Brits in College – NCAA D1 Week 5 Recap

UC IRVINE

We take a look at how Brits are getting on in NCAA Division 1 in the latest week of action in the college basketball season.

Player of the Week

Alex Young | UC Irvine | Senior | Guard

Young led UC Irvine to a 73-63 road win at Utah State last Saturday after netting a season-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. The GB Senior guard also added four rebounds and four assists in another all-round display.

“We play at a high level as a team when Alex is playing well,” said Head Coach Russell Turner.

Young then had six points, six rebounds and six assists in the Anteaters next game on Tuesday as they went down 78-63 against Oregon to conclude a four-game road trip, in which UCI finished 2-2.

Best of the Rest

Luke Nelson also had a strong week for UC Irvine – scoring 10 of his 15 points in the second half of their win over Utah State, before adding seven assists to another 15-point haul in their loss at Oregon.

Ben Lawson earned his first start of the season on Wednesday and went to work on the boards as he finished with 12 rebounds to go with four points and three blocks in a 79-70 win for Western Kentucky. The junior forward had also scored seven points in a previous 75-62 victory with the Hilltoppers now 6-4 for the season.

Jack Crook scored 11 points and added nine rebounds as Seattle suffered their sixth loss of the season with a 73-79 defeat at Alabama-Birmingham. Redshirt freshman Aaron Menzies then recorded a big double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds from the bench in a crushing 98-36 win having been handed his first start in the previous game.

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye helped Bradley to their second win of the season after contributing nine points, four rebounds and four assists in a 61-53 success at home to Maryville to end a run of nine straight defeats. Elsewhere, Jesse Chuku finished with 14 points, six boards and three steals as Lehigh fell to an agonising 67-69 loss at Robert Morris.

Meanwhile, Teddy Okereafor helped Rider snap a four-game losing streak after recording a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds to inspire a 72-82 road win against Charleston Southern. Ryan Martin scored 16 points for Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, but they fell to an 80-69 defeat – their second of the week having also been beaten 83-57 at Arkansas to end their winning run.

Karolis Kundotras came off the bench to contribute five points and three rebounds in eight minutes as Elon made it four straight wins after triumphing 91-74 over Alabama State.

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