The biggest news from men’s college basketball this week concerns Rangitoto College alumni Dan Fotu and Yuat Alok.
Alok has resurrected his college career, with immediate effect, at Coppin State University where former Breakers Head Coach Kevin Braswell is an assistant coach.
Alok was thrown in the deep end last weekend as he started both games of Coppin’s double header against Morgan State. Coppin earned a win and a loss with the former Rangitoto big man claiming 10 points (4/8FG) and 4 rebounds on debut followed by 6 points and 6 rebounds 24-hours later.
Meanwhile Dan Fotu enjoyed one of the best games of his three-year college career as St Mary’s, California gave #1 ranked Gonzaga as much as they could handle before going down 73-59.
The Tall Black forward scored a team high 15 points (6/10FG) and added 7 rebounds whilst playing a massive 38 minutes. Quinn Clinton chimed in with 8 points as the kiwi duo made a combined 5 from 11 threes.
Sam Mennenga was within a rebound of his first double-double for Davidson College as the Wildcats defeated St Joseph’s 80-66.
Mennenga finished with 9 rebounds to accompany 15 points, knocking down 3 from 5 from beyond the three-point arc as Davidson moved to 2-2 in the Atlanic-10.
Fellow Westlaker James Moors scored a season high 14 points as Colorado State University thumped San Jose State 88-61 with CSU now 7-1 in the Mountain West Conference league.
In a non-conference game Flynn Cameron came up with 12 points, as Cal Riverside pushed the highly touted USC all the way before going down 67-62 in overtime.
The former Junior Tall Black followed that with 13 points in Riverside’s thumping of Cal Poly (86-51) – Angus McWilliam 6 points (3/3FG) in that one, with Riverside now 3-1 in the Big West Conference.
In NCAA Division II play things couldn’t have gone much better for Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones. The former St Pat’s college captain made a stunning PacWest Conference start amassing 41 points (17/30FG, 4/9 3PG) and 20 rebounds as Hawaii at Hilo completed a pair of wins against Hawaii Pacific.
Fellow Kiwi Tom Power added a pair of rebounds to 2 points in the second Hilo win.
Wilfred Dickson scored a team high 18 points (7/12FG) as South Dakota School of Mines gained a narrow 74-70 win against Regis. The former Napier Boys High guard also added 9 rebounds as he reached the 100 points mark for the season at 12.5 points per game.
Will Heather dished a career high 8 assists as Dallas Baptist eased past Oklahoma Christian 90-79. The former Rosmini forward added 4 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks for Dallas Baptist that are 7-1 in the Lone Star Conference.
Matt Brien scored a team high 16 points (6/12FG) and also snared 6 boards as Nebraska at Kearney saw off Missouri Western 75-67.
Mac Stodart made a start for Concordia-Irvine in their opening PacWest Conference fixture, a 93-84 loss to Northwest Nazarine. Stodart made 11 points on 4 from 8 shooting.
Reihanna Maxwell-Topia’s 8 points (2/4 3PG) and 3 rebounds helped St Joseph’s Fighting Saints to a 68-63 road win at Trinity Christian.
LACEY LOWDOWN 