Brits in College – Week 12 Recap

By Bradley Gains on February 6, 2015

With the twelfth week of the college basketball season completed, we take a look at all the top performing Brits in NCAA Division 1 in the past seven days.

Player of the Week

7’1″ centre Ben Lawson had 2 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks in 23 minutes as Western Kentucky claimed a 73-62 win over Southern Miss. The Hilltoppers then improved to a 9-1 record in their Conference after beating North Texas 65-59 with Lawson finishing with 8 points, 4 rebounds and 5 blocks.

“Any time you have a guy who protects the rim like he’s been doing lately, it makes an impact,” WKU coach Ray Harper said. “You can be more aggressive on the perimeter. It gives our guys more confidence. You have someone at that rim to block shots.”

Lawson has been attracting attention as a shot-blocking weapon for WKU, via Courier Journal.

Best of the Rest

Teddy Okereafor had an off shooting night with his 3 points coming from the foul-line, whilst dishing out 5 assists in a 79-72 loss against Siena. Rider bounced back in their next game to beat Fairfield 54-52 in a low-scoring overtime battle, with Okereafor scoring five of his 11 points in the extra period. The junior guard held his nerve to sink two technical foul shots to give his side the lead late in the game, finishing with 5/6 at the line.

Chris Caird scored 7 points in a 70-65 win for Drake, before sinking the game-winning 3-pointer in a 12-point display to give his side a 63-61 victory over Southern Illinois. The senior guard/forward shot 4-5 from downtown as the Bulldogs made it three straight wins.

UC Irvine duo Alex Young and Luke Nelson both scored 11 points in a 77-55 win to make it six straight wins in their Conference. However, they were then beaten by UC Davis with Nelson scoring 7 points and Young only playing 9 minutes after sustaining a foot injury.

Gabe Olaseni scored 12 points and had 5 rebounds along with 2 blocks in a 74-63 loss for Iowa at home to Wisconsin. They bounced back with a 72-54 win on the road over Michigan with Olaseni shooting 3/5 from the field for his six points in 12 minutes.

Charleston Southern returned to winning ways after beating Liberty 74-62 with Will Saunders netting 3-6 from downtown on his way to 13 points from the bench. The senior forward had 10 in his next game, but the Buccaneers were beaten 77-55.

Jamie Batish scored 12 points on 4-5 shooting from beyond the arc in a narrow 64-62 defeat for Western Illinois. He went one better with 13 last night, but it proved to be another loss for the Leathernecks.

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

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