LANCASTER, Pa. - The Atlantic East Conference announced the Men’s Basketball weekly award winners on Monday, as Neumann’s Jalen Vauhgns and Jarell Keel sweep Player and Defensive Player of the Week respectively.
Player of the Week:
Name: Jalen Vaughns
School: Neumann
Class: Senior
Position: Forward
Hometown: Tobyhanna, Pa.
High School: Pocono Mountain West
Brief Outlook of Week: Vaugns had a double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds, in a 73-69 win over Marymount in the lone game of the week. Shooting 10-for-14 from the floor, the senior also added a steal and a block. After being down by eight at the half, a layup by Vaughns put the Knights in the lead, 41-40, five minutes into the second half to begin the battle for the win.
Defensive Player of the Week:
Name: Jarell Keel
School: Neumann
Class: First Year
Position: Guard
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
High School: Academy of the New Church
Brief Outlook of Week: Keel had a double-double in a 73-69 win over Marymount in Neumann's lone game of the week. Keel shot 7-for-10 from the floor for 14 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds, 10 of which were defensive. Keel added three assists and three steals.
Weekly Honor Roll:
Montell Cooper (Sr., Guard, Marymount): Senior Montell Cooper helped lead the Saints to a 2-0 week to stay undefeated in conference play. Averaging 22.0 points per game, Cooper shot 57.1% from the floor while grabbing seven boards, notching three steals, and dishing out three assists.
Brendan Franko (Jr., Guard, Marywood): Franko averaged 16.5 points and 9.5 rebounds to lead Marywood to a win over Centenary and a loss to Neumann. He led the Pacers offensively with 16 points in a victory over the Cyclones. The Wantage, N.J. native had a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds in a loss to Neumann. Franko shot .536 from the field for the week.
Eric Neal (Sr., Guard, Cabrini): Neal showed his perimeter prowess with 5 steals across Cabrini's two game slate. He registered 3 steals, a block, and 5 rebounds in Saturday's meeting with Marymount after collecting 2 steals in Wednesday's matchup with Salisbury.
Aquil Stewart (Jr., Guard, Gwynedd Mercy): Stewart surpassed 1,000 career points while helping Gwynedd Mercy University to a 1-1 week of league play versus Marymount University (L. 77-81 on Jan. 17) and Immaculata University (W, 74-58 on Jan. 20). The junior guard only recorded seven points in the Griffins' loss to the Saints, but he reached his milestone on his final bucket of the affair and added two assists and a steal to his performance. A few days later, Stewart was the Griffins' leading scorer in a win over the Mighty Macs; he matched his season-high 17 points while providing four assists and making three steals.
Tyler Tillery (Gr., Forward, Immaculata): Tillery had a combined 29 rebounds, and four blocked shots to go along with 37 points over three games. Tillery, registered a double-double vs Centenary on January 17th with 17 rebounds, 13 defensive rebounds, and two blocked shots along with 25 points helping lead Immaculata to a conference win. During the first half of the game Tillery scored his 1,000th career point to become the eighth player in men’s program history to reach this milestone. Tillery, registered his second double-double of the week when he scored 10 rebounds, with nine defensive rebounds, two blocked shots, and added 10 points vs Gwynedd Mercy on January 20th.
Previous Weekly Award Winners:
Nov. 13, 2023 – Jalen Vaughns, Neumann & Tyler Tillery, Immaculata
Nov. 20, 2023 – Kyle Thompson, Neumann & , Marcus Beckett Marymount
Nov. 27, 2023 – Jalen Vaughns, Neumnan & Tyler Tillery, Immaculata
Dec. 4, 2023 – Jalen Vaughns, Neumann & D.J. Johnson. Gwynedd Mercy
Dec. 11, 2023 – Montell Cooper, Marymount & Bryan Warren, Cabrini
Dec. 18, 2023 – JoHaan Vinson, Gwynedd Mercy & Dylan Crews, Immaculata
Jan. 2, 2024 – Jalen Vaughns, Neumann & Aquil Stewart, Gwynedd Mercy
Jan. 8, 2024 – Montell Cooper, Marymount & CJ Highsmith Jr., Marymount
Jan. 16, 2024 – Manny Clark, Gwynedd Mercy & Jarell Keel, Neumann