2003-04 Players of the Week

February 23, 2004
Co-Players of the Week

Curtis Smith, Plattsburgh
Junior, Guard (Brooklyn/Jefferson CC)
Smith led the Cardinals to two key wins which landed them a spot in the SUNYAC Tournament. In a 63-59 victory over Potsdam, he had the last nine points and finished with 20 points in the game. He followed that by scoring eight points during a game-breaking12-2 run in a 85-63 victory over SUNYIT. Smith averaged 21.5 points and 7 rebounds during the week. He also had 11 assists and six steals in the two games.

Joshua Becker, Buffalo State
Senior, Forward (Hamburg/Frontier)
Faced with a must-win situation Saturday at Cortland, Becker poured in 26 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to lead the Bengals to a 75-66 victory which nailed down a berth into the SUNYAC Tournament. In three games during the week, Becker averaged 18.0 points and 9.7 rebounds.


February 16, 2004
Perry Davis, Buffalo State
Senior, Forward (Buffalo/Seneca)
Davis averaged 18.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in three SUNYAC games. The Bengals won two of the three games to put themselves back into playoff position. Davis averaged 5.0 assists, 5.47 steals and 2.3 blocked shots during the week. His six steals and three blocked shots in a 78-68 loss to league-leading Brockport were career highs in both departments. Davis followed that game with 25 points, nine rebounds and six assists in a victory over Oneonta. The Bengals also defeated SUNYIT. Among the other players under consideration for SUNYAC Player of the Week honors were Brockport's Randy Bills and Cortland's Justin O'Garrow, who each averaged an identical 17.7 points and 5.7 rebounds last week. Also, Fredonia State's Nate Sanzo, the SUNYAC leader in field goal shooting and blocked shots, averaged 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in a pair of conference wins by the Blue Devils.


February 9, 2004
Brandon Mills, Brockport
Senior, Center (Rochester/Spencerport)
Mills earns the honor for the second straight week after averaging 20.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in three conference games. He connected on 68.6 percent of his shots from the field (24-of-35) and capped his week with a career-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting in a 111-76 victory over SUNYIT. In addition to his accurate shooting from the field, Mills made 12-of-15 free throws (80 percent) and added four assists, five steals and four blocked shots. The first-place Golden Eagles have benefited from his strong play by winning seven straight games and nine of 10. Plattsburgh State's Curtis Smith also had a strong week. He averaged 20.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in victories over New Paltz and Oneonta.


February 2, 2004
Brandon Mills, Brockport
Senior, Center (Rochester/Spencerport)
Mills receives the men's honor based on his shooting accuracy and his team's unbeaten week. The 6-7 senior center connected on 83 percent of his field-goal attempts (24-of-29) and averaged 18 points per game as the Golden Eagles (11-6, 7-1) won three games and remained one-half game ahead of Geneseo in the SUNYAC pennant race. Mills started the week with 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting against Buffalo State. He followed that up with a 12-point, 7-rebound performance against Cortland, followed by a 23-point game versus New Paltz in which he made 11-of-13 shots. Mills had solid competition for the weekly honor. SUNYIT's Nick Grimmer averaged 28 points and 10 rebounds in two games last week. In addition, Geneseo's Steve McDonnell led his team to a 3-0 week by averaging 17.7 points per game and shooting 61 percent from the field and 61 percent from three-point range. And although his team lost three games, New Paltz's Matt Daudier averaged 19 points for the week.


January 26, 2004
Co-Players of the Week

Brian Kirchhoff, Cortland
Sophomore, Forward (Webster/Webster)
Kirchhoff helped guide the Red Dragons to a 3-0 week with victories over Ithaca, Plattsburgh and Oswego. He connected for a career-high 22 points and matched his season-high of five three-pointers in an 81-64 victory over Plattsburgh. For the week, he was good on 13-of-25 attempts (52 percent) from beyond the arc and has made 44 percent of his attempts throughout the season. In a 72-60 victory over Oswego, he was credited with a career-high six assists. In the three games, he had 13 assists against only three turnovers. The Red Dragons improved to 10-4 overall, 3-3 SUNYAC.

Christian Turner, Potsdam
Junior Forward (Central Square/Central Square)
Turner put up solid numbers while the Bears won SUNYAC games over Buffalo State, Fredonia State and SUNYIT. He missed only nine shots from the field the entire week (17-of-26, 65.4 percent) and scored in double figures all three games. In a 77-61 victory over Buffalo State, Turner had 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including
2-of-2 on treys, and added three assists and three steals. He had 17 points and three more steals in a 63-46 victory over Fredonia State. Turner closed out the week with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists in a 74-64 victory over SUNYIT. The Bears now stand at
5-2 in the conference and 9-6 overall.


January 19, 2004
Nick Grimmer, SUNYIT
Junior, Forward (New Hartford, New Hartford)
Grimmer added to his SUNYAC-leading scoring average by averaging 29.7 points in three conference games. He had 30 points in an 81-71 victory over New Paltz, 24 points in an 83-71 victory over Oneonta, and 35 points in an 84-83 loss to Oswego. Grimmer is now averaging 27.2 points per game for the Wildcats (7-5, 3-2 SUNYAC) against conference opposition. A President's List student at SUNYIT, Grimmer is also leading the SUNYAC in free-throw percentage (15-of-17, .882).


January 12, 2004
Charlie Croff, Brockport
Senior, Forward (Lockport/Lockport)
Croff averaged 20 points and 7.3 rebounds in three games for the Golden Eagles (4-4, 3-0). Croff's best scoring game was Jan. 10 -- a 22-point, 10-of-15 shooting performance against Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the consolation game of the Union Invitational. In the first round of the tournament on Jan. 9 against Clark, Croff had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. For his efforts, he was named to the all-tournament team. He also tallied 21 points Jan. 7 at St. Lawrence. Croff was previously named SUNYAC Player of the Week on Oct. 8.


January 5, 2004
Ben Schwenebraten, Geneseo
Senior, Guard (LeRoy, LeRoy)
Schwenebraten scored a career-high 30 points Jan. 3 in Geneseo's 74-69 victory over Ithaca College. Schwenebraten was 8-of-12 from the field and 12-of-16 from the foul line. He added six rebounds, three steals and two assists. He is averaging 13.5 points per game through eight games this season for the Blue Knights
(6-2, 2-1).


December 15, 2003
Dave Ponza, Oswego
Junior, Center (Solvay/Solvay)
Ponza became only the ninth player in Oswego State history to surpass 1,000 career points in an 89-40 pounding of Hilbert on Tuesday. Ponza finished the game with 19 points, eight boards, two assists and a steal while shooting 50% from the field (8-for-16) and 66.7% from three-point range (2-for-3). Ponza currently is the overall leading scorer in the SUNYAC (22.3 ppg) and is in the top 10 in rebounding (8.3 rpg), free-throw percentage (.838), and three-point percentage (.500). The Lakers are 4-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play this year.


December 8, 2003
Charlie Croff, Brockport
Senior, Forward (Lockport/Lockport)
Croff, a 6-5 forward, led the Golden Eagles to a 3-0 week in conference play. He had a pair of double-doubles during the week registering 27 points and 10 rebounds in a 83-76 win over Cortland, and 19 points and 14 rebounds in a 68-62 victory over Plattsburgh. He also had 24 points and seven rebounds against Oswego, resulting in an 84-60 Brockport victory. He averaged 23.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in the three games and is averaging 22 points, 9 rebounds and 54 percent field-goal shooting this season. Over the course of the last week, he shot 57 percent on all field goals (26-of-46), 55 percent on three-pointers (6-of-11) and 86 percent from the foul line (12-of-14).


December 1, 2003
Matt Daudier, New Paltz
Senior, Guard (S. Floral Park/Floral Park Memorial)
Daudier, a 6-0 senior guard from New Paltz, scored a career-high 32 points in the Hawks' only game of the week, an 82-77 victory over Baruch. He was 10-of-19 from the field, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed three rebounds and was credited with four assists and two steals. The victory was the first of the season for the Hawks (1-2) heading into SUNYAC competition this week. New Paltz is at home Tuesday against Oneonta, and on the road Saturday at Potsdam. Daudier enters the week averaging 18.7 points per game, seventh in the conference.


November 24, 2003
Dave Ponza, Oswego
Junior, Center (Solvay/Solvay)
Ponza, a junior center from Oswego poured in 47 points this weekend as the Lakers took second in their own Max Ziel Tip-Off Tournament. Ponza scored 22 points and added 10 rebounds in the Lakers' opening round 72-57 victory over D'Youville on Friday night. Saturday, in the championship game, he scored 25 on 10-of-21 shooting in an 83-64 loss to St. Lawrence. Oswego is currently 1-1 on the year and will open its SUNYAC season Dec. 2 at Buffalo State.

Dr. Patrick R. Damore, Commissioner
Phone: (716) 673-3105
Fax: (716) 673-3135
Hotline: 1-877-299-4011

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