Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Notebook (3/2)

The Atlantic 10 honors this week go to Fordham's Bryant Dunston, Saint Louis's Ian Vouyoukas and George Washington's Damian Hollis.

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PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Bryant Dunston - Fordham
Junior, Forward, 6-8
Queens, NY/St. John’s Prep

Dunston averaged 22.5 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in a pair of victories for Fordham...shot 15-of-26 from the field and 15-for-18 from the line...had 25 points and 11 rebounds on Feb. 28 in the Rams’ 91-60 win at St. Bonaventure...scored 20 points and grabbed 13 boards in Fordham’s 80-73 victory over Temple on Mar. 3...added four assists...now has 25 career double-doubles.

Ian Vouyoukas - Saint Louis
Senior, Center, 6-10
Athens, Greece

Vouyoukas averaged 23.5 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 63.3 percent (19-of-30) from the field in a pair of contests...poured in a career-high 28 points, including the 1,000th of his career, and added 11 rebounds in the Billikens’ 65-64 (2OT) loss at Dayton on Mar. 3...scored a game-high 19 points and 7-of-10 shooting and grabbed eight boards on Feb. 28 as Saint Louis downed Richmond, 78-68...added five assists.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

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

Hollis earns his second A-10 Rookie of the Week citation of the season after averaging 15 points and eight rebounds in two wins by George Washington...recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds on Mar. 3 in the Colonials’ 88-80 win versus Duquesne...had 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in George Washington’s 62-60 victory at Charlotte on Mar. 1...added four assists and three steals.

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A-10-SHUN
NEWS FROM AROUND THE ATLANTIC 10

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL

• Senior De’Angelo Alexander of Charlotte averaged 16 points and seven rebounds over two games
• Dayton junior Brian Roberts averaged 15.5 points on 9-of-16 shooting while leading the Flyers to a pair of wins
• Junior Kieron Achara of Duquesne averaged 20 points, 9.5 rebounds and three blocks in two contests. Freshman teammate Robert Mitchell scored a game-high 28 points at George Washington on Mar. 3
• Fordham senior Marcus Stout scored 27 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the Rams’ 80-73 win over Temple on Mar. 3
• Sophomore Rob Diggs of George Washington scored 17 points and blocked five shots on Mar. 3 in the Colonials’ 88-80 win over Duquesne
• La Salle freshman Ruben Guillandeaux averaged 17 points in a pair of contests on the week
• Senior Stephane Lasme of Massachusetts averaged 14 points, 9.5 rebounds and seven blocks in two wins
• Rhode Island junior Will Daniels scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds on Mar. 3 in the Rams’ 71-69 loss at Richmond
• Freshman Brian Morris of Richmond averaged 14 points and 4.5 assists in a pair of contests and scored the Spiders’ final seven points in their 71-69 win over Rhode Island on Mar. 3
• Sophomore A.J. Hawkins of St. Bonaventure scored 13 points and added nine rebounds versus Charlotte on Mar. 3
• Saint Joseph’s sophomore Ahmad Nivins averaged 21 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 15-of-22 from the field over two games
• Sophomore Kevin Lisch of Saint Louis scored 26 points and added eight boards on Feb. 28 in the Billikens’ 78-68 win versus Richmond
• Temple sophomore Dionte Christmas scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds at Fordham on Mar. 3
• Junior Drew Lavender of Xavier averaged 13 points and five assists in a pair of victories

RAM-TASTIC

As a result of its 80-73 victory over Temple on Mar. 3, Fordham clinched its first 10-win season in Conference play since joining the Atlantic 10 in 1995-96. The Rams’ 17 victories are the most since the 1991-92 squad won 18 games, and the team secured its first winning season since 1991-92. In addition, Fordham’s 91-60 win at St. Bonaventure on Feb. 28 marked the Rams’ fifth A-10 road, their highest total since joining the league.

FITTING TRIBUTE

The United States Basketball Writers Association has selected the Duquesne University men’s basketball team as recipient of the organization’s Most Courageous Award. The award, which is presented annually to honor “a player, coach, official or administrator who has demonstrated extraordinary courage reflecting honor on the sport of amateur basketball,” will be formally presented to head coach Ron Everhart at a breakfast prior to the NCAA National Championship game at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta on Monday, April 2. The award honors a Dukes basketball program that was decimated by an early-morning shooting on Sept. 17 that saw five players treated and three hospitalized. “In speaking for our program, the department of athletics and the University as a whole, I can say that we are very humbled by this award,” said Everhart. “I am proud and honored to have coached a group of young men who have handled such a difficult situation with great strength and character.”

SELECT COMPANY

In Massachusetts’ 102-63 win over La Salle on Feb. 28, senior Stephane Lasme became just the third player in NCAA history to record four triple-doubles in a season. Lasme scored 17 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked 10 shots for his fourth triple-double of the year. Below is the list of the three players in NCAA annals to register four triple-doubles in a season:

 4   Michael Anderson, Drexel (1986)  
 4   Jason Kidd, California (1994) 
 4   Stephane Lasme, Massachusetts (2006-07)

SELECT COMPANY

Rhode Island head coach Jim Baron is among 15 finalists for the 2007 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year, it was announced on Feb. 20. The Jim Phelan Award is given annually to the nation's top coach, as voted on by the 20-member panel. The winner will be presented with the award at the Final Four in Atlanta. Prior to 2003, the award was known simply as the CollegeInsider.com National Coach of the Year. It was renamed to honor longtime Mount St. Mary's head coach Jim Phelan who retired following the 2002-03 season. Previous winners are Ben Howland (2006), Tubby Smith (Kentucky, 2005), Phil Martelli (Saint Joseph's, 2004) and Mark Slonaker (Mercer, 2003).

SEEING 20-20

Xavier won its eighth straight game on Mar. 3 as it downed La Salle, 76-65, to improve to 23-7 overall. The Musketeers secured their 10th season of 20 or more wins in the last 11 years and their 20th 20-win season in the last 25 years. In addition, Massachusetts also improved to 23-7 on the year as a result of its 71-67 victory at Saint Joseph’s on Mar. 3. The Minutemen clinched their first 20-win campaign since 1997-98, when they posted a mark of 21-11. It marks the 13th 20-win season in UMass history. At 20-8 overall, George Washington registered its third consecutive 20-win campaign.

LINE OF SUCCESS

Rhode Island set a program record for free-throw proficiency at Richmond on Mar. 3, connecting on 21-of-23 from the line (91.3 percent). The previous URI record was 89.3 percent (25-for-28) versus Old Dominion on Jan. 8, 1980.

LOOKING TO SCORE A RECORD

Temple guards Dionte Christmas and Mark Tyndale are ranked first and second, respectively, in the A-10 in scoring. They are vying to become the first teammates in league history to finish first and second in the Conference in scoring. Former TU standouts Aaron McKie and Eddie Jones finished first and fifth in the league in scoring during the 1992-93 campaign. The last A-10 team to have a pair of players finish the year ranked in the top three in the Conference in scoring was West Virginia in 1977-78, as Lowes Moore and Maurice Robinson placed second and third, respectively.

TWO GRAND

Senior guard De'Angelo Alexander scored a game-high 29 points, including the 1,000th of his career, in Charlotte’s 99-90 win at Duquesne on Feb. 21. Alexander became the 21st player in 49ers history to reach the milestone. He played at Oklahoma in 2003-04. Junior teammate Leemire Goldwire joined the 1,000-point club on Mar. 1 with 16 points in Charlotte’s 62-60 loss to George Washington. The last 49er teammates to reach 1,000 points in the same season were Eddie Basden and Curtis Withers in 2004-05.

REGAINING THEIR TOUCH

Temple has made 46.1 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 1983-84 (.477).

YOUNG GUN

Freshman forward Robert Mitchell nailed a career-high five field goals from beyond the arc en route to scoring a game-high 28 points on Mar. 3 in Duquesne's 88-80 loss at George Washington. A five-time A-10 Rookie of the Week selection, Mitchell leads the Dukes with a 16.6 ppg. scoring average, which is on pace to break the school freshman record of 16.64 set by Wayne Smith in 1998-99. Mitchell is ranked sixth nationally in scoring among freshmen and tops in the Conference. Robert is currently averaging 16.52 ppg (446/27) - ed.

LONG-DISTANCE CARRIER

Sophomore Jimmy Baron of Rhode Island connected on four three-pointers at Richmond on Mar. 3, giving him 90 for the season. He is just the second player in program history to hit 90 or more threes in a single season. Tyson Wheeler holds the school's single season record of 91, set during the 1997-98 campaign.

HOME SWEET HOME

Dayton improved to 15-2 at home this season after edging Saint Louis on Mar. 3, 65-64 (2OT). The Flyers’ 15-2 home mark matches the fourth-best effort in UD Arena history for wins in a season and homecourt winning percentage in a season (.882). Dayton won its first 14 home games this season, the second-best streak in University of Dayton Arena history.

NO SMALL CONTRIBUTOR

At 6-foot-6 and 244 lbs., Dayton sophomore Charles Little might be the most inaccurately named player in the country. In the last five games, he is averaging 19.0 points and 9.6 rebounds and registered the first two double-double performances of his career. The Cleveland, TN, native recorded a career-high 28 points and added 10 rebounds on Feb. 24 versus Xavier, his fourth consecutive double-figure scoring effort. Little grabbed a career-best 16 rebounds on Feb. 28 as Dayton earned a 73-65 win at Temple. It marked his third double-digit rebounding performance of the season.

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 (2.68 spg), helped the Colonials earn their 300th all-time victory in the 32-year history of the Smith Center.

THREE-SPEAK

Richmond tied a Robins Center record with 15 three-point field goals on Mar. 3 in its 71-69 win over Rhode Island, equaling the total Richmond had on Jan. 6, 2001, versus James Madison. The school record is 18, set on Mar. 2, 2002, at Duquesne. The Spiders shot a season-high 55.6 percent from beyond the arc (15-of-27) versus URI and have reached double digits in three-pointers in their past two games and five times this season. UR junior Oumar Sylla made a career-high five three-pointers in six attempts en route to scoring a career-high 19 points against Rhode Island.