Courtesy of PatriotLeague.org.
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — The calendar is almost ready to turn to December, and as the midway point of the non-League slate nears the eight Patriot League squads are still combining for impressive marks.
The eight teams have a cumulative 25-23 mark for the season, with a 22-12 record against Division I opponents outside of the “Big-Six” conferences. The Patriot League is a combined 20-4 against regional conferences including the America East, CAA, Ivy League, MAAC, NEC and MEAC.
Three more wins against those conferences came over the weekend, including Lehigh’s 91-77 at Sacred Heart where senior C.J. McCollum became the Patriot League’s all-time leading scorer with 2,228 points. Also, Holy Cross beat New Hampshire 60-50 and Navy topped Delaware State 63-53 on Saturday.
It was almost an even more productive weekend, but buzzer beaters were not on the side of Patriot League squads. Bucknell had a chance to tie Penn State, but a three-pointer was off the mark and the Bison fell 60-57 for their first loss after a 5-0 start. American and Army each lost by three points on the road as final-second attempts were off the mark, with Ella Ellis scoring a career-high 37 points in the Black Knights’ 86-83 double overtime defeat at Yale. Navy lost 42-40 to Prairie View on Friday on a last-second layup.
Six teams are in action during the weekday portion of the schedule, which begins with Lafayette at Monmouth on Monday.
Patriot League Anaconda Weekly Awards (Nov. 19-25)
Anaconda Player of the Week
C.J. McCOLLUM, LEHIGH Sr., G, 6-3, 200; Canton, Ohio/Glen Oak
McCollum had a week to remember that culminated with him becoming the Patriot League’s all-time leading scorer in Lehigh’s 91-77 win at Sacred Heart on Sunday. McCollum needed 22 points coming into the contest, and scored 26 while breaking the record with a pull-up jumper with 12:53 left in the second half. McCollum is now up to 2,228 career points, topping the previous mark of 2,224 set by Holy Cross’ Rob Feaster (1991-95). The senior guard reached the milestone quickly this season as he is third in the country with 25.7 points per game for the year. He averaged 27.3 points in three Lehigh victories last week while shooting 52% (28-of-54) from the field and 65% (11-of-17) from three-point range. McCollum put up 35 points in an 82-67 win over Fairfield on Monday, which included a highlight reel dunk that was featured on ESPN SportsCenter’s top 10 plays. He followed that up with 21 points in a 73-66 win over Penn on Tuesday as Lehigh opened its home schedule with a pair of victories. McCollum also averaged 4.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists for the week. He is named Patriot League Anaconda Player of the Week for the second time this year and 14th in his illustrious career, six ahead of any other player in League history.
Anaconda Rookie of the Week
KYLE WILSON, ARMY Fr., G, 6-4, 190; Mission Viejo, Calif./Trabuco Hills (USMAPS)
Wilson earns his second consecutive Patriot League Anaconda Rookie of the Week award after a pair of double-figure scoring games in two contests for the Black Knights. He scored 13 points on 6-of-12 from the field in a 67-59 win at St. Francis (NY) on Tuesday and totaled 10 points in an 86-83 double overtime loss against Yale on Saturday. He was Army’s second-leading scorer in each game and has scored in double digits in four of his first five collegiate games. Wilson leads all Patriot League freshmen and is 10th overall in the League with 13.4 points per game for the year.
Honorable Mention
ELLA ELLIS, ARMY Sr., F, 6-7, 195; Houston Texas/Eisenhower (USMAPS)
Ellis scored a career-high 37 points in Army’s 86-83 double overtime loss at Yale on Saturday, and averaged 26.0 points as the Black Knights split a pair of games last week.
DAVE DUDZINSKI, HOLY CROSS Jr., F, 6-9, 227; Elburn, Ill./Kaneland
Dudzinski had 19 points and eight rebounds in a 60-50 win over New Hampshire on Saturday and averaged 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in a 1-1 week for the Crusaders.
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