Jan. 17, 2011

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Rhode Island's Orion Outerbridge was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week, while Dayton's Juwan Staten and Duquesne's T.J. McConnell were honored as Co-Rookies of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday.

Outerbridge's play off the bench for Rhode Island keyed the Rams to two league victories last week as Rhody went on the road and defeated Richmond before returning home to down St. Bonaventure. Outerbridge's career-high 18 points helped pace URI to its first-ever win at Richmond. The junior forward was 5-of-9 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the charity stripe against the Spiders, while pulling down seven rebounds and collecting two blocks. At home versus St. Bonaventure, Outerbridge connected on seven of his eight shots from the floor as he posted 15 points and six rebounds as he led the Rams in scoring in the win over the Bonnies. For the week, the Boston, Mass., native averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds while connecting on 70.6 percent of his shots from the floor.

Staten earned his fourth A-10 Rookie of the Week after averaging 13.0 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 58.8 (10-17) percent from the field in two games last week. In a win over Saint Joseph's, the freshman guard scored nine points, while dishing out six assists to just one turnover in 28 minutes of action. At Xavier, Staten scored a career-high 17 points to go along with three rebounds, three assists and a steal. The Dayton, Ohio, native finished the week with nine assists against just one turnover. Staten is 12 assists away from claiming the UD freshman record for assists in a season.

For the second week in a row and the third time this year, McConnell was tabbed the A-10 Rookie of the Week as he led Duquesne to a pair of wins including a 12-point victory over No. 19 Temple. The freshman guard averaged 10.0 points and 4.0 assists as the Dukes extended their win streak to a league best six wins in a row. McConnell scored a game-high 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the win over Saint Louis. Against Temple, the Pittsburgh, Pa., native did a terrific job of taking care of the ball as he dished out a game-high tying four assists while committing just one turnover in 26 minutes of action. For the week, McConnell registered eight assists and one turnover.

Rhode Island returns to action on Wednesday, January 19 as the Rams travel to face Saint Joseph's at 7:00 p.m. Duquesne will also hit the road on Wednesday traveling to La Salle, while Dayton hosts Fordham at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 22.

Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll
Tu Holloway averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists in leading Xavier to two victories last week...Charlotte's Derrio Green matched his season-high with 21 points including 19 in the second half as the 49ers defeated Fordham...Damian Saunders averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 2.5 steals as Duquesne posted victories over Saint Louis and Temple at home...Ramone Moore scored 19 and 18 points in leading Temple to a 1-1 record last week...for the third straight week, Dayton's Chris Wright averaged a double-double with 12.0 points and 10.0 rebounds...St. Bonaventure's Michael Davenport led the Bonnies in scoring in both games last week posting career-highs of 28 points and 12 rebounds at Rhode Island...La Salle's Aaric Murray averaged 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds as the Explorers went 1-1 last week...Saint Louis' Dwayne Evans picked up career-highs in points (16) and rebounds (18) as the Billikens defeated Saint Joseph's.

--www.atlantic10.com--