Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook (2/4)

The Atlantic 10 honors this week go to Xavier's Drew Lavender, Temple's Mark Tyndale and Duquesne's Robert Mitchell. This is Mitchell's fifth rookie honor, setting a new Duquesne record.

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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Drew Lavender - Xavier Junior, Guard, 5-7
Columbus, OH/Brookhaven HS

Lavender averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 assists and six rebounds in two games while shooting .619 (13-of-21) from the field...scored 31 points on 9-of-10 shooting, including 7-of-8 from beyond the arc, as Xavier downed Charlotte on Feb. 3, 91-57... the Oklahoma transfer had 14 points, nine assists and seven boards at Duquesne on Jan. 31...was 9-for-12 from three-point range in the two games...added a pair of steals.

Mark Tyndale - Temple
Junior, Guard, 6-5
Philadelphia, PA/Simon Gratz HS

Tyndale scored 27 points on 11-of-12 shooting and added 10 rebounds in Temple’s 80-59 win at Richmond on Jan. 31...marked his second double-double of the season...made all six of his field goal attempts in the second half...added four assists, two steals and a block.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

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

Mitchell earns his second consecutive A-10 Rookie of the Week award and fifth of the season after averaging 19.5 points and four rebounds in a pair of victories...shot 17-of-27 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range...scored 26 points in 23 minutes of action on Jan. 31 in Duquesne’s 93-91 win over Xavier...added 13 points and four boards in the Dukes’ 111-92 victory at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 3...averaging a team-leading 18.1 ppg., tops among A-10 freshmen.

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A-10-SHUN
NEWS FROM AROUND THE ATLANTIC 10

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Charlotte senior E.J. Drayton averaged 20.5 points and nine rebounds over two games, including a career-high 26-point effort in the 49ers’ 87-80 win versus La Salle on Jan. 31
• Junior Andres Sandoval scored a career-best 21 points and added six rebounds and six assists on Jan. 31 in Dayton’s 84-69 victory over George Washington
• Duquesne junior Kieron Achara scored a career-high 25 points and added 11 rebounds in the Dukes’ 111-92 win at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 3. Achara averaged 16.5 points and six rebounds over two contests
• Junior Bryant Dunston scored 29 points on 13-of-15 shooting and added 13 boards in Fordham’s 45-44 loss to Rhode Island on Feb. 3
• George Washington senior Carl Elliott averaged 10 points and eight assists in a pair of contests
• Sophomore Paul Johnson had 17 points and six rebounds on Jan. 31 in La Salle’s 87-80 setback at Charlotte
• Massachusetts junior Gary Forbes averaged 14.5 points and 10 boards over two games, including a career-best 16-rebound effort in the Minutemen’s 72-56 win over Richmond on Feb. 3
• Junior forward Will Daniels’ three-point play with 27 seconds remaining lifted Rhode Island past Fordham on Feb. 3, 45-44
• Freshman David Gonzalvez scored a team-high 15 points on Feb. 3 in Richmond’s 72-56 loss at Massachusetts
• St. Bonaventure junior Michael Lee averaged 19 points and eight rebounds over two games
• Junior Pat Calathes scored 11 points and added a career-high 13 rebounds in Saint Joseph’s 73-62 loss to Saint Louis on Feb. 1
• Saint Louis sophomore Tommie Liddell averaged 14.7 points and nine rebounds in three games
• Sophomore Dionte Christmas of Temple scored 21 points in the Owls’ 80-59 victory at Richmond on Jan. 31
• Junior Stanley Burrell scored 25 points and added five assists on Feb. 3 in Xavier’s 91-57 win over Charlotte.

BOMBS AWAY

Xavier hit a school record 16 field goals from beyond the arc in its 91-57 win over Charlotte on Feb. 3, including seven from junior guard Drew Lavender and five from junior guard Stanley Burrell. The previous program record for three-pointers in a game was 15, which the Musketeers tied on Jan. 11 in their 71-56 victory at Fordham.

GREAT PLAY CALL

Dayton coach Brian Gregory’s dedicated cause is a charity called “Secret Smiles,” a program that delivers beds and bedding to children of families who cannot provide for them. Since 2002, Secret Smiles of Dayton has assisted more than 600 families in living up to their slogan “Because Every Child Needs A Bed.” After Dayton’s 84-69 win over George Washington on Jan. 31, Gregory participated in Secret Smiles’ sixth annual “Flyer Feedback Auction” live on the post-game radio show, hosted by Mark Adams on WHIO Radio. This year, the auction raised $19,000 for Secret Smiles.

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 takes on Saint Louis (Feb. 1), Dayton (Feb. 4) and George Washington (Feb. 14) at the Fieldhouse in the coming weeks. St. Joe’s visits Villanova on Feb. 6 before its first true road game on Feb. 17 at St. Bonaventure.

GET TO THE POINT

The 45 points that Rhode Island scored in its 45-44 win over Fordham on Feb. 3 marked the fewest points in a URI victory since a 33-30 win at Maine on Feb. 22, 1949. In fact, Rhody has tallied 45 or more points three times in the first half and seven times in the second half this season. Rhode Island is off to a 7-2 start in A-10 play for the first time since the 1997-98 season.

STEEL WHEELS

Since adopting a 10-man, full court pressing attack complete with five-man substitutions 48 hours prior to a 101-87 loss at Massachusetts on Jan. 21, Duquesne appears to have gotten the hang of its new chaotic style of play. Since dropping the UMass game, the Dukes have won four straight and in the process became the first team in school history to score over 90 points in four consecutive games. “I’m very proud of this team,” said head coach Ron Everhart following a 111-92 win at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 3. “Its not often that you can change gears in the middle of a season and have guys buy in to it. Our guys are excited and it feels good to be excited.” In the past five games, Duquesne is averaging 96.0 points and forcing an average of 22.8 opponent turnovers per game. In its first 15 games, Everhart’s Dukes scored at a 68.6 ppg. clip and forced an average of 14.5 turnovers per game. Among the milestones achieved by Duquesne after its wins over Xavier (93-91) on Jan. 31 and St. Bonaventure (111-92) on Feb. 3 included:

• Winning four consecutive A-10 contests for the first time since 1987-88.
• Duquesne’s 111 points at St. Bonaventure were the most ever scored by a Dukes team in a road game, the most by a Duquesne team since a 114-107 win over Iona on Jan. 22, 1991, and the most points by an A-10 team this year. The 19-point margin of victory at SBU was Duquesne’s largest ever in an A-10 road game.
• The last time Duquesne was over .500 this late in the Conference season was in 1993-94, when it started 5-4.
• Marked the first time in program history that Duquesne recorded wins over Dayton, Temple and Xavier in the same season.

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.

FOUL LINE FEVER

Massachusetts set season highs in free throws made (33) and attempts (43) on Feb. 3 in its 72-56 win over Richmond. It marked the most free throws by the Minutemen since going 40-of-50 at the line on Nov. 25, 1994, against then-defending national champion Arkansas.

GOT TO HAND IT TO HIM

Despite playing with 17 stitches on the webbing between the third and fourth fingers of his left hand, sophomore Dionte Christmas scored 21 points in Temple’s 80-59 victory at Richmond on Jan. 31. While it snapped a string of three consecutive 30-point outings, it marked his sixth straight game with at least 20 points. The sophomore guard became 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.

CRAWLING WITH TAKEAWAYS

Richmond registered nine steals in its contest at Massachusetts on Feb. 3, raising its total to 49 steals over its last five games, an average of 9.8 spg. By comparison, the Spiders recorded eight steals or less in each of their first 15 games.

TEAM EFFORT

Despite not having a player ranked in the top 15 in the A-10 in rebounding, La Salle is second in the Conference in rebounding margin (+7.0). The Explorers, who outrebounded their opponents by an average of 1.8 rpg. last season, have won the battle of the boards in five of their last six contests. Freshman forward Yves Mekongo Mbala leads the team in rebounding at 5.72 rpg., tops among A-10 freshmen. Senior Mike St. John is averaging 5.68 rpg., while freshman Rodney Green is third on the team at 5.1 rpg.

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.

LONELY AT THE TOP

Sophomore Jimmy Baron of Rhode Island is the only player in the Conference shooting better than 50 percent from three-point range (70-of-139/.504) and 90 percent from the foul line (56-of-62/.903). The sophomore guard extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal to 32 on Feb. 3 in Rhode Island’s 45-44 win at Fordham.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ACTION

St. Bonaventure senior center Paul Williams grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds in the Bonnies’ 111-92 loss to Duquesne on Feb. 3, his 10th double-digit rebounding performance of the season. Williams ranks fifth in the A-10 in rebounding at 7.9 rpg., up from 7.1 rpg. a year ago.

STILL STANDING FOR NOW

Saint Louis senior center Ian Vouyoukas recorded two blocks in the Billikens’ 73-62 win at Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 1 to move into a tie with Melvin Robinson for first place in school history with 127 career rejections. Vouyoukas, who ranks fourth in the Conference in blocks this season (2.13 bpg.), will look to set the program record on Feb. 7 at Xavier.

SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE

Fordham turned aside La Salle on Jan. 27, 62-54, to win its third straight road contest in A-10 play for the first time in program history. The win also snapped a 14-game losing streak to La Salle in Philadelphia. The Rams seek their fourth consecutive A-10 road victory on Feb. 7 when they visit Dayton. The Flyers are 13-0 at home this season.

SENIOR RECOGNITION

De'Angelo Alexander of Charlotte and Massachusetts' Rashaun Freeman are among 30 candidates for the 2007 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, the nation's premier tribute to college seniors. The award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I male and female senior basketball player who excel both on and off the court. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season can bring. Sponsored by Lowe's, the award has already reached its sixth year. Previous winners from the A-10 include David West of Xavier (2003) and Saint Joseph’s Jameer Nelson (2004).

THE TOLEDO RIFLE

Brian Roberts became the 39th member of Dayton's 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 1,167 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 (.428 - 165-of-385) and free-throw shooting (.842 - 224-of-266).