Jones and Mills Claim Weekly E8 Honors
Senior guard Sheldon Jones of Stevens Institute of Technology and freshman forward Maruice Mills of the Nazareth men’s basketball team were named the Empire 8 Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively.
Jones led the Ducks to a pair of home conference wins, averaging 25.5 points on 54.8 percent shooting, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. In the victory over Hartwick College Tuesday, Jones scored a game-high 22 points, and, along with Thompson, helped the Ducks seal the win at the line in the final minutes. Then, in Stevens’ 85-77 win over Utica College Friday, Jones poured in a game-high 29 points on just 17 shots, including five made three-pointers. He also added five rebounds, two blocks and a steal as the Ducks improved to 17-3 overall and 8-2 in the Empire 8.
Mills recorded his first career double-double in Friday's 62-61 home-court win over Ithaca. He scored a career-high 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting to go with a game-high 11 rebounds and four steals. Earlier in the week, Mills combined 11 points with eight rebounds in an 81-75 win at Houghton.
For the season, Mills has started 20 of Nazareth's 21 games and is averging 7.0 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. It marks the second time this season that Mills has been honored as the E8's top rookie.
Stevens is currently tied with Ithaca College atop the Empire 8 standings at 8-2. St. John Fisher College is third at 7-4 and Nazareth College is fourth at 5-5.
The Ducks have a non-conference contest at Baruch College Wednesday night beginning at 8 p.m. before returning to Canavan Arena for a key conference weekend. On Friday Stevens will face Elmira College and Saturday the Ducks will welcome Ithaca to town. Stevens defeated Elmira in late-January but lost at Ithaca.
Nazareth brings a 13-8 record, including a 5-5 conference mark into Friday's E8 game at Alfred at 8 p.m.