Feb. 28, 2011

Center Valley, Pa. - After averaging 29.0 points in two games last week, American senior forward Vlad Moldoveanu joined elite company by tying the Patriot League record with his eighth-career Anaconda Player of the Week award on Monday.

Moldoveanu won the award for the fifth time this season, tying for the second-most in League history. He becomes the fourth Patriot Leaguer to win eight Player of the Week awards in a career, joining Colgate's Adonal Foyle (1994-97), Lafayette's Brian Ehlers (1996-00) and American's Garrison Carr (2005-09).

The final Patriot League/Anaconda Rookie of the Week award went to Lehigh guard Mackey McKnight, who averaged 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in two games.

All-Patriot League honors were announced earlier on Monday, with the full release for Wednesday's quarterfinal games set to come out on Tuesday.

Patriot League Anaconda Players of the Week (Feb. 21-27)

Anaconda Player of the Week
VLAD MOLDOVEANU, AMERICAN Sr., F, 6-9, 215, Bucharest, Romania/St. John's College
Moldoveanu ties the Patriot League record with his eighth-career Anaconda Player of the Week honor, winning the final award of his two years at American after averaging 29.0 points in the Eagles' wins over Navy and Lafayette last week. He had 28 points and nine rebounds while shooting 7-of-13 from the field and 10-of-11 at the foul line in the 69-58 win over the Mids on Wednesday, then tallied 30 points and eight rebonds with a 10-of-21 clip from the field and 8-of-10 at the foul line as the Eagles beat Lafayette, 95-92, in double overtime on Saturday. The two performances give him 16 games of 20 points or more this season, and the outing against Lafayette was his fourth 30-point effort. Moldoveanu averaged 29.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists for the week while shooting 50 percent from the field (17-of-34) and 85.7 percent at the foul line (18-of-21). Moldoveanu won five Player of the Week awards in 2010-11, which combined with his three honors last year gives him eight to tie the Patriot League record also held by Colgate's Adonal Foyle (1994-97), Lafayette's Brian Ehlers (1996-00) and American's Garrison Carr (2005-09). The five weekly honors tie Carr's mark from 2008-09 for the second-most in a single season in League history, behind only the six of Lehigh sophomore C.J. McCollum this year. Moldoveanu also received his second consecutive first-team All-Patriot League honor on Monday.

Anaconda Rookie of the Week
MACKEY McKNIGHT, LEHIGH Fr., G, 6-0, 170, Houston, Texas/Langham Creek
McKnight earns his third Patriot League/Anaconda Rookie of the Week award after finishing the regular season of his freshman campaign with two strong efforts in defeat for the Mountain Hawks. He had 12 points, six rebounds and two assists in a 72-55 loss at Bucknell on Wednesday, and finished with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists in Saturday's 89-76 loss at Holy Cross. McKnight made 9-of-20 shots in the two games while averaging 13.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest. McKnight earned a spot on the Patriot League All-Rookie Team on Monday and is third in the Patriot League with 3.9 assists per game while ranking among the leaders nationally in assist/turnover ratio.

Honorable Mention

ANDREW KEISTER, HOLY CROSS Sr., C, 6-9, 235, Galloway, N.J./Absegami
Keister recorded two more double-doubles in Holy Cross victories, with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Colgate Wednesday and 20 points with 16 rebounds versus Lehigh Saturday. He has seven straight double-doubles and 29 for his career entering the Patriot League Tournament, and is up to fifth in League history in career rebounding.

TONY JOHNSON, LAFAYETTE So., G, 6-0, 170, Folsom, Calif./Folsom
Johnson averaged 19.0 points and 6.5 assists in Lafayette's two games last week, with a career-high 29 points in a double-overtime loss to American on Saturday.

JORDAN SUGARS, NAVY Jr., G, 6-4, 216, Winchester, Va./Millbrook
Sugars went over the 1,000-point mark in the final game of his junior season, scoring 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting in Navy's 75-55 win over Colgate on Saturday. Sugars is up to 1,004 points for his career.

BRYAN COHEN, BUCKNELL Jr., 6-5, 200, Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Abington Friends
Named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season on Monday, Cohen showed off his overall game by averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in Bucknell's wins over Lehigh and Army.