News and notes (it's official)
A few tidbits from Monday's weekly hoops report (pdf) from the home office in the little town of Bethlehem.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: KEVIN BETTENCOURT, Bucknell -- Jr.,G
Bettencourt earns Player of the Week honors after leading Bucknell to a 59-43 win over Holy Cross in the Bison’s only game last week,which also represented the PL opener for both schools. In a game televised nationally by College Sports TV, the junior guard from Peabody, Mass., scored a team-high 17 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line. He also tallied a career-best six steals as part of BU’s dominant defensive effort. Bettencourt, who was third in the nation in free throw percentage in the latest NCAA rankings, is the player of the week for the second time this season. Bucknell has won seven in a row.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: BILAL ABDULLAH, Lafayette -- Fr., G
For the second consecutive week and the third time overall in 2004-05, Abdullah is the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Week. The freshman guard from Anchorage, Alaska averaged 11.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals during a 1-1 week for the Leopards that included a 90-80 win over Navy at Kirby Sports Center in the Patriot
League opener for both schools. Abdullah scored 15 points, pulled down five rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals in the victory over the Midshipmen. For the season, he is second on the team in scoring with 9.8 points per game, and leads the club with 39 total assists
Joe Knight, who leads Lehigh in minutes played, steals and assists, is the closest player in the League to 1,000 career points. He needs just 82 more to reach the milestone.
American has now lost their last four against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.
Army ranks third in the nation in free throw percentage at 79.0 percent. Against Colgate, Army connected on 11-of-13 free throws, or 84.6 percent. Away from the line, though, Army’s offense registered just 35.8 percent field goal accuracy against the Raiders.
Holy Cross' Kevin Hamilton ranks 22nd in the country with 2.8 steals per
game. He is also the Crusaders’ leading scorer at 13.8 points per game.
Lehigh improved to 3-0 in League openers and 3-0 in League
road openers under Billy Taylor with a 56-53 win at American.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: KEVIN BETTENCOURT, Bucknell -- Jr.,G
Bettencourt earns Player of the Week honors after leading Bucknell to a 59-43 win over Holy Cross in the Bison’s only game last week,which also represented the PL opener for both schools. In a game televised nationally by College Sports TV, the junior guard from Peabody, Mass., scored a team-high 17 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range and a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line. He also tallied a career-best six steals as part of BU’s dominant defensive effort. Bettencourt, who was third in the nation in free throw percentage in the latest NCAA rankings, is the player of the week for the second time this season. Bucknell has won seven in a row.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: BILAL ABDULLAH, Lafayette -- Fr., G
For the second consecutive week and the third time overall in 2004-05, Abdullah is the Patriot League’s Rookie of the Week. The freshman guard from Anchorage, Alaska averaged 11.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals during a 1-1 week for the Leopards that included a 90-80 win over Navy at Kirby Sports Center in the Patriot
League opener for both schools. Abdullah scored 15 points, pulled down five rebounds, dished out three assists and had three steals in the victory over the Midshipmen. For the season, he is second on the team in scoring with 9.8 points per game, and leads the club with 39 total assists
game. He is also the Crusaders’ leading scorer at 13.8 points per game.
road openers under Billy Taylor with a 56-53 win at American.
