Dec. 20, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. - Lehigh sophomore guard C.J. McCollum made Patriot League history on Monday by becoming just the second student-athlete in League annals to receive four consecutive Player of the Week awards.

Patriot League Men's Basketball Release - 12.20.10

Patriot League Anaconda Players of the Week (Dec. 13-19)

Anaconda Player of the Week

C.J. McCOLLUM, LEHIGH So., G, 6-3, 180, Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak
McCollum ties a record by winning his fourth consecutive Patriot League/Anaconda Player of the Week award, becoming just the second person to pull off the feat and first to do it without sharing any honors. McCollum joins Bucknell's Patrick King, who won four straight player of the week awards in the 1991-92 season, in the exclusive group. McCollum is just the 13th in League history to earn four Player of the Week awards in a season, with just American's Garrison Carr with more than four from that group when he won five in the 2008-09 campaign. The latest honor comes after a light week where Lehigh played just one game. McCollum played a key role in the 79-61 win over St. Francis (Pa.) by scoring 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting and pulling down eight rebounds with three steals and three assists. It was the seventh 20-point game of the season for the sophomore, who leads the Patriot League and is 12th in the country with 22.5 points per contest. He also ranks 20th in the nation while leading the Patriot League with 2.5 steals per game, and is second in the League with 7.7 rebounds per contest. McCollum is already just 121 points away from 1,000 for his career. In addition to becoming the second student-athlete in League history to win four straight Player of the Week awards, McCollum moves into second all-time with 13 career honors (nine Rookie, four Player) in just 22 awardings in his collegiate career. Only Bucknell's Kevin Bettencourt (2002-06), who earned seven player of the week awards and nine rookie of the week honors in his career, has more with 16.

Anaconda Rookie of the Week

CAMERON AYERS, BUCKNELL Fr., G, 6-5, 200, Blue Bell, Pa./Germantown Academy
Ayers claims the Patriot League/Anaconda Rookie of the Week award for the second time in the last three awardings after helping the Bison to an 89-77 win at La Salle on Friday. Ayers made 6-of-9 shots, with 1-of-2 from three-point range, while pulling down four rebounds as the Bison beat an Explorer team that came in at 6-4 overall with three losses against teams ranked in the top 15. Ayers scored nine points while making all four of his shots in the second half to help the Bison pull away. He matches Navy's J.J. Avila with two Rookie of the Week awards this season.

Honorable Mention

BRYAN COHEN, BUCKNELL Jr., G, 6-5, 199, Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Abington Friends
Cohen scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and limited La Salle's top scorer to a 4-for-13 night from the field as the Bison won 89-77 on the road on Friday.

TROY BREWER, AMERICAN Jr., G, 6-5 175, Gaithersburg, Md./Montrose Christian
Brewer averaged 14.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in two games last week, including an 18-point, seven-rebound night in a 66-53 win at UMBC on Tuesday.

ANDREW KEISTER, HOLY CROSS Sr., C, 6-9, 235, Galloway, N.J./Absegami
Keister had 16 points and seven rebounds as Holy Cross earned its first win of the year with a 75-57 victory at Marist Sunday.

Patriot League Notebook

Every Team Takes the Court Before the Holiday
Final exams are over and Chrismas is less than a week away, but Patriot League men's basketball teams have no time to rest as each squad plays at least once before the holiday break.

Bucknell and American each have road games coming up on Monday and Wednesday. The Bison head to Cornell on Monday and Boston College on Wednesday looking to build on their three-game winning streak, while the Eagles go to Mount St. Mary's on Monday and No. 6 Pittsburgh on Wednesday as they continue an eight-game road trip.

Bucknell comes off perhaps the most impressive victory for a Patriot League team this season, as the Bison won by 12 points at La Salle on Friday. American won at UMBC and lost at Northwestern last week, and maintains the top record among Patriot League teams at 6-4.

Army will be the only team in action on Tuesday as the Black Knights continue their seven-game stint away from West Point with a trip to Brown. Army has dropped five of its last six games, including a 91-85 loss at Long Island on Saturday.

The busiest night of action is on Wednesday, with Colgate hosting Albany, Navy welcoming Elon, Lafayette at Rhode Island and Holy Cross at Hofstra in addition to the games for American and Bucknell.

Holy Cross and Colgate each went for their first victory of the season on Sunday, and the Crusaders delivered with a 75-57 triumph at Marist. Colgate fell at Maine, but has a chance to get in the win column in its final home game before Patriot League play begins.

Lafayette and Navy are both concluding extended breaks for final exams with their first contest since last weekend. The Leopards are playing the second of a four-game road trip, while the Mids are concluding non-League play with a five-game homestand that also includes the Patriot League opener against Bucknell on Jan. 8.

Lehigh will play the final game before Christmas when it heads out west to take on USC on Thursday. The Mountain Hawks will be trying to build on a two-game win streak that included a 79-61 victory over St. Francis (Pa.) last Monday.

That contest will mark the last action for Patriot League teams until Dec. 28 when Bucknell and Holy Cross return from the holiday break.

Big Win for the Bison
Bucknell recorded perhaps the most impressive win for a Patriot League team on Friday, as the Bison went to Philadelphia and won 89-77 at a La Salle team that came in at 6-4 overall with three losses to teams ranked in the top 13 nationally and a three-point loss to then-No. 12 Villanova in its previous contest. It was Bucknell's first-ever win against La Salle in Philadelphia, and one of the best performances under third-year Head Coach Dave Paulsen. The 89 points were the most in a road game with Paulsen at the helm and top scoring output in a regulation road game since the 2004-05 season.

You Can Go Home Again
Two of Bucknell's top performers on Friday were making a homecoming of sorts, as junior Bryan Cohen and freshman Cameron Ayers each hail from just outside Philadelphia. Cohen scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting and helped limit La Salle senior Ruben Guillandeaux to a 4-for-13 shooting night from the field. Ayers was named Patriot League/Anaconda Rookie of the Week for scoring 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the victory.

Shazier Distributes But Doesn't Give it Away
Bucknell senior point guard Darryl Shazier is having one of the best seasons at his position in the country. He leads the Patriot League and places 35th nationally with 5.5 assists per contest, while also pacing the Patriot League and moving up all the way to third in the nation with a 4.29 assist/turnover ratio. Shazier had 10 points and six assists without a turnover in the victory over La Salle on Friday, and those type of numbers are becoming common of late. He has recorded five assists or more without a turnover in five of Bucknell's past nine games, and has an amazing 6.63 assist/turnover ratio in those contests with totals of 53 assists and eight turnovers.

Revenge Tour Continues for Eagles
American cruised to a 66-53 win at UMBC on Tuesday, getting payback for a home loss in the matchup last year. Of course, beating a team they lost to in 2009-10 is nothing new for the Eagles. Five of American's six victories have come against opponents it lost to last season, with three of those on the road at Albany and Florida Atlantic as well as UMBC. The Eagles can add another notch to their list on Monday, as they visit a Mount St. Mary's team that won in Washington a year ago.

1,000-Point Scorers Coming Soon?
No active Patriot League players have crossed the 1,000-point threshold, but that will likely change soon with a number of players getting ever closer to the mark. Lafayette senior Jared Mintz leads all active players with 924 points, and he's the only senior in the top five. McCollum and Holy Cross junior R.J. Evans are next with 879 points, with Colgate junior Yaw Gyawu at 831 and Lafayette junior Ryan Willen at 805. An additional nine players have 650 or more career points, and five in that group are also juniors.

More Statistical Leaders
While Mintz is approaching the Patriot League record book, the active leaders in rebounding and assists already have their name in the charts. Holy Cross senior Andrew Keister has moved up to 24th in Patriot League history with 582 career rebounds, while Bucknell's Darryl Shazier is 15th with 373 career assists. Right behind him is Navy senior O.J. Avworo, who is 23rd in League annals with 320 assists.

Long-Range Marksmen
The top two three-point percentages in Patriot League history currently belong to players who are still making their mark on the court. Lafayette junior Jim Mower entered the season as the all-time leader at 44.6 percent from long range, and he maintains the top spot all-time despite his percentage dipping slightly to 43.1 (135-of-313). Nipping at his heels is Holy Cross senior Andrew Beinert, who leads the Patriot League at 47.2 percent from downtown this season and has moved up from fourth to second all-time at 42.4 percent (146-of-344) from beyond the arc. Beinert also has the lead for three-pointers made among active Patriot League players.

Patriot League Teams Taking Tough Losses
Patriot League teams are just 8-18 in games decided by five points or less this season, accounting for more than a third of the losses in an overall non-League mark of 31-53. Colgate, Lehigh, Lafayette and Navy each have three losses by five points or less, with the Mids also owning an eight-point overtime loss to Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Common Opponents
Patriot League teams have now combined for three matchups or more against five different opponents in 2010-11, and none of those has produced a sweep in either direction. The season series with St. Francis (Pa.) is finally over, with Lehigh giving the Patriot League a 3-2 edge with a 79-61 win on Monday. The home team won every matchup, with American and Lafayette also winning and Bucknell and Colgate falling on the road. Bucknell and Army won but Colgate lost at home against Binghamton. Army defeated New Hampshire after Colgate and Holy Cross fell to the Wildcats, while Lafayette and Bucknell fell to Wagner and Lehigh beat the Seahawks. Bucknell's win over Columbia was the first for a Patriot League team after Colgate and American fell to the Lions. Two Patriot League squads have faced off against 10 different opponents. Lafayette and Army each beat NJIT while Lehigh and Holy Cross both beat Marist. Lehigh won and Holy Cross lost against Stony Brook and American won but Navy lost to Maryland-Eastern Shore. No. 8 Villanova, Princeton, Buffalo, Penn, Long Island and Dartmouth all defeated each of their Patriot League opponents, though the Patriot League will get plenty of chances against the Big Green as Bucknell, Army and Colgate will all host Dartmouth after Christmas. This week's slate includes second matchups for the League against Cornell, Mount St. Mary's, Boston College and Albany.

Patriot League Television Coverage
For the second straight year, Patriot League regular season and postseason contests will be shown nationally on CBS College Sports Network. The Patriot League and CBS College Sports Network entered into an agreement for the 2011 season that showcases 10 contests, including three Patriot League Men's Basketball Tournament games. The Patriot League Tournament coverage begins with a men's quarterfinal game on March 2 at 7 p.m. Both men's basketball semifinal contests will be shown on CBS College Sports Network on March 6, with a tip-off at 5 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. start. Seven Patriot League men's basketball contests will be broadcast by CBS College Sports Network during the regular season, with the return of the flex schedule on the final two weekends. Patriot League coverage starts on Jan. 16 when Holy Cross visits Bucknell at 2 p.m. In addition, Navy homes games against Bucknell (Jan. 8) and Army (Feb. 19) were picked up by the network. CBS College Sports Network is available through cable operators as well as on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152. The Patriot League Championship game will continue to be shown on ESPN2, and will be played on Friday, March 11 at 4:45 p.m. A total of 47 games are already scheduled for broadcast in the 2010-11 season, with the Patriot League All-Access package and each school's own streaming games providing more coverage.

Patriot League on the Web
The Patriot League continues its extensive coverage of men's basketball in the 2010-11 season. On the sidebar of the men's basketball page, links are available to the 2010-11 Patriot League media guide, releases that are updated daily during the week and preview the weekend, daily recaps, news articles from around the League and any videos produced by the Patriot League multimedia staff, including content from Patriot League Men's Basketball Media Day and the Patriot League's "Road to the Championship" series. During the holiday season, releases will be updated just once on Monday.

Team Notebooks

American The Eagles will continue their eight-game road trip with two more contests this week at Mount St. Mary's on Monday and No. 6 Pittsburgh on Wednesday...American lost to Mount St. Mary's last season, and a victory would give the Eagles six wins this year over opponents they lost to in 2009-10...The matchup with Pittsburgh will be streamed on ESPN3, and is American's second contest this year against a top 20 opponent...The Eagles lost to No. 18/16 Florida on Dec. 5 in the BB& T Classic in Washington...After eight days off from game action, American returned last week and split a pair of road games...They raced to a 19-point halftime lead and cruised to a 66-53 victory at UMBC on Tuesday evening...The Eagles received contributions from all over the court, as Troy Brewer had 18 points and seven rebounds, Stephen Lumpkins had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards and Daniel Munoz scored 10 points while making all of his field goals and foul shots and dishing out three assists without a turnover...Charles Hinkle scored eight points in his debut... American could not keep the momentum going and fell at Northwestern, 78-62, on Thursday...Vlad Moldoveanu led the way with 21 points, while Brewer scored 10 and Hinkle had nine...It was the third time in the past four games that the Eagles faced a foe from a BCS-level conference...They are in the middle of a stretch of four out of six games against BCS-level foes, concluding with the trip to Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Army Army lost for the fifth time in its last six outings, nearly coming all the way back from a 17-point deficit before falling at Long Island, 91-85, on Sunday...The Black Knights allowed 16 straight points to fall behind 70-53 with 11:54 to go in the game, but fought back to get within 87-85 with 28 seconds left...Army had the ball down by three points on its next possession, but would not score another point in the contest...Ella Ellis led four Army players in double figures with 19 points, and Jeremy Hence scored 17, Josh Herbeck had 15 and Julian Simmons scored 11...Ellis led the Black Knights in scoring for the third straight game...Mitch McDonald contributed six points, 10 assists and six steals...The 10 assists were the highest mark for a Patriot League player this season...Army heads to Brown on Tuesday, a team the Black Knights beat by eight points at home last season.

Bucknell The Bison had nearly two weeks off for final-exam break, but showed no rust as a balanced scoring effort led to an 89-77 victory at La Salle on Friday...It was Bucknell's third straight victory as it improved to 5-6 on the year...Mike Muscala led the way with an outstanding effort of 21 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks, while Bryan Cohen scored 19 points, freshman Cameron Ayers had 13 and Darryl Shazier scored 10 points and dished out six assists without a turnover...The Bison took the lead for good less than five minutes into the contest, and pushed the advantage as high as 14 points in the first half before taking a 36-28 lead at the break...The game was as close as four points at 53-49 with 12:45 to play before the Bison built the advantage back up with six straight points and led by at least eight and as many as 17 the rest of the way to take the 89-77 win...The Bison shot 55 percent from the floor, with the mark at 60 in the second half, and made 9-of-18 three-pointers in the game for their highest point total in a road game since February 2008... Bucknell's last contest had come on Dec. 4 against Boston University...La Salle entered the game with a 6-4 record, and in its previous contest had lost to No. 8 Villanova by just three points...Bucknell earned its first win over La Salle in Philadelphia...The Bison continue a stretch of seven out of eight games on the road when they visit Cornell on Monday and Boston College on Wednesday...The Bison lost in overtime at home against Ivy League champion and Sweet 16-bound Cornell last season.

Colgate Colgate fell behind 26-6 to start the game and 40-21 at halftime, and could not recover in a 78-57 loss at Maine on Sunday...Freshman Pat Moore was the only Raider to finish in double figures with 13 points, while Yaw Gyawu, Nick Pascale and Brandon James each scored eight...Moore led the Raiders in scoring for the second time this season, scoring 10 of his 13 points after intermission as Colgate got as close as 10 points...Colgate completed a three-game road trip, and returns home looking for its first victory of the season against Albany on Wednesday...The Raiders will then hit the road for three more games before the start of League action as they are in a stretch of 10 of 12 games on the road before Patriot League play begins.

Holy Cross For the second straight season, Holy Cross earned its first win of the year over Marist as the Crusaders posted a 75-57 victory on the road on Sunday...It was also the initial win at Holy Cross for first-year Head Coach Milan Brown...Holy Cross took control with 10 straight points midway through the first half and carried a 35-27 lead into the break...The Crusaders used a 10-4 run to build a double-digit advantage early in the second half and pulled away throughout the period to lead by as many as 24 points before taking the 75-57 win...The Crusaders won with a balanced effort that included career highs of nine points and 17 rebounds for Eric Obeysekere and double-digit scoring outputs for Andrew Keister (16), Devin Brown (13) and Andrew Beinert (10)... Holy Cross held a 45-33 edge on the boards, led by Obeysekere's 17-board performance which was the highest total for a Patriot League player this season...The Crusaders will try to make it two in a row on Wednesday when they visit Hofstra.

Lafayette The Leopards return from a 10-day layoff to visit Rhode Island on Tuesday...It is the second of a four-game road trip that goes beyond the New Year...The Leopards saw their three-game winning streak snapped as a comeback bid at Long Island fell short in an 85-80 defeat in the opener of the road trip on Dec. 11...The Leopards trailed by 15 points early in the second half, but fought back and cut the gap to four with six minutes to play...Lafayette finally got all the way within two points twice in the final 30 seconds, but Long Island responded with a pair of foul shots each time and held on for the victory...Lafayette has 12 double-figure scoring performances in its last three games, including three for Jared Mintz and two apiece for Jim Mower, Tony Johnson and Rob Delaney..Mintz is the active Patriot League scoring leader with 924 career points...Lafayette does not play another home game until Jan. 5 versus Columbia.

Lehigh Lehigh's nine-day break for final exams comes to an end when it visits USC on Thursday evening...The Mountain Hawks enter that contest on a two-game win streak after defeating St. Francis (Pa.), 79-61, at home on Dec. 13...The Patriot League finished its season series with St. Francis (Pa.) with a 3-2 record after Lehigh's victory...Lehigh led from start to finish and held a double-digit advantage throughout the second half...C.J. McCollum led the Mountain Hawks with 20 points and eight rebounds...He is up to 879 career points, second among active Patriot League players...Gabe Knutson added eight points and 11 rebounds in the game to just miss his first-career double-double...Lehigh concluded its five-game schedule against opponents from the Northeast Conference with home wins over St. Francis (Pa.), Wagner and Bryant and road losses to Quinnipiac and Monmouth.

Navy The Mids have a heavy home slate awaiting beginning with Wednesday's date against Elon...It starts a five-game homestand that carries through the remainder of the non-League schedule and into the Patriot League opener against Bucknell on Jan. 8...Navy has played 10 of its first 12 games away from Annapolis...The Mids will be returning to action for the first time since Dec. 10 when they lost at Mercer, 73-68...Navy was outscored 13-2 down the stretch as it surrendered a 66-60 lead...Mercer tied the score on a pair of free throws with 1:11 left, and scored the game-winning bucket with 11 seconds to go...O.J. Avworo missed a layup that would have tied the score with four seconds left, and Mercer hit three free throws to seal the win...Navy lost on a shot in the final seconds for the second game in a row after Coppin State hit the winning basket with five seconds to play in a 65-64 final three days before.