Brits in College: Week 2 Recap

By Sam Neter on November 28, 2014

As we complete the second week of the college basketball season, we take a look at all the top performing Brits in NCAA Division 1.

Player of the Week

Teddy Okereafor’s Rider has had a packed week, playing 3 games since last Friday, going 1-2, with his biggest game coming in their victory over LeHigh.

Okereafor shot 8-12 from the field for a career-high 29 points including 5/9 from beyond the arc whilst also adding six rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Broncs made it two wins in a row.

“I was trying to stay aggressive and do what the team needs me to do, what the defence allows,” he told the club’s website.

“I know he has it in him,” Rider Head Coach Kevin Baggett added. “Any given night we have different guys stepping up. Tonight was Teddy’s night. He took charge when we needed him to take charge.”

Rider then faced two top 20 teams but were unable to pull out a win. In a 77-45 loss to Michigan State Teddy had 4 points and 5 rebounds but struggled with his shot, and then in a 61-54 loss to Georgia Tech added seven points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

Best of the Rest

Luke Nelson had 19 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, while GB U20 backcourt teammate Alex Young added 13 on 6/12 shooting but it wasn’t enough for UC Irvine to defeat Saint Mary’s, going down 72-69 in a tough loss.

Last week’s Player of the Week, Gabe Olaseni has had a tough week following the loss of his father. He chose to play with a heavy heart in a 70-49 win over Northern Illinois, finishing with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks on 5/7 shooting.

“He played great, we’re proud of him,” said Iowa Head Coach Fran McCaffery. “He didn’t hesitate to play. One of the last things his father said was he’s so proud of Gabe, and he wants him to maximize this opportunity his senior year. His dad didn’t want to do anything that would in any way impact his ability to do that.

“We were Skyping with his family, and his mom made that abundantly clear. That solidified in his head he was going to go out and play.”

At the end of last week Olaseni had 6 points 2 rebounds 7 assists as Iowa rallied from a 15-point second half deficit, but 18 turnovers proved costly in a 66-63 loss to No. 23 Syracuse in the third-place game of the 2K Classic, and then in a win over Pepperdine, Olaseni had 6 points and 5 rebounds on 3/3 shooting.

Former GB U20 Will Saunders had a solid week for Charleston Southern; 15 points, 8 rebounds in loss to Wright State, 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in a win over Central Arkansas, had 6 points 8 rebounds in a 58-47 loss to Florida State

Another former GB U20, Adam Thoseby scored 13 of his career-high 18 points in the final 3:36 of the game in a 72-68 loss to Wofford. His layup with a second to go made it 71-68 but that was as close as they would get.

Chris Caird had a 13 points outing on 5/8 shooting in a loss to Western Michigan, then 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in a win over IUPUI.

Seattle’s Jack Crook had 7 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals in a 66-62 loss to Montana, while Shore Adenekan had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Crook then had 5 points, 9 rebounds and 2 steals in a loss to Washington with Shore contributing 4 points and 5 rebounds.

Abdul Ahmed had 7 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals CSU Bakersfield’s 70-52 win over Delaware.

Jamie Batish had 7 points, going 1/5 from three but the one he hit was a big one, as Batish knocked down a three-pointer with five seconds to which proved to be the game winner for a 60-57 win over Southeastern Louisia. He followed it up with 8 points in a heavy loss to William & Mary.

Jesse Chuku had three more games in the week, losing to Rider and Columbia but then getting a huge win over DePaul for their first win of the season. Chuku had 8 points, 3 rebound and 2 blocks without missing a field goal vs DePaul and 9 vs Rider.

Ben Lawson had 6 points, 3 assists and 3 blocks in WKU’s 1 point loss to Belmont, 6 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in a loss to Stony Brook, and 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assists and 1 block on 4/6 shooting as WKU defeated St Joseph’s to cap off the week.

Anyone we missed that deserves a mention? Let us know in the comments!

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Image Credit: Rider Athletic Communications

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