Iona’s Crawford and Siena’s Pickett Pick up Final Pepsi Zero MAAC Men’s Basketball Weekly Award Honors

3/4/2019 3:00:00 PM

Player of the Week
E.J. Crawford, Iona
Jr., Hartford, CT/Simsbury
Crawford played 38 minutes at Rider and was the fulcrum in Iona clinching the number one seed and MAAC regular season championship. He scored 21 points on 8-for-16 shooting. He made two three pointers and three free throws. Crawford also pulled down eight rebounds. Defensively he added in a steal and a block in Iona's road win.

Rookie of the Week
Jalen Pickett, Siena
Fr., Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute (SPIRE Institute (OH))
Pickett averaged nearly a triple-double with 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 8.0 assists in two games last week to help Siena - which was predicted to finish last according to the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll after finishing tied for last place last season - to finish in a four-way tie for second in the MAAC Standings. Pickett posted his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, and eight assists Friday night at eventual No. 2 seed Canisius. He concluded the week by scoring a game-high 27 points while adding six rebounds and eight assists in an overtime victory at Niagara, which clinched the Saints the final MAAC Tournament First Round bye. Pickett scored 20 of his 27 points following halftime, and achieved just the fourth 200-assist season in program history. Pickett also swiped three steals in the victory to tie the Siena freshman record of 64 set by Marquis Wright in 2013-14.

The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships will take place March 7-11 at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY. Tickets for the MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships are on still on sale. Tickets can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com or the Times Union Center Box Office.

For more information on the 2019 MAAC Basketball Championships, visit maacsports.com/basketball. Be sure to follow the conversation on all social media platforms by using #MAACHoops19.

About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38^th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.