Genuine official league stuff
(Originally posted: Monday, 10:19 p.m.)
Notes from this week's report (pdf) from the home office in the little town of Bethlehem:
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: KEVIN HAMILTON, Holy Cross -- Jr., G
Hamilton picks up his first Player of the Week award of the season after averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.3 steals per game in wins over American, Lafayette and Lehigh that vaulted the Crusaders into first place at the halfway point. Hamilton, a junior guard from Queens Village, N.Y., led Holy Cross in scoring in each of those games, topping the 20-point mark against the Eagles and Leopards. For the week, he shot 55.0 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. At 15.8 points per game, Hamilton has taken over the League scoring lead, and he continues to check in among the top five nationally in steals per contest. Of the 11 Players of the Week in the PL this season, nine have now been guards.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: PAT DOHERTY, Holy Cross -- Fr., G
For the second straight week, Doherty is the League’s top rookie, giving Holy Cross a sweep of the weekly honors. The freshman guard from Scranton, Pa., averaged 11.0 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals in the Crusaders’ three victories last week. Included was a 15-point effort against American along with a careerhigh
tying five steals, and a 14-point outing against Lehigh. Versus the Mountain Hawks, Doherty hit a pair of free throws with 1:32 remaining to break a 54-54 tie and give HC the lead for good. He was perfect from the line on the week, and also shot 47.8 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range. The Crusaders are 5-0
since Doherty broke into the starting lineup on Jan. 18 versus Iona.
BITERSWEET MILESTONE: Bucknell junior guard Kevin Bettencourt became the 47th player in PL history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. In the loss to Navy, Bettencourt scored a season-high 27 points to place him in a tie for 27th on BU’s all-time scoring list with 1,020 points. Bettencourt is the 30th player in Bucknell history to clear 1,000 points. He currently ranks 46th in Patriot League history with 1,020 points.
MOVING ON UP: The Patriot League has moved up to a No. 23 ranking among the 31 Division I conferences according to the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report. The League’s top two representatives are Holy Cross (No. 46) and Bucknell (No. 78). The ACC is the top conference in the computerized ranking system, and Kansas is the No. 1 team.
LEADER BOARD: Head coach Ralph Willard’s Holy Cross club leads the League in several categories, including scoring defense, scoring margin, rebounding defense, rebounding margin, blocked shots, assists, steals, turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio.
MIDDLE MAN: Head coach Jeff Jones now has 71 wins at AU, one more than Jim Lynam and one behind Gary Williams.
Notes from this week's report (pdf) from the home office in the little town of Bethlehem:
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: KEVIN HAMILTON, Holy Cross -- Jr., G
Hamilton picks up his first Player of the Week award of the season after averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.3 steals per game in wins over American, Lafayette and Lehigh that vaulted the Crusaders into first place at the halfway point. Hamilton, a junior guard from Queens Village, N.Y., led Holy Cross in scoring in each of those games, topping the 20-point mark against the Eagles and Leopards. For the week, he shot 55.0 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. At 15.8 points per game, Hamilton has taken over the League scoring lead, and he continues to check in among the top five nationally in steals per contest. Of the 11 Players of the Week in the PL this season, nine have now been guards.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: PAT DOHERTY, Holy Cross -- Fr., G
For the second straight week, Doherty is the League’s top rookie, giving Holy Cross a sweep of the weekly honors. The freshman guard from Scranton, Pa., averaged 11.0 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.3 steals in the Crusaders’ three victories last week. Included was a 15-point effort against American along with a careerhigh
tying five steals, and a 14-point outing against Lehigh. Versus the Mountain Hawks, Doherty hit a pair of free throws with 1:32 remaining to break a 54-54 tie and give HC the lead for good. He was perfect from the line on the week, and also shot 47.8 percent from the field and 38.5 percent from 3-point range. The Crusaders are 5-0
since Doherty broke into the starting lineup on Jan. 18 versus Iona.
BITERSWEET MILESTONE: Bucknell junior guard Kevin Bettencourt became the 47th player in PL history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. In the loss to Navy, Bettencourt scored a season-high 27 points to place him in a tie for 27th on BU’s all-time scoring list with 1,020 points. Bettencourt is the 30th player in Bucknell history to clear 1,000 points. He currently ranks 46th in Patriot League history with 1,020 points.
MOVING ON UP: The Patriot League has moved up to a No. 23 ranking among the 31 Division I conferences according to the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report. The League’s top two representatives are Holy Cross (No. 46) and Bucknell (No. 78). The ACC is the top conference in the computerized ranking system, and Kansas is the No. 1 team.
LEADER BOARD: Head coach Ralph Willard’s Holy Cross club leads the League in several categories, including scoring defense, scoring margin, rebounding defense, rebounding margin, blocked shots, assists, steals, turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio.
MIDDLE MAN: Head coach Jeff Jones now has 71 wins at AU, one more than Jim Lynam and one behind Gary Williams.
