Trueman Honoured
Tagged in: Junior Tall Blacks, Kiwis Abroad, Tall Blacks
Former Tall Black Jeremiah Trueman ended his college career on a high at home on Saturday and received one final accolade on the way out.
Trueman scored 19 points (8/17 FG, 0/1 3pt, 3/4 FT) with seven rebounds, two steals and a block in 31 minutes in University of Alaska-Anchorage’s 95-69 rout of Western Oregon, after being honoured pre-game as one of two out-going seniors.
And on Monday, the 2.06m (6ft 9in) centre from Stratford garnered Great North Athletic Conference honourable mention, narrowly missing second team all-conference selection.
Trueman, who scored double-figures in his last 12 games and averaged 22.2 points in the last five games, scored 17 points (7/9 FG, 3/4 FT) with five boards, four steals and two blocks in 23 minutes in Thursday night’s 87-62 home win over Saint Martin’s.
A Tall Black in 2006, Trueman averaged 15.8 points, 5.5 rebounds and 0.96 blocks per game in 28 games this season, while shooting 59.7 percent from the field and 87.0 percent from the free-throw line.
He finished ninth in the league in scoring, third in free-throw percentage, fifth in field goal percentage and seventh in blocks, and was ranked in the top-25 nationally in both shooting categories and ended his two-year career at UAA at number two on the all-time field goal percentage list at 60.3 percent.
The Seawolves, who made the final eight in the national tournament last season, missed the cut for the NCAA-D2 tourney in 2009, finishing 15-14 overall, the school’s 26th winning season in 32 seasons, and 9-7 in the Great North conference.
Tall Blacks centre Alex Pledger also saw his junior season for NCAA-D2 Belmont Abbey end last week, scoring 14 points (5/9 FG, 4/4 FT) with five rebounds, four blocks and an assist in 26 minutes in a 69-44 loss to Erskine in the Carolinas-Virginia conference semifinals on Thursday.
New Zealand’s only NCAA-D1 men’s athlete, Harbour’s Rory Fannon, scored three points (1/1 FG, 1/1 FT) with a rebound in two minutes of action in Utah Valley’s regular season finale 80-42 home win over Houston Baptist on Thursday, getting the Wolverines to 17-11.
At NAIA level, Emerging Tall Black Zane Meehl and the Azusa Pacific Cougars will play for the Golden State conference title against Fresno Pacific on Tuesday.
Meehl had two points (1/1 FG) in three minutes in an 85-76 first round home win over Westmont on Thursday and two points (2/2 FT), two assists and a rebound in nine minutes in a 67-46 home win over Concordia in the semis on Saturday.
A conference championship would guarantee Azusa (23-9) a place in the NAIA-D1 national tournament, while as a top-20 ranked team they would likely get an at-large berth even with a loss.
Aucklander Mada Abdelhamid and the Cumberland Bulldogs will be hoping for an at-large bid into the same national tournament after falling to Freed-Hardeman 72-68 in the TranSouth conference semifinals on Saturday.
Abdelhamid went scoreless with a rebound in 10 minutes in the semifinal loss for Cumberland (25-5), who are ranked inside the top-20 and likely as an at-large selection. He had two points (1/1 FG) and three rebounds in eight minutes in an 83-66 home win over Trevecca Nazarene in the first round on Thursday.
The NAIA-D2 national tournament starts later this week, with Harbour’s Ryan Beesley and Canterbury’s Ben Constable both involved.
Beesley’s defending champion Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls (28-5), the tournament’s seventh seeds, open up with Iowa Wesleyan on Wednesday, while Constable’s eight-seeded Northwood Seahawks meet Sterling College (Kansas) on Thursday.
Junior Tall Blacks contender Dion Prewster finished up his freshman year at San Jacinto (Junior) College, with nine points (3/6 FG, 0/1 3pt, 3/7 FT), six boards, two assists and a block in 28 minutes in a 95-80 loss to Lon Morris in the NJCAA Region XIV tournament quarterfinals on Saturday.
Prewster, who finished fourth in blocks and eighth in rebounding in the region and second in rebound and blocks, third in assists and sixth in scoring on his team, also had nine points (4/8 FG, 1/2 FT), six rebounds and a block in 25 minutes in a 77-68 first round win over Angelina on Thursday.
At high school level in Kentucky, Canterbury’s James Holland was named in the tournament team as his Bethel Christian Academy Blue Flames fell 74-65 in the semifinals of the KCAA State Tournament on Saturday. Bethel defeated MICAH Christian 78-21 in the quarters on Friday.
In Europe, Harbour Heat forward BJ Anthony managed five points (2/6 FG, 1/2 FT), seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in 27 minutes in a 75-60 road win over Urspringsschule in round 23 of the Bundesliga division two pro B on Saturday.
Tall Blacks centre Craig Bradshaw had similar numbers with five points (2/7 FG, 1/2 3pt), four boards and a block in 15 minutes in Grupo Begar Leon’s 74-67 road win over Laguna Canarias on Friday in round 23 of the Spanish LEB Gold, lifting them above .500 at 12-11.
Former Tall Blacks point guard Mark Dickel had two points (1/2 FG), five rebounds and three assists in 24 minutes in AS Trikalla’s 84-77 road loss to Panionios on Sunday in round 21 of the Greek A1 league.
Wellington Saints forward Leon Henry saw one minute of game time for former New Zealand coach Tab Baldwin’s U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca in a 91-79 road loss to CS Otopeni on Saturday in round 24 of Romania’s Divizia A.
In Estonia, current national team head coach Nenad Vucinic saw his BC Kalev/Cramo team go 2-1 in a road triple-header last week to remain second at 14-4.
Kalev defeated current leaders TU/Rock 83-80 on Saturday but dropped a 65-62 result to KK Valga on Sunday, preventing a perfect week, after routing KK Parnu 103-78 on Wednesday.
