PSU Men’s Basketball players honored by Little East Conference

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Two of the players who have helped Plymouth State University's men's basketball team to five straight wins and a 13-1 overall record were honored Monday by the Little East Conference.

Freshman forward Andreas Pope (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was selected LEC Rookie of the Week, and senior center Ryan Chicoine (Gorham, Maine) was PSU's representative on the Weekly Honor Roll. They were instrumental in PSU going 3-0 last week, picking up wins over UMass Boston, Saint Joseph's and defending champion Western Connecticut. It is the first LEC honor for both Panthers.

A 6'1" forward, Pope averaged 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in PSU's two LEC wins, shooting 70.6 percent from the field (12-of-17). He reached season-highs 17 points and 10 boards in the double-overtime win at Western Conn., including eight straight key PSU points in the last two minutes of regulation. Pope is third on the team in both scoring (11.0 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg) and leads the team in FG percentage (61.0).

A 6'7" center, Chicoine averaged 14.3 points and 14.7 rebounds for the week, connecting on 65.5 percent from the field (19-of-29) and recording two double-doubles. He scored career-high 20 points in LEC win over UMB, and had career-high rebounds in the victories over UMB (16) and WCSU (18). He scored eight key points on put-backs late in the first OT and early in the second against Western. Chicoine is averaging 8.2 points and 8.8 rebounds for the season, while shooting at a 59.7 percent clip.

The Panthers, 13-1 overall and 4-0 in the LEC, are scheduled for three games for the third straight week, including a key home contest Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. against archrival Keene State (12-2, 5-0), the only other unbeaten team in conference play.

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