Brits in College – Week 1 Recap

The college basketball season is officially underway and as always, we have numerous Brits paving their way through the US college system.

Here is a recap of all the top performances across NCAA D1, D2 and JUCO so far:

NCAA Division 1

Josh McSwiggan dropped a career-high 37 points with 11 rebounds to lead Portland (1-2) to a 111-103 victory over Multnomah for a winning start to the season. The redshirt junior then logged 40 minutes in each of the next two games with the Pilots falling twice in the Rainbow Classic, in Hawaii.

Samuel Idowu posted 15 points on 5 of 6 shooting including 3/3 from downtown along with three rebounds and a block in 17 minutes to help Saint Peter’s (1-2) to a 93-86 win in overtime as they came from 12 points down.

The senior forward had 15 points in a following defeat before setting a new career-high with 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting, whilst adding nine rebounds in a 71-63 loss at Bryant.

Career Night for Samuel Idowu Not Enough as Peacocks Stumble at Bryant

🔗:https://t.co/c7V6UeNxSv#StrutYourPride

— Saint Peter’s Men’s Basketball (@PeacocksMBB) November 15, 2018

Redshirt junior Akwasi Yeboah tallied 12 points and eight rebounds to help Stony Brook (2-0) to an opening 74-77 overtime triumph with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds coming in a narrow 83-81 victory against South Carolina.

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye put up 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and a career-high four steals as Bradley (3-0) secured a 74-58 victory in their season opener before scoring a career-high 22 points to leads the Braves to another success.

Freshman Micheal Anumba has earned a starting spot at Winthrop (2-1) and put up 13 points along with seven rebounds and four assists in an 82-94 road success before scoring 19 points – including 9/10 free throws – with six rebonds in 17 minutes as the Eagles broke a school record for points in a 134-99 triumph.

The @comporium Player of the Game is freshman Micheal Anumba pic.twitter.com/yL5Coz9zjJ

— Winthrop_MBB (@Winthrop_MBB) November 14, 2018

Senior forward Kavell Bigby-Williams had his best game of the season to date in a recent 85-76 win for LSU (3-0) over Memphis with 14 points without a miss — 7 of 7 shooting — along with four rebounds and a block in 17 minutes.

Karolis Kundrotas had six points and five rebounds in Elon’s 56-62 success on the road before starting in front of over 5000 in attendance in the home game against North Carolina. The senior forward then helped Elon (2-1) to a 98-71 win with 15 points — 6 of 8 shooting — along with eight boards.

AJ Edu neared a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds in a 99-58 win for Toledo (2-2) from the bench, while fellow Freshman Caleb Fuller got the start for UC Davis (0-3) and registered five points and four rebounds in an opening 42-76 home defeat.

Sophomore transfer Robinson Idehen scored eight points without a miss in a first loss for UC Santa Barbara (2-1) before adding 10 points to a dominant 88-32 victory. Nathan Robinson saw his first action of D1 basketball with six points in an opening win for South Dakota (2-0).

RJ Eytle-Rock scored five points in 17 minutes of a 93-45 victory as UMBC (2-1) picked up their first win with Dan Akin still recovering from an injury sustained with GB Under-20s this summer. Meanwhile, Boban Jacdonmi started in a 111-66 win for Southern Miss (3-0) and recorded four points and five rebounds in 12 minutes of action.

Other Notes – Nelson Boachie-Yiadom (Freshman) has missed the start of the season with Davidson due to concussion with Aaron Menzies (Senior) also out with an ankle injury ahead of his debut at Saint Mary’s College. Shaquille Walters (Sophomore) has been ruled eligible for Northeastern following his transfer from Santa Clara.

NCAA Division 2

Senior forward Deane Williams opened the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds in a 77-73 win for Georgia Regents (1-1) before adding another double-double with 22 points and 16 boards as well as four blocks in a following defeat.

David Akibo scored 24 points in a season-opening defeat for Minot State (3-1) before recording 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in their first victory of the season with Danny Evans also off to a strong start after posting 17 points and 10 rebounds in an opening success for Saint Anselm (2-0).

Junior guard Andre Arissol had 12 points to help Chaminade (2-0) off to a winning start, while freshman Kaiyem Cleary had back-to-back 12-point games in two wins for Florida Southern (2-0) having logged 28+ minutes in each encounter, off the bench.

Evan Walshe scored 11 points without a miss in a 92-62 win for Barry (3-0) before adding 13 points in the next win with five rebounds in both games. Gedi Juozapaitis hit double figures for the first time with 10 points in a win for Flagler (2-1), while Dwayne Orija had 13 points and eight rebounds in a narrow loss for Florida Tech (1-1) in his return to the US.

Sophomore guard Sam Van Oostrum contributed seven points, four rebounds and six assists to a 91-82 win for Franklin Pierce (1-2) with Tamas Okros netting 11 points in defeat for Post (1-1).

JUCO

Amin Adamu netted 21 points on 7 of 9 shooting in an opening 88-80 success for Casper (4-1) before adding 13 points in a 122-70 victory — as Zion Tordoff scored nine points to go with 10 rebounds — and another 20-point game as they make a strong start.

Obi Agu scored 18 points to lead Western Wyoming (2-4) to a 93-81 victory as they bounced back from two opening defeats and also had back-to-back 14-point games, while Kayne Henry is off to a 5-0 start with Northwest Florida State having put up a season-best of 22 points in their most recent victory.

Moses Byekwaso put up 16 points for Northeast (4-2) in an opening loss before contributing 18 points, four rebounds and four assists to their first win with Joel Ufele finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. He added another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds before posting 20 points and 10 boards, while Byekwaso exploded for 28 points in an 87-80 victory.

British duo Romario Spence and Carl Campbell have started 4-2 with Frank Phillips. Spence had 13 points and six rebounds in an opening victory before Campbell scored eight points in successive 60+ point wins with Spence hitting a season-high of 18 points in a narrow defeat.

Sophomore forward Jubrile Belo posted 20 points and 11 rebounds to help lead Lamar (1-6) to their only win this season having also scored 17 points in a defeat against Frank Phillips, in a battle with fellow Brit Spence.

Johde Campbell and Henri Langton have won four of their first five games with Missouri West-State Plains (4-1) with the duo sharing seven points off the bench in an 89-75 victory before Campbell fired in 19 points in a recent 112-110 OT triumph. Meanwhile, Ashley Briggs scored eight points in three successive victories for Lake Region State (4-1).