By Dylan Butler
Rashad Bell is an explosive scorer, just ask anyone from the Catholic High School Athletic Association. Last year he torched opponents to the tune of 27 points, 12 rebounds and 4.5 blocks for St. Francis Prep.
Sixteen games into his collegiate career, America East foes are just now getting a glimpse of how potent the 6-foot-6 freshman forward is offensively as Bell scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting to help lead Boston University to a 90-54 win over Stony Brook Saturday at Case Gym in Boston.
Bell, who also had four points and seven rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench in a 62-50 win over Binghamton last Thursday, and fellow freshman Chaz Carr combined for 36 points.
“Rashad Bell’s last two games have been his best games of the season,” said Boston University coach and Bayside native Dennis Wolff, a former Holy Cross standout. “We had contributions from a lot of different players. Our two guards had 11 assists between them, we had guys on the boards and we had a lot of energy on the front of the press, which disrupted them.”
Bell is averaging 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game for the Terriers.
Another former Queens high school standout also had a breakthrough performance this weekend was former St. John’s Prep star Taliek Brown who had 16 points, four assists, two steals and just one turnover in 37 minutes to help lead the University of Connecticut past Villanova, 70-65, Sunday at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.
“Taliek was immense,” said UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. “He was all over the place. Running our offense, scoring points and he did a wonderful job on [Gary] Buchanan, who is one of the better shooters in the country.”
Buchanan scored 16 points, but Brown, a sophomore point guard from LeFrak City, held him to just 5-of-12 shooting from the field.
Former Newtown star William “Smush” Parker, who averages 16.5 points and 5.3 assists per game, had 19 points and 10 boards and Jeff McMillan, who was a standout at Bayside, added 12 points and six rebounds to lead Fordham past the University of Massachusetts 95-86 Saturday.
Chris Sandy, a 6-foot-1 senior guard who also played high school ball at Newtown, had 21 points and six assists in 33 minutes but it wasn’t enough as Fresno State fell to Nevada, 88-85, Saturday.
Former Christ the King standout Kason Mims tied a career-high with 27 points, had six steals and grabbed five rebounds in Quinnipiac’s 77-75 loss to Wagner. Yves Kabore, who played at Holy Cross, had six points, three assists and three rebounds for the Seahawks Saturday.
Masur named coach of the year
St. John’s men’s soccer coach Dave Masur was named National Coach of the Year by Soccer America magazine, it was announced last week. It was the second time in five years the 11-year Red Storm head coach earned national coach of the year honors.
He was also named coach of the year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in 1996 after leading St. John’s to a 22-2-2 record and the school’s first national championship.
“I think it’s an honor to the program and our players at St. John’s,” said Masur, who led the Red Storm to a 17-3-3 record and a Final Four berth before falling to Indiana in double overtime. “Soccer America is one of the leading promoters of our sport in the country and this is a direct reflection on our student-athletes, coaches and staff.”
Also honored by the weekly publication was Red Storm senior midfielder Shalrie Joseph, who was named one of 11 College Men’s Most Valuable Players. Joseph, a two-time first-team All-Big East selection and third team All-American, finished his career with 21 goals and six assists for 48 points.
The Red Storm also earned academic honors as sophomore defender and tri-captain Chris Wingert was named to the Verizon Academic All-District I Men’s Soccer Team, it was announced last week.
Wingert was one of 11 players to earn first-team honors and was one of two Red Storm players to be selected as sophomore forward Angel Rodriguez was named to the second team.
It was quite a week for Wingert, who also recently selected to tryout for the U.S. Under-23 National Team, a group that will likely form the 2004 Olympic squad.
Queensborough sweeps CUNYAC honors
The Queensborough Community College men’s basketball team took home CUNYAC Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week, the league announced last week.
Jeffrey Boone, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Rosedale, was named the conference’s Player of the Week after notching his first career triple-double (21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) in a 74-72 win over Bronx Community College, including the game-winning jumper with one second left in the second half.
The former August Martin standout leads the Tigers with 18.4 points per game, 6.9 rebounds per game and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 51 percent from the field.
Cardozo grad Dimitris Dimitropoulos earned Rookie of the Week honors thanks to a game-high 25-point performance in the win over Bronx. The 6-foot-3 sharpshooter from Jamaica was 8-of-14 from the field, including four three-pointers, and shot 5-of-6 from the free throw line while grabbing four rebounds in the victory.
Ross earns CUNYAC honors
Desirae Ross, a 5-foot-8 senior guard at Lehman, was named CUNYAC Player of the Week when she netted 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three point range, and grabbed four rebounds against Hunter. The Queens native, a two-time CUNYAC all-star, also broke the 1,000 point mark for her career.
Men’s Basketball
Philadelphia University 75, Queens College 59. John Sikiric had 18 points and seven rebounds and Alex McLean added 14 points and six boards in the Knights New York Collegiate Athletic Conference loss in Philadelphia Saturday.
Jim Reeves had 24 points, including 14-of-15 from the free throw line, and 10 boards and Brent Welton chipped in 16 points for Philadelphia University (8-4, 6-2), who outscored Queens 27-4 from the foul line. Queens (5-6, 4-3) hosts Mercy Thursday and Molloy Saturday before playing at Concordia Monday at 7 p.m.
Queens College 70, Dowling 68. Sikiric and Dave Trani scored 15 points apiece, McLean had 14 points and Gary DeBerry added 13 points for the Knights in a road win last Wednesday in Oakdale, L.I. Angel Figueroa scored a game-high 24 points for Dowling (4-7, 3-4).
Women’s Basketball
Seton Hall 74, St. John’s 46. Mary Pat Statler and Shemika Stevens each scored a team-high nine points and Rasheedah Brown grabbed a team-high five rebounds and added five points and three steals in another Red Storm loss Saturday in South Orange, N.J. St. John’s drops to 3-13 and 0-5 in the Big East. It doesn’t get any easier for Darcel Estep’s squad with a road game at Virginia Tech Saturday at 2 p.m.
Philadelphia University 81, Queens College 66. Shonda Holder had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Theresa Dollard added 15 points and six assists and Natasha Lyons chipped in 13 points for Queens (3-8, 2-5) in the NYCAC loss Saturday in Philadelphia. Philadelphia University (8-5, 7-2) was led by Adrianne Reese who scored a game-high 22 points.
Dowling College 53, Queens College 48. Dollard and Cheryl Cosenzo scored 13 points apiece for the Lady Knights while Dowling (5-6, 5-2) was paced by Zulmary Andino’s 21 points and 10 rebounds. Queens hosts Mercy and Molloy before heading to Concordia Monday at 5 p.m.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
