Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook (1/28)

Temple's Dionte Christmas and Saint Louis's Kevin Lisch share the Atlantic 10 Conference's men's basketball Player of the Week honors. Duquesne's Robert Mitchell is the Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season.

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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Dionte Christmas - Temple
Sophomore, Guard, 6-5
Philadelphia, PA/Philadelphia Lutheran Christian Academy

Christmas earns his second consecutive A-10 Player of the Week award after averaging 32 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in a pair of contests...shot 62.5 percent (20-of-32) from the field, including 9-of-17 from three-point range...scored a career-high 34 points versus Pennsylvania on Jan. 24...had 30 points, eight boards and five steals at Duquesne on Jan. 27...became just the sixth Temple player since 1960 to score 30 or more points in consecutive games.

Kevin Lisch - Saint Louis
Sophomore, Guard, 6-2
Belleville, IL/Althoff HS

Lisch scored a career-high 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting on Jan. 25 as Saint Louis downed Charlotte, 76-63...shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the line...added four rebounds, four assists and one steal...missed the Billikens’ previous game due to a calf injury.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Robert Mitchell - Duquesne Freshman, Forward, 6-6
Brooklyn, NY/Notre Dame Prep (MA)

Mitchell averaged 17 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in two games to earn his league-leading fourth A-10 Rookie of the Week award...scored 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting and added three blocks on Jan. 24 as Duquesne earned its first home victory (93-89) over Dayton since 1997...had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in Duquesne’s 96-92 win versus Temple on Jan. 27.

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A-10-SHUN
NEWS FROM AROUND THE ATLANTIC 10

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Charlotte senior E.J. Drayton had 19 points and nine rebounds in the 49ers’ 76-63 loss at Saint Louis on Jan. 25
• Senior Brian Roberts of Dayton was 11-for-11 at the foul line and averaged 21.5 points in two contests
• Duquesne junior Kieron Achara averaged 16 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in a pair of wins
• Junior Marcus Stout scored 20 points on Jan. 27 in Fordham’s 62-54 victory at La Salle
• Junior Maureece Rice of George Washington averaged 23 points and five rebounds in a pair of wins and was 6-of-11 from beyond the arc
• La Salle freshman Rodney Green averaged 13.5 points over two games
• Massachusetts junior James Life averaged 21.5 points in two contests, while freshman Ricky Harris tied his career high with 13 points on Jan. 21 as the Minutemen downed Duquesne, 101-87
• Junior Will Daniels of Rhode Island averaged 18.5 points and four rebounds in two games. URI freshman Keith Cothran averaged 10.5 points and 2.5 steals
• Richmond freshman David Gonzalvez averaged 10 points and 4.5 rebounds in two contests
• Junior Pat Calathes of Saint Joseph’s averaged 21 points and 8.3 rebounds over three games and knocked down all 17 of his attempts from the foul line
• St. Bonaventure junior Michael Lee averaged 16.5 points in a pair of games
• Temple junior Mark Tyndale scored 27 points and added eight rebounds in the Owls’ 96-92 loss at Duquesne on Jan. 27
• Senior Justin Doellman of Xavier averaged 17 points, four rebounds and 2.7 blocks over three contests. He notched a career-best 24 points in the Musketeers’ 83-67 win over Dayton on Jan. 27.

STYLE CHANGE

With the indefinite loss of 6-9 forward/center Almamy Thiero due to a blood clot in his lungs, Duquesne head coach Ron Everhart unveiled a "10-40" version of the Dukes on Jan. 21 at UMass. Under the newly-adopted system, Everhart is using the entire 10-man roster to produce a manic 40 minutes of basketball. The Dukes, who currently dress just one player over 6-6, have forced 76 turnovers (25.3 pg.) and averaged 92 points while winning two of their last three contests. In the past three games, Everhart has substituted a total of 172 times - including entire five-man units 23 times - and no player has played fewer than 11 or more than 30 minutes. "The more chaos I'm looking at, the more I'm saying 'yeah'," said Everhart following Duquesne’s 96-92 win over Temple on Jan. 27. "Even when we throw the ball away on a fast break - which we did more than once tonight - that's alright. The faster the game goes, the better we feel. For a team with our size, I don't think there is any other way to go."

NO SUITCASE NEEDED

Saint Joseph’s is in the midst of a six-game stretch in which they will not travel further than 15 minutes from its Philadelphia campus. The Hawks earned an 84-74 win over Pennsylvania on Jan. 27 at The Palestra, where they will face La Salle on Feb. 10. In addition, SJU welcomes Saint Louis (Feb. 1), Dayton (Feb. 4) and George Washington (Feb. 14) in the coming weeks. St. Joe’s visits Villanova on Feb. 6 before its first true road game on Feb. 17 at St. Bonaventure.

QUITE A STREAK

Temple’s Dionte Christmas has scored 30 or more points in each of his last three games to become the first Owl since Terence Stansbury in 1983 to score 30 or more points in three consecutive games. The last A-10 player to accomplish the feat was Rasual Butler of La Salle, who scored 30 or more points in four straight contests during the 2001-02 season. Christmas may not be able to extend his streak just yet, however, as he suffered a laceration on the webbing between the third and fourth fingers of his left hand in the final minute of play in Temple’s 96-92 loss at Duquesne on Jan. 26. Christmas received 17 stitches to close the wound, and his status for the Owls’ Jan. 31 matchup at Richmond is undetermined.

ONE AMONG MANY

Xavier welcomed its one millionth men’s basketball fan to the Cintas Center on Jan. 27 as the Musketeers downed Dayton, 83-67. It marked the 100th game at the 10,250-seat on campus facility. XU, which enjoyed its 60th Cintas Center sellout, has averaged over 10,000 fans per game since the building opened for the 2000-01 season. The Musketeers posted their 22nd consecutive win over Dayton in Cincinnati, where they have not lost to the Flyers since the 1980-81 season. Xavier boasts a record of 85-15 all-time at the Cintas Center, including a 9-1 home mark this season.

MINUTE RICE

George Washington’s Maureece Rice scored seven of his game-high 27 points in the final minute to lead the Colonials past Rhode Island on Jan. 27, 82-78. The junior guard has scored in double figures in each of his last 18 games and has led the Colonials in scoring 12 times this season. Rice leads GW with an average of 17.0 ppg.

ROAD WARRIORS

Fordham turned aside La Salle on Jan. 27, 62-54, and has now won three straight road contests in A-10 play for the first time in program history. The win snapped a 14-game losing streak to La Salle in Philadelphia and at 5-2 in league action, the Rams are off to their best-ever start after seven games.

FIVE FOR THREE

Rhode Island’s Jimmy Baron was 5-for-10 from three-point range in the Rams’ 82-78 loss to George Washington on Jan. 27. It marked the fifth time this season that the sophomore guard made at least five three-point field goals in a game this season. Baron is shooting a blistering .507 (68-of-134) from beyond the arc on the year, tops in the Conference, and has made at least one three-point field goal in 31 consecutive games.

HOME SWEET HOME

George Washington extended its home winning streak to 24 games after defeating Saint Joseph's on Jan. 24, 74-65. The string is the fifth-longest in the nation behind Gonzaga, Air Force, Brigham Young and Memphis.

CRANKIN’ IT UP

Richmond junior Drew Crank scored a career-high 23 points and just missed a double-double with a career-high nine rebounds in a career-best 28 minutes in the Spiders’ 61-53 loss to St. Bonaventure on Jan. 27. Crank also established career highs in field goals (10) and attempts (13). The Lynchburg, VA, native has now scored in double figures five times in his career, including twice this season.

IT’S A CONFERENCE THING

Charlotte has made at least nine three-point field goals in each of its six A-10 games this season. The 49ers are averaging a league-best 10.17 field goals from beyond the arc in league play, and sophomore guard Leemire Goldwire has knocked down a total of 15 triples in his last three league contests.

BLOCK PARTY

Stephane Lasme of Massachusetts registered seven blocked shots at Rhode Island on Jan. 24 to tie Marcus Camby’s (1996-98) program record for career blocks with 336. The senior forward leads the A-10 with 105 blocks this season, the third-highest single-season total in UMass history. He will look to eclipse Camby’s record on Jan. 28 as the Minutemen visit Charlotte.

BALANCING ACT

With Xavier’s 83-77 win over Massachusetts on Jan. 18, no teams are undefeated in A-10 play after just four games this season. The last time the Conference did not have an undefeated team after four games was the 1992-93 season, when Saint Joseph’s started off 3-0 before falling to West Virginia in double overtime (82-81) on Jan. 21, 1993. In addition, every A-10 team has at least one league win after four games for the first time since the 1983-84 campaign. That year, UMass opened 0-3 before turning aside West Virginia (71-60) on Jan. 14, 1984.

CENTER OF ATTENTION

Over his last four games, senior center Paul Williams of St. Bonaventure is shooting .735 (25-of-34) from the field and has knocked down all 11 of his attempts from the foul line. Williams recorded his team-leading seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds on Jan. 27 in the Bonnies’ 61-53 win at Richmond. It marked St. Bonaventure’s first road win in league play since a 77-76 victory at Duquesne on Feb. 25, 2006.

NOT SO GREEN

Despite being just a freshman, La Salle’s Rodney Green has displayed remarkable consistency. The Philadelphia, PA, native scored 12 points on Jan. 27 in the Explorers’ 62-54 loss to Fordham, the 18th time this season he has reached double figures in scoring. Green is second on the team in scoring (13.9 ppg.) and ranks third in the A-10 in field goal shooting (.547).

CONTINUING TO CLIMB

As a result of Saint Joseph’s 84-74 win over Pennsylvania on Jan. 27, Phil Martelli tied Jack Ramsay for second on the school’s career victories list with 234. Martelli, in his 12th year, is now 234-133. Ramsay compiled a 234-72 mark in 12 seasons. The all-time leader in program annals is Bill Ferguson (1928-53) with 309 career wins.

NO NEED TO LEAD

Duquesne erased double-digit second-half deficits to earn wins over Dayton (93-89) on Jan. 24 and Temple (96-92) on Jan. 27. It is the first time a Dukes team has defeated UD and the Owls in the same season since 1982-83. The Dukes, who have overcome double-digit deficits in each of their five wins this season, led for a grand total of 4:57 in the two games versus Dayton (2:10) and Temple (2:47).

THE TOLEDO RIFLE

Brian Roberts became the 39th member of Dayton 1,000-point club on Jan. 4 in the Flyers’ 66-63 win over Charlotte. The junior guard is currently 30th in program annals with 1,144 points. In addition, Roberts is the only UD player in the school's top five in career 3-pt. FG% and FT%. He ranks third in both three-point shooting (.423 - 161-of-381) and free-throw shooting (.838 - 217-of-259).