Obery, Robinson Earn CACC Weekly Honors
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (February 4, 2013) – Felician College's Antoine Obery and Nyack's Will Robinson have been selected as the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference's (CACC) Men's Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week for the reporting period ending February 3, 2013 the Conference announced Monday.
CACC MEN'S BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Antoine Obery (Sr., F, Roselle, N.J.) Felician – Major: Computer Information Services
Senior forward Antoine Obery established CACC 2012-13 single-game highs with 39 points and 21 rebounds in an 84-77 victory at Goldey-Beacom. In the win he connected on four of his five attempts from behind the arc. It was the first "30-20" game in the conference in more than 10 years. The 39-point performance tied a Felician record for points in a game and his 21 rebounds were one short of another. Obery's 16 field goals (in 22 attempts) against the Lightening set a school record formerly held by Michael Pierrot with 14. The criminal justice major also turned in a 24-point, 15-rebound performance last Thursday, helping his team to a 71-64 victory over Post. For the week, Obery shot an impressive 62.5% from the floor and 57.1% from distance to average 31.5 points per game and 18 rebounds.
CACC MEN'S BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Will Robinson (Fr., F, Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) Nyack – Major: Youth and Family Studies
Robinson averaged 21.3 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Warriors in three games last week. On Tuesday the 6-6 forward scored 16 points and pulled in 11 rebounds as Nyack fell just short of Bloomfield, 75-61. He scored in double-digits again at Dominican on Thursday, scoring 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the floor. Robinson added eight rebounds and two steals in the 80-65 loss. The Mt. Vernon, N.Y. native continued to pour in the offense on Saturday, scoring 26 points on 10-for-16 shooting in a 78-77 victory at Wilmington.
CACC MEN'S BASKETBALL HONORABLE MENTION
Marcus Porter (So., G, Wilmington, Del.) Goldey-Beacom – Major: Sports Management
Sophomore Marcus Porter led the Lightning to a 1-1 record last week by averaging 19.5 points and 11 rebounds per game. Porter scored 19 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the field, including the game-winner in overtime and 2-for-4 from distance to help his team snap a seven-game losing streak. The Wilmington, Del. native also added eight rebounds and four steal against USciences in the 76-74 victory over the Devils. He followed up with another solid performance on Saturday, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to post his sixth "double double" of the season in an 84-77 setback at Felician.
Michael Balkovic (So., F, Neptune, N.J.) Caldwell – Major: Management
Balkovic averaged 19 points and 12.5 rebounds in two games last week. The 6-6 forward racked up 19 points, 16 rebounds and three assists in an 83-68 loss against Dominican on Tuesday. On Saturday he again tallied 19 points in a victory over USciences, this time the sophomore pulled in nine rebounds and added an assist and a steal. In the victory he was a perfect 4-for4 from the line and shot 50% from the field as well as 50% from distance. Balkovic converted 12-of-15 (80.0 percent) free throw attempts for the week.
Peter Alexis (So., F, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) Philadelphia – Major: Psychology
Led the Rams to an 81-76 triumph at Bloomfield in Philadelphia's only game of the week. Alexis recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 23 points and a career-high 16 rebounds against the Deacons. The psychology major shot 83.3% from the field on 10-for-12 shooting and connected on all three of his free throw attempts. He also added three blocks in the winning effort.
CACC MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM NOTES
BLOOMFIELD - The Deacons went 1-1 this week, picking up a conference victory over CACC North Division rival Nyack College Tuesday, January 29. Sophomore shooting guard Marvin Williams (Jersey City, N.J.) led the Deacons in scoring in both of the team's contests this week, notching 18 points in the victory over Nyack and 22 points in a loss to Philadelphia University Saturday afternoon. Williams would finish the week an even 50% from beyond the arc over the two games, also averaging 1.5 assists per contest over the two-game stretch. Sophomore guard Matt Hall (Brooklyn, N.Y.) totaled 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds in the club's victory over Nyack, with junior guard Terry Hicks (Neptune, N.J.) also adding 14 points in the win. Rookie point guard Clarence White (Bronx, N.Y.) totaled a career-high 16 points in the loss to Philadelphia Saturday afternoon, adding four assists and two steals in the setback. Fellow rookie Erik Sanders, (New York, N.Y.) tallied 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc in the club's loss to Philadelphia Saturday.
CALDWELL - The Cougars split a pair of conference games last week, losing to Dominican on Tuesday and beating USciences on Saturday. Sophomore forward Michael Balkovic posted his seventh double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds in an 83-68 loss to Dominican. He then registered 19 points and nine boards to help Caldwell defeat USciences, 61-55. Freshman Dawan Lighty contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals in the win over the Devils. The Cougars play at Nyack on Wednesday and host Chestnut Hill on Saturday.
CHESTNUT HILL - After tying Saturday's CACC contest on a last-second three-point play, 85-85, Concordia College (NY) allowed Chestnut Hill College to move the ball to a streaking, freshman guard, Dexter Harris (Swedesboro, N.J.) for the game-winning layup, 87-85. The Griffins rallied from a 12-point, first-half deficit to hold the advantage until the Clippers game-tying and-one. Senior guard Mark DiRugeris Jr. (Woodbury, N.J.) headlined five Griffins in double figures with 23 points; he also recorded four steals in the victory. In defeat, senior forward Argelix Gil (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led all scorers with 28 points.
CONCORDIA – Concordia dropped an 87-85 decision against Chestnut Hill on Saturday in their only game last week. Senior Argelix Gil (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded a game-high 28 points for the Clippers which included seven rebounds and four assists on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Junior Norman Pope (Washington, D.C.) chipped in with 19 points and five assists while senior Lavor Morris (Bronx, N.Y.) added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. For the upcoming week, Concordia (9-14, 5-8 CACC) will host Bloomfield on Wednesday in their only game for the week as the Clippers will look to split the season series against the Deacons.
DOMINICAN - The Chargers went 2-0 in action last week to improve to 18-3 overall and 12-1 in conference play. Four different players averaged in double figures for the week as Leon Porter, Khaleev Ginyard, Nick Smith and Cory Quimby all averaged 10 points or better for the week. Dominican extended their winning streak to five games and made their third appearance in the NABC Poll "receiving votes" section.
FELICIAN - Felician snapped a 17-game road losing streak with Saturday's 84-77 win at Goldey-Beacom. Senior forward Antoine Obery established CACC 2012-13 single-game highs with 39 points and 21 rebounds in the contest. It was the first "30-20" game in the conference in more than 10 years. The 39 points tied the Felician record and the 21 rebounds were one short of another. His 16 field goals (in 22 attempts) set a school record formerly held by Michael Pierrot with 14.
GOLDEY-BEACOM – The Lightning split a pair of CACC games last week, improving their record to 6-15 overall and 3-10 in the CACC. Goldey-Beacom snapped a seven-game losing streak by edging the University of the Sciences, 76-74, in overtime on Tuesday night before falling to Felician by 84-77 on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Marcus Porter led the Lightning last week by averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds per game. Porter, who scored 20 points in each of the Lightning's games last week, scored the game-winning jumper in the closing seconds of overtime as the Lightning swept the season series against the Devils. Meanwhile, freshman guard Akil Charles scored a season-high 11 points in the win over USP on Tuesday, including the game-tying jumper that sent the game into overtime. In addition, junior guard A.J. Picard moved into 11th place on the Lightning's all-time scoring list with 801 career points after averaging 18.5 points per game last week. Senior forward Lawrence Livingston also broke the GBC single-season blocked shots record after posting three rejections against Felician on Saturday; he has 43 blocks in 20 games this year. The Lightning will play a pair of games this week. After hosting Lincoln on Wednesday in a non-conference game, the Lightning will travel to Nyack for a Saturday showdown against the Warriors.
HOLY FAMILY – Holy Family split a pair of conference games this past week as the Tigers picked up a victory at Wilmington, 68-61, on Tuesday to start the week. The Tigers came up short, 57-55, at Post on Saturday. Junior Alberto Munoz finished the week with 12 three-pointers. Munoz tied his career-high with seven made three-pointers in the win at Wilmington. He averaged 22 points per game and shot .522-percent from beyond the arc on the week. Junior Ervin Ezell also average over 20-points per game as he average 20.5 points and 3.0 steals per game this past week.
PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia (13-6, 8-2 CACC) extended its season-best winning streak to five games after defeating Bloomfield 81-76 on Saturday. Freshman forward Peter Alexis (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 23 points and a career-high 16 rebounds in the win. Senior guard Jim Connolly (Harleysville, Pa.) netted 10 points and became the 24th player in school history to score 1,400 points (1,403). The Rams are sixth in the nation in turnovers per game (10.8). Philadelphia travels to Holy Family on Wednesday and hosts Dominican (N.Y.) on Saturday.
POST – Post split a pair of conference tilts last week, after it lost at Felician (71-64) and squeaked past Holy Family (57-55) on Saturday. Junior Zach Krischer hit the third game-winning shot of his Post career with 3.2 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Eagles the lead for good. The Eagles will return to action at Dominican (Feb. 6) and against the University of the Sciences (Feb. 9).
USCIENCES – Sho' DaSilva had a career high 21 points, but the Devils could not climb out of a 17-point second half deficit in their 61-55 loss to Caldwell on Saturday. The loss kept the Devils winless for three week as they dropped a 76-74 overtime decision to Goldey-Beacom on Tuesday. Goldey-Beacom erased an 11-point Devil lead in the final 2:54 to send the game to overtime where they pulled it out on a bucket in the final seconds. Garret Kerr led the Devils, tying his career high with 32 points. Kerr is currently ranked 3rd nationally in rebounding and 24th in scoring. He leads the nation with 13 double-doubles. The Devils will face Washington Adventist in a non-conference tilt on Monday before traveling to Post University on Saturday.
WILMINGTON - Senior Herb Dennis led the Wildcats with a new career high 26 points on Saturday, but Wilmington dropped both of its home games this week, first to Holy Family, 61-68, and to Nyack on Saturday, 77-78. Dennis led all scorers with his career high on Saturday, and averaged 16 points in the two games. He also passed out 15 assists on the week while shooting an outstanding 17-of-18 from the foul line. Brandon Fox and Shai Henry led the team with 15 rebounds each in the two games. Fox denied a career best five shot attempts on Saturday against Nyack. The Wildcats return to the road this week, as they head to Chestnut Hill on Tuesday before going to Bloomfield on Saturday.