Picture Attached: Senior guard JoJo Cooper (Credit: Dave Saffran)
Somerset, NJ – Senior guard
JoJo Cooper was named Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week, the league office announced on Monday afternoon. For Cooper, it marks his first-ever Player of the Week citation while he has now been recognized by the conference for the second time in his career after earning Rookie of the Week accolades for the week of December 1, 2014.
Cooper filled up the stat sheet on Saturday afternoon at Rider, finishing with his second double-double of the season and fifth of his career after netting 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field to go along with hitting eight attempts at the free-throw line.
The Wilmington, DE native dished out a game-best 11 helpers, marking the second time over the last three games that he dished out double-digit assists while adding seven rebounds and three steals despite the Seahawks seeing its six-game win streak end in overtime, 90-84.
The senior point guard did all he could to keep the streak going, posting six points, three rebounds and two assists in the extra session alone. For his efforts, Cooper became just the ninth Division I player over the last five years to finish a game with at least 19 points/7 rebounds/11 assists/3 steals, joining a list that includes current NBA players Dennis Smith Jr., Kris Dunn and Elfrid Payton.
Cooper, who is the Seahawks' second leading scorer at 13.2 ppg, paces the NEC with 6.1 assists per game, a mark that is among the top-30 in all of Division I, while also leading the way with a 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio and ranking second in the circuit in steals, swiping 2.4 per contest.
In addition to Cooper being named Player of the Week, he was also named College Sports Madness Mid-Major Conference Player of the Week for the NEC.
Sophomore guard
Blake Francis also earned recognition this week as he was tabbed to the #NECPrimePerformer List for the fourth time this season after establishing a new career-high with 25 points at Rider. The second-year shooting guard connected on 6-of-12 from the field, which included four makes from long range. Currently, Francis is the team's leading scorer at 20.2 ppg, trailing only Mount St. Mary's senior guard Junior Robinson, who averaging 23.1 ppg.
Cooper, Francis and the rest of the Seahawks continue their road trip as they travel to Newark, NJ to tangle with the #23 ranked Seton Hall University Pirates on Wednesday, December 20. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:01 p.m. and will be nationally televised on Fox Sports One (FS1).
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