Player of the Week
Elijah Joiner, Iona
Gr., Chicago, IL, Curie Metropolitan/Tulsa
 
Iona College graduate point guard Elijah Joiner led the Gaels to two MAAC wins on the road and helped his team remain unbeaten in league play through eight games. For the week, Joiner averaged 18 points, five rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals and had nearly a 5:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Joiner scored a career-high 24 points in an overtime victory at Monmouth on Tuesday night including 15 in the final eight minutes of regulation and overtime. He drained a three-pointer with 2:10 left in the second half to give Iona a one-point advantage, and another huge one with less than 10 seconds left to put the Gaels up two. Joiner scored five of Iona's seven points in the extra frame. He added five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot while shooting 52.9% from the field. In the win at Quinnipiac, Joiner had a solid overall game, scoring 12 points with five rebounds, five assists and no turnovers in 31 minutes on the day.
 
Rookie of the Week
Jao Ituka, Marist
Fr., Gaithersburg, MD, Gaithersburg
 
Jao Ituka scored nine points, had five rebounds, two assists and one steal in the Red Foxes one-game week against Fairfield. The award is his fifth of the season, leading all other MAAC rookies. Ituka’s 14.3 points per game average leads all freshman and ranks ninth in the MAAC, while he is also the only rookie ranked on the MAAC top-20 leaderboard in scoring.
 
The 2021-22 campaign culminates with the 2022 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships from March 8-12 at Atlantic City's Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. Stay up to date with all MAAC basketball by visiting MAACSports.com/basketball and by following @MAACHoops and #MAACHoops on Twitter. The road to AC!
 
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 41st year of competition during the 2021-22 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.
 
Stay up to date with the MAAC on social media by following @MAACSports on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or visit MAACSports.com for all the latest MAAC news.