeastern, which made 10 or more 3-pointers in 16 games last season and shot a CAA-best 37.1% from 3-point range, was 10-of-21 from beyond the arc against BU.
• Northeastern is the only team to have reached at least the semifinals of the past four CAA Tournaments. The Huskies captured their first CAA title in 2015.
Towson
• Earned a 67-61 road victory at George Mason last Saturday.
• William Adala Moto poured in a team-high 22 points, with 16 coming in the second half. His 3-pointer with 7:19 left put Towson ahead to stay.
• Mike Morsell tallied 21 points and a team-high nine rebounds at Mason. It was his 34th career game in double figures and his fourth game with 20+ points.
• Towson, which led the CAA and ranked nationally in rebound margin last season, beat Mason 39-32 on the glass. The Tigers have outrebounded 20 straight opponents.
• Cincinnati transfer guard Deshaun Morman scored eight points in his Towson debut.
• The victory was Towson’s first in a season opener since 2013-14.
William & Mary
• Cruised past Bridgewater 96-44 last Saturday as five players tallied double figures.
• Freshman Justin Pierce scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-9 FG shooting vs. BC. He also had 6 rebounds and 4 steals in 18 min.
• Daniel Dixon hit 3-of-5 threes and scored 11 points against BC. He ranks 7th on W&M’s career treys list with 171.
• All-CAA wing Omar Prewitt contributed 14 points, four rebounds and three steals in 19 minutes vs. BC.
• William & Mary set a program record with 22 steals vs. BC. The Tribe forced 25 turnovers and converted them into 36 points.
• W&M shot 53.6% from the floor, made 10 three-pointers and shot 80% from the free throw line in the victory.
• The Tribe visits #12 Louisville on Monday and plays at #1 Duke on Nov. 23.