Mockford & Fraser Gaining Recognition; College Catchup

It has been around a month since our last College Catchup, and with conference play having now began, a number of Brits have been upping their game. Check out how they have all been getting on below

Ben Mockford (above) is turning heads at St. Francis (NY) where he dropped a career high 28 points last night in a victory over Sacred Heart, whilst going 8/13 from three point range and 10/15 overall. The last month has seen Mockford remain amongst the nation’s leader in three point field goals made, as he is ranked 15th in Division 1, shooting them at a 40% clip. He bagged himself the NEC’s Player of the Week for the week ending 18th December, as he had a 24 point performance against Howard going 7/10 from deep, including the go-ahead trey in the final 35 seconds. Ben is averaging 11.6 points on the season as the Terriers have improved to 6-9 overall (stats breakdown).

Alasdair Fraser continues to have an impressive season at Maine, where this week he had a career high 25 points on 11/17 shooting in a victory over Binghamton. He was also named Player of the Week for the week ending December 25, after he helped Maine to a three game winning streak as he scored 12, 19 and 17 points respectively (stats breakdown). Fraser is averaging 14 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season in his sophomore year as Maine are 7-5.

Andrew Lawrence has played 7 times since the last College Catchup and continues to be one of the top performing Brits in college. In four of those games, he has scored no less than 14 points, with his best outing being an 18 point, 4 rebound, 7 assist effort in a win over Coast Carolina. However, after sustaining just one loss in their first 10 games, College of Charleston have suffered three in their last 5 games. Lawrence is averaging 12.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game (stats breakdown). Check out highlights from his 14 point point game against Wofford above (including the nasty crossover and finish 32 seconds in).

Bad news for Will Neighbour as he has suffered a shoulder dislocation. In the four games prior to the injury, he was averaging 16.7 points (12, 19, 19 and 17) compared to 12.0 for the season, including a 19 point 11 rebound double double in a victory over North Texas (stats breakdown). It remains unclear when Neighbour will return but the Trojans will hope it is sooner rather than later as they stand at 6-11.

Ovie Soko has been solid for UAB over their last six outings, including back to back double doubles. To finish off 2012, Soko went for 17 points and a career high 15 rebounds against Alabama A&M, before following that up with 13 and 12 against Florida. The former GB U20 is averaging 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds on the season as UAB stand at 5-9 (stats breakdown). Teammate Alexander Scotland-Williamson has seen a few more minutes recently but is producing little statistically (stats breakdown).

Shane Walker continues to be solid for Loyola Maryland, despite seeing his production decrease slightly. His two best performances in the Greyhounds’ last 6 games were a 10 point, 7 rebound 3 block effort against Bucknell and an 11 point, 4 rebound 3 block effort against Manhattan. Walker is averaging 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds so far this season for the 11-4 Greyhounds (stats breakdown)

Alex Marcotullio has seen his minutes fluctuate over the past few games with Northwestern. His best outing was a 6 point, 1 rebound, 2 assist effort in 20 minutes against Penn State. Northwestern are 11-4, with Marcotullio averaging 4.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game (stats breakdown).

Mikey Manghum and Oral Roberts are in the midst of a 7 game winning streak, with Manghum seeing more than 10 minutes in all but two of those games. In an 89-80 victory over Oakland, the 6’2″ guard had a season high 8 points on 100% shooting from the field in 13 minutes. The Golden Eagles are 14-4.

Phil Wait has produced decently over Monmouth’s last two games, scoring 7 and 9 points respectively, both in under 14 minutes of action. He is averaging 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds on the season, whilst teammate Daniel James continues to see limited action. James has registered 3 DNPs over Monmouth’s last 5 games, seeing 7 and 1 minutes respectively in the two he did play in. Monmouth are struggling on the season standing at 3-13.

Patrick Nyeko has been playing a good role with Nevada as they enjoy a nine game winning streak. Nyeko has had two outings with 5 points over their last 5 games, whilst averaging over 15 minutes per game. The Wolf Pack are 12-3 as he averags 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game.

Adam Thoseby has seen his minutes reduced slightly at Utah State, with his best performance over their last seven games being a 6 point outing in a win over St Peter’s. Thoseby is averaging 2.9 points on the season for the 9-6 Aggies.

Joe Ikhinmwin’s best performance recently was a 4 point, 2 rebound effort before fouling out in 17 minutes in a heavy loss to Hawaii. South Carolina State are currently on an 8 game losing streak, standing at 4-10.

Aaron Geramipoor has seen his contributions increase at Seton Hall over their past 6 games, which has seen him score in their last four outings. The Pirates are 13-2, with Aaron averaging 1.2 points and 2.2 rebounds on the season (stats breakdown).

Danny Carter has seen double digit minutes in Stony Brook’s last three games, all hovering around the 10 minute mark. His best performance was a 2 point 2 rebound effort in a win over Rider. He is averaging 1.2 points and 1 rebound per game as the Seawolves are 6-6.

Teddy Okereafor has seen more minutes recently for VCU, averaging just under 10 in 4 the Rams’ last 5 games. His best performance was a 2 point, 2 assist and 2 steal effort (in 9 minutes) in a victory over UNC Greensboro. VCU are 11-4.
Grant Fiorentinos saw 3 minutes of action on Wednesday night after registering three consecutive DNPs. Tulane are 12-3 and Grant has seen his role reduced drastically since the opening few games where he started and made solid contributions.

Abodunrin Gabe Olaseni has registered 4 DNP’s in Iowa’s last 7 games, however, he matched his career high in December against Central Arkansas as he scored 8 points, along with 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 blocks (career high) on 4/5 shooting in 9 minutes. Iowa are 10-7.

Tom Pereira has had a very similar stretch recently, registering 4 DNP’s in Rider’s last 4 games, but going 3/3 from deep for 9 points (matching his career high), 1 rebound and 1 assist in 11 minutes against Manhattan. The Broncs are 6-11.

Lee Goldsbrough appears to be in a similar situation to Fiorentinos, in that after solid contributions in Providences’ opening 6 games (seeing no less than 14 minutes), he has since been relegated to the bench. The Friars have lost their last three games with Lee registering two DNPs against ranked Georgetown and Syracuse (stats breakdown).

Nick Mabbutt has registered 5 DNP’s across South Dakota’s last six games, playing 7 minutes in his only appearance against Peru State as he finished with 2 points and 2 rebounds. South Dakota are 6-9.

Senior Sam Fernley saw his season’s debut for the 1-11 Farleigh Dickinson this week. Fernley played 10 minutes, going 0/1 from the floor whilst grabbing two rebounds.

Ryan Kilmartin made his second appearance at the end of December, registering 1 minute in a victory over Citadel, but minutes have been hard to come by for the sophomore as Tennessee are 8-7.

Simeon Esprit has seen action in Penn’s last two games, as they split the pair and now stand at 7-8.

Ashley Hamilton has not seen any play since LMU’s first three games after sustaining an injury which is evidently more serious than first thought. The Lions are 8-7. Ali Mackay continues to rehab at Davidson, and is expected to return at some point this month.

Richard Bell is still waiting to make his season debut with Nevada.

What do you think? Best performance? Any other standout performers in other divisions you know of?