STANDISH, Maine – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) weekly honors have been released and a pair of Saint Joseph's College men's basketball players have collected accolades.
Senior guard Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, Maine) has been selected as the GNAC Player of the Week for the second-consecutive reporting period while freshman forward Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) is the GNAC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season.
Simonds averaged 27.0 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 5.0 APG while shooting 58.3% (14-24) from three-point range and 80% (8-10) from the FT line in a 2-0 week for Saint Joseph's. He turned in a terrific performance on Wednesday night, when he scored a game-high 36 points - including 27 in the first half - while breaking the Monks' single-game three-point FG record with nine trifectas versus Rivier University. The senior guard also pulled down 10 rebounds with five assists against the Raiders and totaled 18 points with five boards, five dimes and three steals versus Norwich University on Saturday.
Richardson-Newton averaged 10.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG and 2.5 APG while shooting 66.7% from the floor and 75% from the FT line last week. The freshman forward, who earned his first GNAC weekly honor on December 8th, was one rebound shy of his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and nine boards in the triumph over the Cadets on Saturday afternoon.
Simonds leads the conference in scoring (22.5 PPG), points (428), three-pointers made (71), three-point percentage (51.0%) and free throw percentage (86.0%) and also ranks third in field goals made (139), fourth in rebounds (151) and rebounds average (7.9), fifth in field goal percentage (56.0%) and sixth in assists 69). As of February 8th, Simonds ranks second in NCAA DIII in three-point percentage and 10th in scoring.
Richardson-Newton currently leads the team in field goal percentage (57.3%) – the fourth-highest mark in the GNAC - and ranks second on the squad in rebounding (3.8 RPG) and third in both scoring (9.8 PPG) and field goals made (71). No St. Joe's player has averaged as many as 9.8 PPG during their freshman season since Chris Davis posted the same mark in 2007-08.
Simonds is the only player to claim GNAC Player of the Week honors in back to back weeks since Saint Joseph's began play in the conference in 2007. Richardson-Newton also earns distinction as the only SJC player to collect a pair of GNAC Rookie of the Week awards during this same span.
Saint Joseph's returns to the hardwood this evening with a home conference contest versus Suffolk University. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 PM.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
