Brits in College: Week 3 Recap

By Rowan Shiell

There were some great performances by the British players in Division One of the NCAA over the past 7 days (23rd – 30th November 2012). We highlight the best below in the third weekly roundup.

Player of the Week

Andrew Lawrence | College of Charleston | Senior | Guard | @andrewcofc04.

Baylor’s Pierre Jackson and Andrew Lawrence were both nominees for last year’s Bob Cousy award, given to the best point guard in college, who they met on Saturday night. CofC shocked the world and won. Jackson had 21 points, five assists and five rebounds but needed 21 shots while Lawrence scored 10 points (3 of 5) and dished out seven assists in the four point win.

Baylor is the second big conference team Charleston has recently upset. The previous Sunday they  Boston College to place seventh in the Charleston Classic.

For an encore,  sank six free throws in the last minute and 40 seconds of regulation to give the Cougars their third-straight victory of the season, as CofC beat Charleston Southern (1-5) by five. Lawrence finished with 18 points, along with eight rebounds and six assists. He finished seven of eight from the free throw line in both games.

Incidentally, Charleston Southern feature fellow Brit Allie Fullah, who finished with a season high 8 points, on 4/6 shooting, along with 3 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in 28 minutes. In his first season in Division 1, after transferring from JUCO, Fullah is averaging 3.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and a block per game on 62.5% field goal shooting (17 mins per game).

Best of the Rest

Fahro Alihodzic | University Alabama at Birmingham | Junior | Center

UAB (4-3) played three games over the week and was victorious in one. They lost to TCU and Illinois State, at home, but won, on the road, against Troy. Fahro stayed almost true to his season averages of 10.2 points and 4.4 rebounds in all three games.

UAB only has three players listed over 6’6” and seems to be very guard oriented. At 6’10”, Fahro is the only center but his rebounding is below average for a starting big man, so are his minutes (20.04). He averages only two fouls and has yet to foul out of any game, so far. Plus he is by far the best free throw shooter on the team at 91%.

On paper this guy can do with some more minutes.

Alasdair Fraser | Maine | Junior | Forward | @bigali15

Big week for our resident Scotsman, as Maine (2-4) collected not one, but two victories over the week and Fraser had a huge stamp in both games. On Sunday he scored 17 points to go with nine rebounds and three blocks in a victory over Siena.

Wednesday Fraser scored 20 points to go with four rebounds but fouled out. His team held on to beat Northeastern by three.

Ashley Hamilton | Loyola Marymount | Senior | Forward | @thekingash

Loyola Marymount (3-3) had back to back games at the start of the weekend. The first game was a victory over Texas State (3-3) 78-63. Hamilton scored 13 points and had 14 rebounds with two assists and a block.

The following day LMU lost to Alaska Anchorage in the Great Alaska Shootout. Hamilton scored 16 points and had only three rebounds as he was limited by foul trouble.

Third game of the week for LMU was against Long Beach State. Hamilton secured nine rebounds and scored 17 points in a three point loss. He shot 100% from the three point line.

Ben Mockford | St Francis NY | Junior | Guard | @BenMockford

After going 0-7 in a loss to Army, Mockford rebounded to score 14 points as St Francis (NY) (2-3) secured an overtime victory over Browne on Saturday.

On Thursday, St Francis lost to Norfolk State by six points. In the second half, the Terriers gave up a nine point lead, went down by eight points but managed to pull back within four with 23 seconds on the clock. Mockford scored 13 points and dished out four assists as his team came up short in another hard fought game.

It should be noted that St Francis are currently 2-3 which is much better than their 0-4 start last season. Whether it is due to the level of competition or just the team peaking at the right moment, the Terriers always seem to start the season slow before going on a run.

Will Neighbour | Arkansas Little Rock | Junior | Forward

Neighbour scored 15 points to go with seven rebounds as UALR (5-3) defeated SMU (7-1), last Saturday, to advance to the championship game of the Hoops for Hope Classic. SMU was undefeated, going into the game, and were enjoying the best start to their season since 1997-98.

On Sunday UALR met South Carolina (5-1) in the championship game. It was a blowout but Neighbour paced UALR with 19 points and five rebounds for a second place finish. In both games Neighbour connected on 66% of his field goals but was one foul away from being disqualified in both games.

On Thursday, Neighbour had a double double to lead UALR to a win in their first conference game of the season. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds as UALR defeated Troy by two points.

Neighbour has scored in double figures in the last five games (UALR went 4-1 in that stretch) but his three point shooting needs work as he is connecting on 26% of his attempts. Last season he shot 41%.

Keith Rendleman | North Carolina-Wilmington | Senior | Forward

Rendleman had another big week as he lead UNCW (3-3) to two victories. First they defeated Wofford (2-5) on Saturday in a low scoring contest where Rendleman was the leading scorer with 16 points and eight rebounds.

Next up was up was Hampton (0-5) on Sunday. Rendleman had 23 points and 15 rebounds in a one point victory. Hampton led most of the game but was held scoreless in the last minute as UNCW took the lead on a layup. UNCW won despite shooting 4-22 on three pointers. It did help that Rendleman shot 11 of 19 free throws.

Extras

• As Rice continues to struggles, so does Ross Wilson, who scored four points in two losses over the week. The freshman made all but one of his three field goal attempts. Either he is extremely efficient at looking for his shot or he only scores when he has a sure shot. Maybe he should start looking to score more as it certainly can’t hurt; Rice is currently 1-5.

• VCU sophomore guard Teddy Okereafor got 21 minutes of valuable experience in a blow out of Stetson on Wednesday. He responded with two points and five assists.

• Vincent van Nes has left Fairfield University due to a persistent injury he first experienced in high school. According to fairfieldstags.com, he said, “After having my third surgery on my foot this fall, the process of trying to get back to playing basketball again has been frustrating, both physically and mentally. It has required a lot of patience and I thank my coaches, teammates, medical staff and fans for their continued support during these times. It is frustrating to have been part of such a great team but being unable to fully contribute. I wish Fairfield basketball all the best for the future. I feel like it’s time to move on and explore other opportunities and consider my long-term health.” .

• Over the week Lee Goldsborough seems to have paid special attention to his board work. He tallied eight rebounds in two victories. First, over Fairfield last Friday and then Holly Cross on Tuesday. He also scored 9 points against Fairfield.

Thoughts on how the Brits are getting on so far? Anyone else who deserves a mention? Let us know in the comments!

Image by: CofCSports.com