Men's Basketball Weekly Awards Claimed by Pair of Freshman
MAAC Sports
Player of the Week
Schadrac Casimir, Iona
Fr., G, 5-10, 155, Stamford, Conn./South Kent School/Trinity Catholic
Rookie Schadrac Casimir averaged 17.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and drained five three point field goals in helping to lead Iona to a 2-0 week. Casimir had 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting in the Gaels 77-64 win over Rider in MAAC play at the Hynes Center Wednesday night. The 5-10 rookie added 16 points and a career-best six rebounds in the ESPN Bracketbusters return game win over Indiana State. Casimir scored 11 of his 16 points in the decisive final eight minutes of the Gaels win over the Sycamores including all four free throw attempts in the final minutes to seal the win. Iona came back from a 15-point first-half deficit in the victory over its Missouri Valley Conference opponent.
Rookie of the Week
K.J. Lee, Marist
Fr., G, 6-4, 185, Huntington Station, N.Y./Salisbury School
Lee averaged 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals in Marist’s two games this week while shooting .438 (7-for-16) from the field and .778 (7-for-9) from the free-throw line. At Penn on Dec. 9, Lee established career highs with 15 points and three steals, while also contributing three assists and three rebounds. At VMI on Dec. 13, Lee had a career-high eight rebounds to go along with six points and three assists. Lee did not come out of Marist’s game at Penn, and sat for only a few seconds at VMI.