WASHINGTON – The Atlantic 10 Conference has named St. Bonaventure senior Melvin Council, Jr, the Under Armour Men's Basketball Player of the Week. George Washington redshirt freshman Christian Jones chosen as the league’s Rookie of the Week. The awards were announced Monday and are for games played Dec. 30 – Jan 5.
 
Council averaged 22.0 points, 6.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals in two wins to open A-10 play. He hit the game-winning bucket with 3.3 seconds to play in a 77-75 win against VCU, finishing with 20 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists while playing all 40 minutes to defeat the preseason conference favorite. Council then matched his Division I career-high with 24 points, adding a career-high eight assists and five steals in a win Saturday at Fordham. The guard from Rochester, N.Y., shot 51% from the floor for the week (18-for-35).
 
Jones posted a new career-high against Dayton on Saturday, leading all scorers in the game with 23 points and dishing out three assists. Jones lit up the scoreboard early, giving GW an offensive spark in the first couple of minutes. He tallied 11 of the Revolutionaries' first 14 points in the game, including three triples in that span. He finished the game with at 5-of-8 in trifectas (.625) and shots 7-for-14 (.500) from the floor altogether. Jones' efforts led GW to a win over the Flyers, their second straight against Dayton in Foggy Bottom. He also had five points and four rebounds in the opener versus Richmond.
 
HONOR ROLL
Nate Santos averaged 17.5 points and 3.0 rebounds for Dayton last week, including scoring 23 points at GW Saturday … Flyer freshman Amaël L'Etang had 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and two blocked shots in UD’s league-opening win over La Salle … Duquesne’s Jahsean Corbett notched his second double-double of the season courtesy of 13 points and 10 rebounds versus Rhode Island, and then exploded for a career-high 29 points at Davidson … Brayden O'Connor averaged 15.5 points, 2.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 66.7 percent (12-for-18) in a split week for George Mason … George Washington’s Gerald Drumgoole, Jr., scored all 27 of his points in the second half versus Richmond, the most by an A-10 player in a single half this season, and then he added 21 points versus Dayton, totaling 12 made threes for the week … Sebastian Thomas averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 rebounds over two games for Rhode Island, hitting the game-winning shot with a foul for a three-point play with 0.9 seconds left to lift the Rams over George Mason … DeLonnie Hunt was Richmond's leading scorer in A-10 opening wins versus GW and UMass, averaging 17.5 points with 10 assists to just one turnover and 11 steals … Saint Joseph’s Rasheer Fleming averaged 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds and shot 58.8 percent from the floor in a pair of games for the Hawks, recording his fifth double-double versus SLU with 13 points and 10 rebounds … Robbie Avila was the most consistent of SLU scorers as he scored 19 points in the win at Fordham, followed by a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win against Saint Joseph's … Billiken freshman Max Pikaar was 3-3 from the field and blocked two shots in the win at Fordham … Phillip Russell averaged 25.5 points in two A-10 road contests for VCU, shooting 63 percent from the field (17-of-27) and 55 percent (11-of-20) from 3-point range, tallying 26 versus the Bonnies and 25 at Loyola-Chicago.