Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook (2/18)

The Atlantic 10 honors this week go to Rhode Island's Will Daniels, Temple's Mark Tyndale & Damian Hollis of George Washington.

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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Will Daniels - Rhode Island
Junior, Forward, 6-8
Poughkeepsie, NY/Franklin D.Roosevelt HS

Daniels averaged 20 points and seven rebounds while shooting 60 percent (24-of-40) from the field in leading Rhode Island to three victories on the week...was 6-of-11 from three-point range...scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Rams’ 111-87 win at Duquense on Feb. 11...had 19 points, five rebounds and four assists on Feb. 14 in Rhode Island’s 83-67 victory over Saint Louis...totaled 16 points and eight boards in Rhody’s 85-69 win versus Charlotte on Feb. 17...added three steals and two blocks.

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

Tyndale averaged 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists in three contests...scored a career-high 33 points and added a career-best five steals at George Washington on Feb. 17...had 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists on Feb. 11 in the Owls’ 98-89 win over Massachusetts...scored 27 points and added 10 rebounds at La Salle on Feb. 14...shot 29-of-50 from the field and added nine steals.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Damian Hollis - George Washington
Freshman, Guard, 6-8
Ft. Lauderdale, FL/J.P. Taravella HS

Hollis averaged 14.5 points and four rebounds while hitting 10-of-12 field goal attempts, including 7-of-8 from beyond the arc...scored 14 points on a season-high four three-point field goals at Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 14...tallied a career-high 15 points in the Colonials’ 84-72 win over Temple on Feb. 17.

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A-10-SHUN
NEWS FROM AROUND THE ATLANTIC 10

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Charlotte senior E.J. Drayton averaged 17 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the field in a pair of contests
• Junior Kieron Achara of Duquesne scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds on Feb. 14 at Richmond
• Fordham junior Bryant Dunston had 18 points and 10 rebounds on Feb. 15 versus Massachuset
• Senior Carl Elliott of George Washington averaged 13 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in a pair of games
• La Salle freshman Kimmani Barrett averaged 13.5 points in two games, including a career-best 19-point effort on Feb. 14 in the Explorers’ 77-72 win over Temple
• Senior Stephane Lasme of Massachusetts recorded 17.5 points, seven rebounds and five blocks in two contests
• Rhode Island freshman Lamonte Ulmer scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the Rams’ 86-69 win versus Charlotte on Feb. 17
• Freshman Brian Morris scored 14 points on Feb. 14 in Richmond’s 69-66 win over Duquesne
• St. Bonaventure senior Paul Williams scored 20 points and added 13 rebounds versus Saint Joseph’s on Feb. 17
• Junior Pat Calathes of Saint Joseph’s averaged 17.5 points and nine rebounds in a pair of victories, while freshman Darrin Govens averaged 14 points
• Saint Louis sophomore Kevin Lisch averaged 17 points and six rebounds in two games, including a 24-point effort in the Billikens’ 59-55 win over La Salle on Feb. 17
• Senior Dustin Salisbery averaged 18.3 points and added eight steals in three contests for Temple
• Freshman Derrick Brown of Xavier scored seven points and added a career-high 11 rebounds in the Musketeers’ 71-50 win over Richmond on Feb. 17. XU senior Brandon Cole poured in a career-best 17 points versus the Spiders.

START ME UP

Temple junior Mark Tyndale has picked up his offense since being inserted into the Owls’ starting lineup against Saint Joseph’s on Jan. 10. Tyndale served as the team’s sixth man the first seven games he played this season. Since his return to the starting lineup, he is averaging 21.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Here is a breakdown of his statistics as the team’s sixth man and as a starter this season:

ROLE      GP  MPG   FG%   RPG   PPG
6th Man    7  26.6  .441  5.1   12.6
Starter   11  36.7  .557  7.6   21.8

HISTORIC HAPPENING

Carl Elliott scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out 10 assists on Feb. 17 in George Washington’s 84-72 win over Temple to become the first player in the program’s 93-year history to record a triple-double. Elliott, who leads the A-10 in both assists (5.08 apg) and steals (2.67 spg), helped the Colonials earn their 300th all-time victory in the 32-year history of the Smith Center.

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)    
 

QUITE A TRIO

Temple guards Dionte Christmas (21.0 ppg.), Mark Tyndale (18.4ppg.) and Dustin Salisbery (17.0 ppg.) average a combined 56.4 points per game. That marks the highest scoring trio from one team in the A-10 and the second-best nationally behind only Virginia Military Institute, whose top three scorers average 64.4 ppg.

SEEING 20-20

Xavier won its fourth straight game on Feb. 17 as it turned aside Richmond, 71-50, to improve to 19-7 overall. The Musketeers seek their 20th win of the season on Feb. 21 versus Rhode Island. A victory would give XU its 10th season of 20 or more wins in the last 11 years and its 20th 20-win season in the last 25 years.

YOUNG AT HEART

Richmond’s top four scorers are freshmen and the quartet account for 67.9 percent of the team’s scoring. The Spiders started four freshmen for the eighth time this season at Xavier on Feb. 17. First-year forward Dan Geriot leads the team in scoring at 10.8 ppg.

CHASING A MILESTONE

Senior guard De'Angelo Alexander of Charlotte needs 13 points to reach 1,000 for his two-year stint as a 49er. He would become the 21st player in 49ers history to reach the milestone and fifth in the last two seasons. Alexander played at Oklahoma in 2003-04. Temple guards Dionte Christmas (21.0 ppg.), Mark Tyndale (18.4ppg.) and Dustin Salisbery (17.0 ppg.) average a combined 56.4 points per game. That marks the highest scoring trio from one team in the A-10 and the second-best nationally behind only Virginia Military Institute, whose top three scorers average 64.4 ppg.

ON THE ROAD TO RESPECTABILITY

The road hasn’t been kind to Duquesne in recent seasons, however first-year coach Ron Everhart’s Dukes are well on the way to changing that. After winning back-to-back road games for the first time since December of 1994 and snapping a 17-game non-conference road losing streak in the process, Duquesne is 5-7 on the road this season. The five road wins are the most by a Dukes team since 1994-95. The last time a Duquesne team won six road games was in 1985-86. In addition, Duquesne is 3-3 in A-10 road games with two league road contests remaining. The last time the program posted four Conference road wins was 1980-81 when they were 4-3. No Duquesne team has ever won more than four Conference road games.

MASTER OF HIS DOMAIN

Saint Louis senior center Ian Vouyoukas recorded two blocks in the Billikens’ 59-55 win over La Salle on Feb. 17 to become the program’s all-time leader with 129. Melvin Robinson held the previous program record of 127.

LONELY AT THE TOP

With four field goals from beyond the arc on Feb. 17 in Rhode Island’s 86-69 win over Charlotte, sophomore Jimmy Baron raised his league-leading total to 84 three-point field goals on the year, the second-highest single-season total in program history. Tyson Wheeler holds Rhody's single-season record of 91. Baron leads the A-10 in three-point shooting, having connected on 84-of-163 three-point attempts (51.5 percent).

REGAINING THEIR TOUCH

Temple has made 46.6 percent of its field goal attempts this season. The percentage is the highest for the program since the advent of the shot clock at the start of the 1984-85 season. The last time an Owls team shot over 46 percent was durung the 1983-84 season (.477).

DID YOU KNOW?

UMass is 11-1 this season when senior forward Stephane Lasme reaches double figures in rebounding.

A TRUE TEAM EFFORT

All 10 Duquesne players have scored in each of the Dukes' past six games. Nine of the 10 hit at least one 3-pointer in their 111-92 win at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 3 and in their 111-87 loss to Rhode Island on Feb. 11. Duquesne is one of three A-10 teams to have 10 different players score 10 or more points in a game this season, with Massachusetts and Richmond being the others.

SETTLING IN

Junior Gary Forbes scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds on Feb. 11 in Massachusetts’ 98-89 loss at Temple. The last UMass player to score more than 30 points in a game was senior Rashaun Freeman, who poured in 31 versus St. Bonaventure on Feb. 28, 2004. Forbes sat out the 2005-06 season after transferring from Virginia. He scored 11 points in Massachusetts’ 74-59 win at Fordham on Feb. 15, the fifth straight game he reached double figures in scoring.

STRONG DOWN THE HOMESTRETCH

This is the time of year when Saint Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli's teams are generally at their best, exemplified by some strong runs into the postseason. In fact, counting the last six games of the regular season since 2003, Martelli's teams are a combined 22-4. In both 2005-06 and 2004-05, the squads won five of the last six regular-season contests. In 2003-04, they were unbeaten, and in 2002-03, the Hawks went 4-2. Last year, Saint Joseph's was 10-11 and despite losing at Temple on Feb. 14, won five in a row to enter the A-10 Championship with a 15-12 record. SJU increased its winning streak to eight consecutive to reach the finals of the Conference Championship.

UNCHARTERED TERRITORY

As a result of its 86-69 win over Charlotte on Feb. 17, Rhode Island improved to 10-3 in Conference play, equaling its best-ever start in A-10 action. The Rams visit Xavier on Feb. 21 vying to become the first URI team in program annals to be 11-3 after 14 league contests.