Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook (2/11)

The Atlantic 10 honors this week go to Temple's Dionte Christmas, Massachusetts's Stephane Lasme and La Salle's Kimmani Barrett.

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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Dionte Christmas - Temple
Sophomore, Guard, 6-4
Philadelphia, PA/Philadelphia Lutheran Christian Academy

Christmas earns his league-leading fourth A-10 Player of the Week award after averaging 24 points on 60.6 percent shooting in a pair of wins ...hit 20-of-33 shots, including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc, despite playing with 17 stitches in his left hand...recorded his league-best fourth 30-point performance of the year with 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting in the Owls’ 109-70 win versus St. Bonaventure on Feb. 7...scored 17 points and added three steals in Temple’s 89-64 victory over La Salle on Feb. 4...added six rebounds and four assists in the two contests.

Stephane Lasme - Massachusetts
Senior, Forward, 6-8
Libreville, Gabon/Leon MBA HS

Lasme registered his third triple-double this season with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 11 blocks in Massachusetts’ 77-55 win over Rhode Island on Feb. 8...made 6-of-9 shots from the field...became just the eighth player in NCAA history to record three triple-doubles in the same season...tied his own school record with 11 blocks and his 120 blocks this season are tied for tops in the nation...named the A-10 Player of the Week for the third time this season.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Kimmani Barrett - La Salle
Freshman, Guard, 6-6
Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic HS

Barrett averaged 13.7 points and five rebounds in three contests for the Explorers...made 13-of-20 shots from the field and 15-of-17 from the foul line...matched his career-high of 18 points and grabbed six rebounds versus Duquesne on Feb. 7...led La Salle with 12 points at Temple on Feb. 4 and 11 versus Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 10...added three assists and two steals.

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A-10-SHUN
NEWS FROM AROUND THE ATLANTIC 10

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Senior De’Angelo Alexander scored a career-high 35 points on Feb. 10 in Charlotte’s 72-68 win over Fordham. Teammate Leemire Goldwire averaged 19 points and hit eight three-pointers in a pair of victories
• Dayton freshman London Warren scored a career-high 10 points in the Flyers’ 69-62 victory at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 10
• Sophomore Aaron Jackson scored 15 of his career high-tying 22 points in the final 2:34 of Duquesne’s 111-105 win at La Salle on Feb. 7. Teammate Reggie Jackson scored 23 points versus the Explorers
• Fordham senior Bryant Dunston averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in a pair of road contests
• Senior Carl Elliott had 13 points and six rebounds in George Washington’s 87-58 loss to Xavier on Feb. 10
• Freshman Rodney Green averaged 12.3 points in three games for La Salle
• Junior Gary Forbes scored a season-high 22 points and added nine rebounds in Massachusetts’ 77-55 win over Rhode Island on Feb. 8
• Rhode Island sophomore Jimmy Baron scored 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting in the Rams’ 77-55 loss at Massachusetts on Feb. 8
• Freshman Brian Morris scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in Richmond’s 61-46 loss at Charlotte on Feb. 7
• St. Bonaventure sophomore A.J. Hawkins nailed a career-high four three-pointers at Temple on Feb. 7 and averaged 23.5 points in a pair of games
• Saint Joseph’s junior Pat Calathes averaged 13.3 points and seven rebounds over three contests
• Sophomore Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis scored 14 points and made all three of his field goal attempts from beyond the arc in the Billikens 76-57 loss at Xavier on Feb. 7
• Temple junior Mark Tyndale averaged 19 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in a pair of wins
• Junior Stanley Burrell shot 5-of-12 from three-point range and averaged 18 points in a pair of victories for Xavier.

STREAKIN’ SATURDAY

After opening the season with eight consecutive road losses, Dayton earned its first road victory of the season on Feb. 10 at St. Bonaventure, 69-62. The Flyers’ eight road losses had come against teams who boast a combined record of 77-21 (.786). In addition, UD is 14-0 at home this season, the second-longest home-winning streak in program history. Dayton was one of two teams (Oklahoma State) to be undefeated at home and winless on the road. Also on Feb. 10, Xavier earned an 87-58 victory at George Washington, snapping the Colonials’ 24-game home winning streak, which was the fifth-longest in the nation.

SELECT COMPANY

In Massachusetts’ 77-55 win over Rhode Island on Feb. 8, senior Stephane Lasme became just the eighth player in NCAA history to record three or more triple-doubles in a season. Lasme scored 18 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 11 shots for his third triple-double of the year. Below is the list of the eight players in NCAA annals to register at least three triple-doubles in a season:

4   Michael Anderson, Drexel (1986)  
4   Jason Kidd, California (1994) 
3   Stephane Lasme, Massachusetts (2006-07)
3   Andre Iguodala, Arizona (2004)
3   David Edwards, Texas A&M (1994)
3   Gerald Lewis, Southern Methodist (1993)
3   Shaquille O'Neal, Louisiana State (1992-93)
3   David Robinson, Navy (1986)    

 

FOUL AT YOUR OWN RISK

Saint Joseph’s Pat Calathes has made 35 consecutive free throws, leaving him two shy of the program record of 37, set by Delonte West in 2003-04. The junior forward’s last miss came on Jan. 13 versus Rhode Island. Calathes is shooting 85.4 percent from the line on the season, good for seventh in the A-10.

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 five straight and in the process became the first team in school history to score over 90 points in five 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. “It’s 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 six games, Duquesne is averaging 98.5 points and forcing an average of 21.7 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), St. Bonaventure (111-92) and La Salle (111-105) on Feb. 7 included:

• Winning five consecutive games for the first time since 1985-86 and tying the school record of five straight Atlantic 10 victories, set in 1980-81.
• Marked the first time since 1988-89 that a Dukes team posted back-to-back 100-point games.
• Duquesne’s 111 points at St. Bonaventure (Feb. 3) and La Salle (Feb. 7) 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 St. Bonaventure 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.

GOT TO HAND IT TO HIM

Despite playing with 17 stitches on the webbing between the third and fourth fingers of his left hand, Dionte Christmas scored 31 points in Temple’s 109-70 win over St. Bonaventure on Feb. 7. It marked his league-leading fourth 30-point game of the season and seventh straight contest with at least 20 points. Earlier in the season, 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.

GOLD DOWN THE STRETCH

Leemire Goldwire hit 8-of-8 free throws in the final 42 seconds on Feb. 10 to seal Charlotte’s 72-68 win over Fordham. The junior guard has displayed a knack for icing wins this season. He hit 10-of-10 foul shots in the final 67 seconds of the 49ers’ 88-82 victory over Hofstra on Nov. 11 and all six of his attempts from the foul line in the final 31 seconds on Jan. 31 in Charlotte’s 87-80 win versus La Salle. Goldwire is shooting 89.5 percent from the line this season, good for second in the Conference.

DID YOU KNOW?

UMass is 10-1 this season when senior forward Stephane Lasme reaches double figures in rebounding.

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.

POINT PRESENCE

Despite his 5-7 stature, junior guard Drew Lavender of Xavier has been a dominating force in Conference play. Over his last five games, Lavender is averaging 15.8 points and 7.8 assists with a gaudy assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.57:1. It’s no coincidence that the Musketeers 4-1 in their last five contests.

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 (2.04 bpg.), will look to set the program record on Feb. 14 at Rhode Island.

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.

OWL OF AN EFFORT

Temple’s 109-70 win over St. Bonaventure on Feb. 7 marked the first time Temple scored 100 points since Feb. 4, 1988, in a 110-70 victory over Duquesne at McGonigle Hall, a span of 616 games. It was the fourth-highest scoring total in TU history and 18th 100-point game.

DUST OFF THE MAP

Fordham’s 72-68 loss at Charlotte on Feb. 10 marked the Rams’ first appearance in the Queen City since the 1958-59 squad appeared in the Carousel Classic.

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. Previous winners from the A-10 include David West of Xavier (2003) and Saint Joseph’s Jameer Nelson (2004).