March Madness is here, and Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones headlines the opening of NCAA basketball’s crazy month.
The St Pat’s Silverstream guard scored a career-high 26 points (he’s averaging 17 points per game) as Hawaii at Hilo beat neighbours Hawaii Pacific 64-53 to clinch the Hawaii Pod of the NCAA Division II PacWest Conference.
Also in career form was former Canterbury Ram, Mac Stodart. He scored a team-high 19 points (8/13FG) but couldn’t prevent Concordia Irvine going down 82-65 to Biola in the Southern California Pod of the PacWest.
Making it a trio of personal bests was Marvin Williams-Dunn. The former New Zealand representative made 13 points (four from four from beyond the arc) as Ouachita Baptist squeezed home 68-66 against Arkansas Tech in the first round of the Great American Conference play-offs.
Former St Kevin’s College standout, Matt Brien, produced his first double-double (15 points and 10 rebounds) despite Nebraska at Kearney losing a cliff-hangar to Missouri Western, 74-72.
Eight points, five rebounds, three assists and a block from Will Heather helped Dallas Baptist University (DBU) finish its regular season with a pair of wins against Western New Mexico.
DBU hold the third seed ahead of the Lone Star Conference Tournament tipping-off 2 March.
In NCAA Division I, Yuat Alok’s 14 points (5/9FG) helped Coppin State University Eagles to a crucial 94-74 win at Delaware State. The win gives the Eagles its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular-season title since 2003-4. They now head to the MEAC Tournament commencing 10 March.
Dan Fotu recorded a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in St Mary’s, California 65-51 loss at BYU. The Tall Black is now just six points shy of 500 for his collegiate career. St Mary’s will carry the 4th seed going into the West Coast Conference Tournament when they play on 6 March.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored 10 points and dished three assists as South Dakota beat North Dakota State 80-71 to finish 11-4 and secure second spot on the Summit League ladder.
They take on Western Illinois in Summit League play-offs on 6 March.
Flynn Cameron also recorded 10 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals as University California Riverside accounted for UC Santa Barbara 68-52 in the Big West Conference.
Sam Mennenga scored nine points (4/8FG) as Davidson (7-4) warmed up for Atlantic 10 Tournament play, beginning 3 March, with a 65-57 win against Virginia Commonwealth.
The America East Conference Tournament is already in full swing with Thomas Webley and fourth seeded Hartford University having two wins under their belt. They next take on #2 Vermont in the semi-finals on 6 March.
The NAIA conference play-offs are already done and dusted for the kiwis.
Finn McClure was named to the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) All-Freshman Team this week. In his most recent outing, he came tantalizingly close to a triple double with nine points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Unfortunately, Milligan bowed out 88-81 in the quarter-finals.
McClure led Milligan University in the assists and steals columns, averaging 4.5 and 1.7 per game, respectively.
Also bowing out in the quarters was former Junior Tall Black Maxim Stephens (Rocky Mountain University). Rocky was punished 82-66 by Montana Tech despite a double-double (12 points and 10 rebounds) from Stephens. He has averaged a team-high 14.5 points per game for the Rockies this season.
Unfortunately, St Francis, Illinois also had an early exit, losing in the first round of the Chicagoland Athletic Association Tournament. They were beaten 97-90 by Trinity International.
St Francis finished the season at 14-10 with freshman Reihana Maxwell-Topia playing all but two games for the Fighting Saints, averaging three points and two rebounds per game.
In Europe, Isaac Fotu has made a returned to the court in Italy. Having not played since December due to injury, the Tall Black forward eased back into action scoring five points in just nine minutes as Venezia went down 96-88 to Sassari.
Matt Freeman nabbed 10 points, but Trier were defeated 80-68 by Heidelberg in German Division 2 action.
In other news, Shalom Broughton has signed for Tasmanian club Somerset Heat. The 2019 National Secondary Schools MVP will be playing alongside new Tall Black Mitch Dance.
Meanwhile back in New Zealand, athletes are dealing with the new recruiting conditions that Covid-19 has presented. To assist athletes navigate this sometimes tricky and complex process, BBNZ recommends NCSA, our official US College recruiting partner.
Basketball New Zealand and NCSA have partnered to provide more of our aspiring athletes with a pathway to academic and athletic success in the US. NCSA’s staff of 750 former college and pro athletes and coaches have helped 200,000+ student-athletes commit to the school of their choice and has many different support options available, including a FREE option.
For more information on NCSA, please contact Mel Downer mel.downer@nz.basketball
