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NEC Player of the Week: Rodney Pryor, RMU
NEC Rookie of the Week: Elvar Fridriksson, LIU
Previous NEC Releases: December 8 | December 1 | November 24 | November 17
RMU WINS BATTLE OF THE ‘BURGH...AGAIN
In what has become an annual tradition in the Andy Toole era, Robert Morris rolled past Duquesne, 75-59, on Saturday in the Battle of the ‘Burgh.
The Colonials are now 5-0 against the crosstown rival Dukes under Toole, and they did it without senior swingman Lucky Jones (Newark, NJ/St. Anthony), who was out with a finger injury.
“I’m really proud of the performance by the guys,” Toole said. “It was clearly our most complete game offensively and defensively.”
There were a host of notable performances from the Colonials, none more so than junior guard Rodney Pryor (Evanston, IL/Notre Dame Prep (Cloud County CC)), who finished 9-12 from the floor and 4-5 from long range en-route to a 25-point, six-rebound effort.
“My teammates do a great job finding me when I’m open, and the bigs do a great job screening to get me open,” Pryor noted after the game.
Pryor, a junior college transfer, was keyed in ahead of time of RMU’s history with its Steel City rival.
“Everybody let me know that we don’t lose to Duquesne,” he said.
In perhaps the best performance of his young career, sophomore guard Kavon Stewart (Paterson, NJ/Hudson Catholic) posted his first-ever double-double with 12 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, all personal-bests. Stewart and freshman forward Elijah Minnie (Monessen, PA/Lincoln Park) also became the first pair of RMU teammates to record a double-double in the same game since 2009. Minnie matched career-highs with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and was happy to see the team rebound after back-to-back losses.
“It didn’t matter if it was Duquesne or if it was Toledo on Wednesday, we’re going to play with the same intensity,” he said. “We competed and we all played together.”
NEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rodney Pryor, Robert Morris
6-5, 205 lbs.
Jr., G, Evanston, IL/Notre Dame Prep (Cloud County CC)
Pryor picks up his second NEC Player of the Week award of the season after sparking the Colonials to their fifth straight win over crosstown rival Duquesne on Saturday. The junior guard was in the zone, converting 9-12 shots from the field, including 4-5 from beyond the arc for 25 points to go along with six rebounds in the 75-59 victory. Pryor contributed 14 points in the first half as RMU built a 39-30 advantage at intermission, then scored the first five points after the break to help the Colonials open up a 44-30 lead. After the Dukes trimmed the RMU lead to 46-42 early in the second half, Pryor scored four points as part of a 14-0 run that gave the Colonials a 60-42 cushion with 9:52 remaining. Pryor leads RMU and is currently fifth in the NEC in scoring at 15.1 ppg. He leads the league in three-point accuracy (.510), and ranks second in three-point makes (3.3/game), third in field goal percentage (.542) and fifth in free throw percentage (.840).
NEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Elvar Fridriksson, LIU Brooklyn
6-0, 165 lbs.
Fr., G, Njardvik, Iceland/Njardvik
One of a trio of freshman starters for LIU Brooklyn, Fridriksson helped lead the Blackbirds to their first two wins of the season last week. He posted terrific all-around numbers, averaging 13.5 points, 6.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals while shooting 66.7 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from three-point range. In Tuesday’s 83-70 win at Maine, Fridriksson finished with 19 points and seven assists - both career-highs - and made 5-6 shots from the floor. He followed with eight points, five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals on Sunday in LIU’s 65-49 victory over NJIT. On the year, the Iceland native leads the Blackbirds with 10.4 ppg and ranks second in the NEC with 4.8 apg.
STARKS POWERS WIN AT ARMY
Bryant senior guard Dyami Starks (Duluth, MN/Duluth East) was up to his old tricks on Tuesday, and the end result was a quality road win for the Bulldogs.
The 80-73 triumph on Tuesday was not only the first road victory for Bryant on the year, but it came against an Army team that entered the game with a 6-1 mark and won at USC four days later. Starks dropped a game-high 23 points for his third 20-point outing in the last four games. The senior captain, who leads the NEC in scoring at 19.6 ppg, converted 8-17 from the floor with a trio of threes while also going 4-4 from the line. Starks added five rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
PEEL COMING ON STRONG FOR CCSU
There may be nothing better than watching a player flip the switch and start down the road to fulfilling his potential.
We may be seeing that right now with CCSU junior forward Brandon Peel (Forestville, MD/Riverdale Baptist).
Peel is coming off back-to-back stellar performances in CCSU’s first two wins of the 2014-15 campaign. On December 6, Peel scored 16 points and pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds in a 56-47 victory at Hartford. In CCSU’s home opener last Wednesday, he nearly matched those numbers with 16 points and 14 boards as the Blue Devils cruised to a 65-53 victory over UMBC. Peel shot 60.9 percent in the two games and blocked three shots.
“He’s brimming with confidence,” Dickenman said. “He catches the ball and shoots it, and from a coaching point of view, you feel like it’s going to go in, just because he works and works and works after practice.”
Peel leads the NEC with 9.4 rpg, and ranks second in double-doubles (three), third in blocks (1.3) and seventh in field goal percentage (.500). The Forestville, MD native is averaging 8.3 ppg.
RMU’S PRYOR EYES EXCLUSIVE SHOOTING CLUB
To say that Robert Morris junior guard Rodney Pryor (Evanston, IL/Notre Dame Prep (Cloud County CC)) has been a lights out shooter in his first month with the Colonials is somewhat of an understatement.
Pryor, the NEC Player of the Week, leads the league in three-point accuracy (.510), and ranks third in field goal percentage (.542) and fifth in free throw percentage (.840).
While Pryor currently falls short in free throw shooting, he is hovering around the mythical 50-40-90 shooting percentages made famous in the NBA by Larry Bird, Steve Nash, and most recently, Kevin Durant in 2012-13.
No NEC player has ever recorded a 50-40-90 at years end, but here is a list of players who have come closest.
Player School FG% 3PFG% FT% Year
Karvel Anderson RMU .510 .463 .841 2013-14
Shane Gibson SHU .510 .433 .862 2011-12
Mike Iuzzolino SFU .542 .528 .885 1990-91
Mike Iuzzolino SFU .552 .516 .871 1989-90
Dave Calloway MU .590 .585 .821 1988-89
YEAR OF THE FRESHMAN
It could be one of the great freshman classes in recent NEC memory.
Last week alone, there was NEC Rookie of the Week Elvar Fridriksson (Njardvik, Iceland/Njardvik) of LIU Brooklyn averaging 13.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 6.0 apg and 2.0 spg in a pair of wins for the Blackbirds. But he was far from alone as a number of other freshman also brought out their “A” games last week.
Bryant freshman guard Hunter Ware (Powder Spring, GA/North Cobb Christian) posted a career-high 17 points to help lead the Bulldogs to their first road victory of the season, an 80-73 triumph at Army. The frosh went 5-10 from the field with a 3-5 mark from beyond the arc while also going a perfect 4-4 from the line. Ware added three assists, two rebounds and a steal to his career performance.
Mount St. Mary’s freshman guard Junior Robinson (Mebane, NC/Eastern Alamance) had a solid week for the Mountaineers, averaging 11.0 ppg and 5.0 apg. The 5-5 point guard tallied a career-high 14 points while adding five assists and no turnovers in the Mount’s 67-64 win over Norfolk State on Saturday. He opened the week with eight points and five assists in the Mount’s loss at #25 Notre Dame. Robinson is averaging 7.3 ppg and team-best 4.3 apg this season.
Robert Morris freshman forward Elijah Minnie (Monessen, PA/Lincoln Park) tallied his second consecutive double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday’s 75-59 win over Duquesne. He also added two blocks and a pair of steals against the Dukes. During RMU’s three-game homestand, Minnie averaged 9.0 ppg, 7.3 rpg and 1.3 bpg while shooting 68.8 percent (11-16) from the field.
A week after becoming the third freshman in conference history to be named both Player and Rookie of the Week, Sacred Heart freshman guard Cane Broome (East Hartford, CT/East Hartford) had another extremely efficient week for the Pioneers. He did a little bit of everything, averaging 14.5 ppg, 3.5 apg and 2.5 rpg. He continued his hot shooting from the floor, converting 64.7 percent of his opportunities. In a one point defeat at Lafayette on Monday, Broome scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half. Trailing by eight late in the game, he scored five straight to cut the lead to three. In a win over Mitchell on Sunday, Broome needed just 21 minutes to score 15 points on 6-7 shooting. He was one assist shy of his season-high with four and recorded two steals. Broome continues to lead SHU, as well as all NEC freshman in scoring at 13.4 ppg. He also leads the Pioneers with 1.6 spg.
St. Francis Brooklyn freshman guard Glenn Sanabria (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter’s) produced a career-high 15 points, six assists,and three steals in a win over Mount St. Vincent on Saturday.
ASHE’S DOWNTOWN HEROICS
He had one of the best dunks of the year last Saturday in the Mount’s win over Loyola (MD), but one week later sophomore Byron Ashe (Washington, D.C./Friendship Collegiate) took a distinctly different approach in making the highlight reel.
With the Mountaineers having yet to score midway through overtime and trailing Norfolk State by five points, Ashe delivered in a big way, nailing back-to-back three-pointers to give the Mount a lead it would not relinquish. Mount St. Mary’s ended the game on a 10-2 run, earning its first home win of the year with a 67-64 triumph.
Ashe finished with a team-best 15 points off the bench, including 4-8 from long range. Ashe is averaging a team-best 12.7 points over the past three games, hitting 10-21 (.476) from distance.
BLACKBIRDS BACK ON TRACK
After opening the year with six losses, LIU Brooklyn turned things around in a big way last week with a pair of victories, defeating Maine (83-70) on the road on Tuesday before picking up a win at the Steinberg Center against NJIT (65-49) on Sunday.
The Blackbirds shot 60.7 percent from the field in a 53-point second half against the Black Bears, and were led by freshman guard Elvar Fridriksson (Njardvik, Iceland/Njardvik) who had 19 points and seven assists. LIU made all seven of it’s three-point attempts in the second stanza.
Against an NJIT team coming off a recent win over #17 Michigan, the Blackbirds came through with a lockdown defensive effort. LIU held the Highlanders to 18 second half points and 49 for the game. It marked the best defensive performance for a Blackbirds unit since holding Bryant to the same total on December 3, 2009. The Blackbirds won the battle on the boards, 46-37, against NJIT and have outrebounded their opponents in each of the last three games.
HOME SWEET HOME
Sacred Heart is on its first three-game home winning streak since January 24 to February 7, 2013.
LIU, POINT GUARD U?
Not to put any pressure on the freshman guard, but LIU Brooklyn’s Elvar Fridriksson (Njardvik, Iceland/Njardvik), the NEC Rookie of the Week, has dished for 38 assists over the first eight games of his Blackbird career. Two-time NEC assist champion Jason Brickman, one of four players in NCAA history with 1,000 career helpers, had 27 assists in his first eight contests for LIU back in 2010-11. To be fair, Brickman played about half as many minutes as the Icelandic native over the first eight games of their respective careers. Fridriksson currently ranks second in the NEC with 4.8 apg.
SHU’S ALLEN CAN’T MISS
We’re one month into the season and for Sacred Heart forward Jordan Allen (Bayshore, NY/Long Island Lutheran), the bucket must like an ocean.
The graduate student hit all seven of his field goal attempts in Sunday’s 104-68 win over Mitchell, and combined with a 5-7 effort from the field in a one-point setback at Lafayette last Monday, shot 12-14 or 85.7 percent for the week. Allen tied the game against the Leopards on a three-point play with 27 seconds remaining. In the win over Mitchell, he set a new career-high with 19 points.
Allen is now shooting a scorching 74.4 percent from the floor to ranks first in the NEC by a wide margin. He’s fourth on the Pioneers in scoring a 10.5 ppg. After averaging just 6.2 ppg in November, Allen has started December scoring 14.8 ppg through four games.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Three Mount coaches, three NEC champions.
Jamion Christian @JamionChristian
A picture of Coach Phelan, Coach Brown and myself. @coachmbrown knowledge and passion were special from day 1.
ON THE NATIONAL LEADERBOARD
Below are a list of NEC players who rank in the top-25 nationally in various statistical categories.
Category Name Team Stats Ranking
3PFG% Rodney Pryor RMU .510 12th
FT% Matt MacDonald FDU .952 6th
Dyami Starks BRY .917 17th
Steals Brent Jones SFBK 2.78 11th
3PFG/Game Dyami Starks BRY 3.86 7th
A/TO Ratio Greg Brown SFU 3.63 18th
Double-Doubles Jalen Cannon SFBK 4 22nd
GAETANO MOVIN’ ON UP
Sacred Heart senior guard Phil Gaetano (Wallingford, CT/Sheehan (Choate Rosemary)) reached the top-five on the NEC’s career assist list last week, passing Saint Francis U’s Napolean Lightning. Gaetano, who had ten dimes in two games, now has 595 for his career, six ahead of the former SFU guard.
Gaetano needs just four more to pass Rider’s Deon Hames to move into fourth place and nine to leapfrog Mount St. Mary’s Jeremy Goode for third all-time in the conference. He leads the NEC with 5.6 apg this season.
1. Jason Brickman LIU 1,009 2010-14
2. Drafton Davis MAR 804 1984-88
3. Jeremy Goode MSM 603 2006-10
4. Deon Hames RID 598 1992-96
5. Phil Gaetano SHU 595 2011-14
6. Napoleon Lightning SFU 589 1981-85
7. Courtney Pritchard WC 563 2000-04
8. Andre Van Drost WC 560 1982-87
9. Forest Grant RMU 555 1981-84
10. Velton Jones RMU 551 2009-13
JALEN CANNON: SFBK’S CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS
St. Francis Brooklyn senior forward Jalen Cannon (Allentown, PA/William Allen) pulled down 12 rebounds last week to boost his career total to 867 boards. Cannon, who ranks 13th in NEC history, is now 26 shy of Wagner’s Durell Vinson, who pulled down 893 from 2003-08.
Cannon has also racked up 1,266 career points as he enters play this week and is the second-leading active scorer in the NEC. The Allentown, PA native, who leads the NEC with four double-doubles on the season, hopes to become just the second player in NEC history to finish with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds in his career, joining Quinnipiac’s Justin Rutty (1,521/1,032 from 2007-11).
10. Ted Taylor MAR 923 1981-85
11. Greg Foster FDU 916 1982-84
12. Durell Vinson WC 893 2003-08
13. Jalen Cannon SFBK 867 2011-14
14. Julian Boyd LIU 843 2008-13
15. Ken Horton CCSU 842 2007-12
16. Alan Tomidy MAR 838 1991-96
17. Freddie Burton LIU 836 1986-89
18. Nigel Wyatte WC 834 2000-04
19. Largest Agbejemisin WC 829 1983-87
20. Rik Smits MAR 811 1984-88
HERE & THERE
Bryant sophomore forward Andrew Scocca (Melrose, MA/Worcester Academy) tallied a career-high 11 points in last Tuesday’s 80-73 win at Army. Bryant saw five players get to double figures for the first time this season in the victory.
St. Francis Brooklyn senior guard Brent Jones (Brooklyn, NY/Bedford Academy) averaged 20.5 ppg, 4.0 apg and 3.0 spg last week. Jones scored a season-high 26 points in a victory over Mount St. Vincent on Saturday, converting 9-16 from the floor. The Brooklyn, NY native also dished six assists and added a pair of steals against the Dolphins to make it three wins in the last four games for the Terriers. He scored 16 points and came up with four steals in a 68-66 setback at NJIT on Tuesday. Jones has reached double-figures in scoring in all nine contests and leads the NEC with 2.8 steals per game.
St. Francis Brooklyn senior forward Jalen Cannon (Allentown, PA/William Allen) last week became the school’s career leader with 327 free throws made.
Wagner senior guard Marcus Burton (Charlotte, NC/David W. Butler) poured in his fifth career 20-point performance and third of the season as he tallied a game and team-high 22 points, including 10-11 from the free-throw line, at Vermont on Sunday. Burton is third in the NEC in scoring (16.3), fourth in three-pointers (2.4/game) and ninth in free throw percentage (.758).
NEC NUGGETS
NEC teams posted an 8-5 record last week.
Bryant had five players reach double figures in its first road victory of the season, an 80-73 win at then 6-1 Army.
Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Francis U were idle last week.
LIU Brooklyn freshman guard Elvar Fridriksson became the first LIU player to finish with at least 19 points, five rebounds and five assists in a game since C.J. Garner against Wagner (22/5/6) on February 24, 2013.
Mount St. Mary’s is averaging 9.5 3PFG over the past four games, including a season-high 13 3PFG at Notre Dame last Tuesday.
Junior transfer Andrew Smeathers will make his Mount St. Mary’s debut at American next Saturday. The 6-8 transfer from Butler had to sit out the first semester due to NCAA transfer rules.
Robert Morris senior guard Lucky Jones missed RMU’s tilt against Duquesne due to a finger injury and had his streak of consecutive games snapped at 63.
Robert Morris is 107-29 (.787) at the Charles L. Sewall Center since the beginning of the 2005-06 campaign.
Sacred Heart graduate student forward Jordan Allen has made his last ten shots from the field.
Sacred Heart has matched its win total (five) from last season.
St. Francis Brooklyn senior guard Brent Jones moved into second place on the school’s career list with 470 assists.
Over his last four games, Wagner senior guard Marcus Burton is averaging 19.3 ppg.
QUOTABLE
“The fact it was rivalry game maybe did help us, but it started in practice this past week. We played with intensity.” - Robert Morris freshman forward Elijah Minnie following the Colonials’ 75-59 win over Duquesne on Saturday
“The second half to start the half we did a better job defensively. Offensively, I thought we moved the ball well. We shot the lights out.” - LIU Brooklyn head coach Jack Perri after the Blackbirds shot 7-7 from three-point range in the second half of an 83-70 win at Maine
“You want to cherish every victory, but we’re capable of playing better basketball. Pleased with the W but not necessarily satisfied, even though I’m delighted to win the game.” - CCSU head coach Howie Dickenman after the Blue Devils knocked off UMBC on Wednesday for their second straight win
“We feel like we can beat any team because everyone has to put their shoes on just like us.” - Sacred Heart freshman guard Cane Broome, referencing the team’s hot play as of late in a Google Hangout from this past Thursday
“We held them for a long time. Every day we go in the gym and work on our flaws and try and get better and we were better today. That’s why I’m not worried about this team once we got into conference play.” - Wagner senior guard Marcus Burton following a setback at Vermont on Sunday
TWEET DECK
Ryan Peters @pioneer_pride
Saw Bryant/Army from archives last night. Bulldogs offense looked better; Hunter Ware finally got going w/ 17 pts. His step back is nice.
Andrew Chiappazzi @BCT_AChiappazzi
Looks like Rodney Pryor is at it again for #RMU. If he shot right-handed and wore No. 15, people would swear Karvel Anderson is back.
Rush the Other 26 @other26hoops
Cane Broome quickly becoming a favorite player.
Ron Ratner @NECHoopsRon
Just spoke w/ @SHUBigRed’s Cane Broome via Google Hangout. Future hoops analyst, team jokester, big fan of @russwest44. Mature young man.
Corey Hassan @CoreyHassan4 (former SHU player)
@NECHoopsRon @SHUBigRed great times! Wish I could play one more season for SHU. Great to see you guys doing a great job covering the NEC
Pete Medhurst @PeteMedhurst
@pioneer_pride So happy for Brandon Peel. hard worker and clearly bigger. likely double-double machine in NEC.
Patrick Pierson @pierson_sid
GREAT day when RMU beats Duquesne. Dominating performance by @RMUMBasketball #BobbyMo
Andrew Chiappazzi @BCT_AChiappazz
Andy Toole now 5-0 against Duquesne in his career at Robert Morris. RMU wins 75-59, stakes claim to 2nd best hoops team in PGH yet again.
Ryan Raffensperger @TheMountFanBlog
Three claps for Byron Ashe and Junior Robinson providing late game heroics in OT win #MountMayhem
Miloš Vujakovic @MVujak Dec 1
Elvar Friðriksson is such a fun, shifty point guard with a solid jumpshot and great handles. Great move by LIU to lure him in.