Rec Ball Roundup, Week 2: Wichita continues hot start, Fitzgerald and Dolan return

Oliver Davey

Junior Mike Ricciardi of Texas A&M drives into the lane against the Saint Louis Billikens defense. Saint Louis won the game 56-53

Oliver Davey, Staff Writer

The second week was full of impressive returns from players who had not played in the first week. It also saw a huge comeback, a team hold their opponent to nine points in a half, and the sophomore single game scoring record this season get broken…twice…by the same player.

UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 58

Evansville Purple Aces 57

Senior Will Atkins  stunned the Aces in this one. Down huge with only a few minutes left, Atkins went off hitting threes all over the place-five in the second half! A banked in 3 by Chris Kennedy set up the game winning lay-up for, you guessed it, Atkins. Atkins finished with 29 points and moved the Banana Slugs to 2-1. The Aces fall to 1-2 but had good contributions from Brenden Walsh, Shray Gurtata and Berke Belge.

Texas A&M International Dustdevils 61

Fort Wayne Mastodons 46

The Jasons are back! After not being there for the first game and losing by almost 40 points, Jason Dolan and Jason Fitzgerald came and dominated in their team’s second game of the year. Fitzgerald had 14 points, the most in one game for any Sophomore this year, up to then. Dolan had 21 on 50% foul shooting. The Mastodons fell to 0-2, but Chris Amato and Josh Donaruma combined for 22 points and Alex Mondro had 12 showing the offense is there.

Campbell Fighting Camels 49

Akron Zips 43

A low scoring 1st half led to a 20-20 tie heading into the second in this one. From then on it was a battle of two juniors. Matt Laverdure of the Zips showed why he is the top scorer in his grade so far, dropping 13 points with 3 3-pointers in the second half. Paul Healy countered it for the Camels scoring 12 points. Healy got a bit more help towards the end from his teammates, however, as Matt Vlach and Colin Carney both had 3s to help seal the win for Campbell.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 59

Stetson Hatters 46

After a huge win to start the season, Stetson came back down to earth in this one, losing to the Coastal Carolina who have gotten off to a hot 2-0 start this year. Jessie McLaughlin and Dom SanGiovanni led the way for the Chanticleers with 13 points each. Even With a lot of missed foul shots for the Chanticleers, they had every single player that played in the game score showing they have depth through there lineup. Senior Matthew Robertson was not as dominant as week one but still had 9 points for the now 1-1 Stetson Hatters.

Wichita State Shockers 47

Saint Louis Billikens 40

A battle of undefeated teams, the 2-0 Shockers got the win over a Saint Louis team fresh off a 35 Point game by Derek Jones. This game was a battle deep into the second half until Justin Dulczewski turned it on with a clutch 3 to give the Shockers a 4-point lead, along with some great defensive plays. Dennis Scannell (10 points) and Tim Loosigian (11 points) also continued to impress for Wichita. Saint Louis hopefully will get some more players involved next game as Derek Jones and Blayde Trembley had all but 15 of their team’s points.

University of Idaho Vandals 69

Webster Gorloks 49

He may not have had the most points, hit the most 3’s, or grabbed the most rebounds but Justin Ly-Em won this game for the Vandals in an upset over one of the preseason favorites Webster Gorloks. Ly-Em, after missing the first game had 8 points, but his presence was felt all over the defensive end as he wreaked havoc on Webster’s guards with quick hands and fast feet. “I really channeled my inner Russell Westbrook with all those air balls. I played good defense though,” Ly-Em jokingly said after the game. Senior Marcus Njorogeh also chipped in for the University of Idaho win with 14 points. It has been a disappointing 1-2 start to the season for the Gorloks but with Cam Tierney shooting from the line the way he did in this one (8 for 9), things are hopefully going to get better.

Fort Wayne Mastodons 64

Campbell Fighting Camels 41

The Fort Wayne Mastodons came into this one 0-2 and looking for a win. They came out firing on defense only letting up nine points in the first half and built a 28 point. Senior Alex Mondro had 15 points in the first half alone, and Chris Amato scored 9 in the first half with some great outside shooting. The Camels played better in the 2nd half, led by Matt Vlach who had 12 points. “I went off in the second half,” Vlach said. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Camels lost and fell to 1-2 on the season.

Saint Louis Billikens 56

Texas A&M International Dustdevils 53

This game was a battle of two 1-1 teams, and went down to the wire with Saint Louis pulling out a 3-point win. Jason Fitzgerald broke his own record for single game Sophomore scoring this year with 20 points for the Dustdevils. Senior Jason Dolan also scored 16 points for the Texas A&M. It was not enough however as 18 points and perfect foul shooting from Derek Jones along with 12 points from Blayde Trembley moved the Billikens to 2-1.

Performances of The Week

 

Seniors

Player Team Performance
Will Atkins UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 29 points, 5 threes in the second half, game winning layup vs. Evansville
Jason Dolan Texas A&M International Dustdevils 21 Points in win vs. Fort Wayne
Derek Jones Saint Louis Billikens 18 Points and perfect foul shooting in win vs. Texas A&M

 

Juniors

Player Team Performance
Paul Healy Campbell Fighting Camels 12 second-half points in win vs. Akron
Justin Dulczewski Wichita State Shockers 10 Points and great defense in win vs. Saint Louis
Tim Loosigian Wichita State Shockers 11 Points in win vs. Saint Louis

 

Sophomores

Player Team Performance
Justin Ly-Em University of Idaho Vandals 8 points and fantastic defense in win vs. Webster
Jason Fitzgerald Texas A&M International Dustdevils 14 points in win vs. Fort Wayne
Dom DiGiovine Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 13 Points in win vs. Stetson

 

        Standings After Week Two

 

Rank Team Wins Losses Points For Points Against
1 Wichita State Shockers 3 0 155 128
2 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 2 0 110 95
3 UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 2 1 165 146
4 Saint Louis Billikens 2 1 155 149
5 University of Idaho Vandals 1 1 118 98
6 Stetson Hatters 1 1 107 80
7 Evansville Purple Aces 1 2 155 156
8 Webster Gorloks 1 2 154 177
9 Fort Wayne Mastodons 1 2 145 159
10 Texas A&M International Dustdevils 1 2 135 165
11 Campbell Fighting Camels 1 2 133 156
12 Akron Zips 0 2 78 103