Nwakamma Named Conference Player of the Week

Sophomore Mark Nwakamma has been named the America East Player of the Week for the period ending November 25. The forward earned his first career Player of the Week award after pacing his team on both ends of the floor in a pair of games last week, averaging 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

A native of Leander, Texas, Nwakamma got his week going by tallying his third double-digit scoring game of the season after finishing 6-of-14 from the field and 4-of-6 from the charity stripe for 16 points, leading all scorers in a 64-51 home loss to La Salle on Tuesday. In that setback, he also grabbed a season-best nine rebounds for the Hawks while swatting away a pair of Explorers' shots.

Nwakamma kept his offense going and had a career day on Saturday to lead the Hawks to an 80-77 win over Central Connecticut State University, their first defeat of their neighboring rival since 1998. An America East All-Rookie selection last year, he scored 24 points, a career best, to go along with seven rebounds and a career-high five assists.

Through five games, Nwakamma, who has scored in double figures in all but one outing this season, has led the team in both points and rebounds on four occasions. He is ranked among the America East's top-10 in several statistical categories, including scoring (17.0 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg) and blocked shots (1.4 bpg). He also leads Hartford with a 47.1 shooting percentage (33-of-70) and has dished out 2.4 assists per game, second most on the team.