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Monday, Dec. 3, 2007
MARTIN AND SIMMONS HONORED BY LITTLE EAST
They are selected top men’s basketball player and rookie, respectively, last week
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Senior forward Leon Martin(Woodbury/Nonnewaug HS) and freshman point guard Courtney Simmons (Middletown/Xavier HS) have been singled out by the Little East Conference as its top men’s basketball player and top rookie, respectively, after guiding the Warriors to a 2-0 record during the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2.
The 6-foot-5 Martin led Eastern in scoring (27.5), rebounding (11.0) and blocked shots (6) in a non-conference road win over Wesleyan University Wednesday and a conference-opening road victory over Plymouth State University Saturday. He shot 58.1 per cent (18-of-31) from the floor and 77.3 per cent (17-of-22) from the foul line.
Simmons averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists and shot 80.0
per cent from the stripe (8-of-10) in two starts.
Martin had double-doubles in both games with 29 points and 11 rebounds in thedouble-overtime win over Wesleyan and 26 points and 11 rebounds in a 13-point victory over Plymouth – theteam’sfirst win at Plymouth after nine consecutive losses. Martin posted the two highest scoring games of his career during the week and registered his 15th and 16th career double-doubles (third and fourth of this season).
Through six games for the 3-3 Warriors, Martin is ranked fifth in the LEC in scoring (16.0 ppg.), fourth in rebounding (8.5), and first in blocked shots (16) and blocks per game (2.67).
Simmons, who has started all six games this year, scored a career-high 17 points against Plymouth. He was 5-for-8 from the floor (3-for-4from “three”) and perfect on four free throws and had six rebounds in 26 minutes. He had eight points and four assists in a career-high 38 minutes against Wesleyan. Overall, Simmons averages8.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He leads all conference freshmen in assists, ranking sixth overall in that department. Among LEC players averaging at least 3.0 assists per game, he leads all freshmen with an assist-to-turnover ratio of +1.06.
It was the first weekly award this year for both Martin and Simmons. Prior to this season, Martin had earned a spot on the weekly honor roll a total of four times and was selected Rookie-of-the-Week once in 2004/05.
Eastern hosts Massachusetts Boston Saturday at 3 p.m. in a conference game.
