PITMAN --- The New Jersey Athletic Conference has announced its men's basketball weekly award winners for the week ending Jan. 25.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CAMERON DOWNS • Rutgers University-Camden
Senior • Forward • Pemberton, NJ/Pemberton
Downs is named NJAC Player of the Week after a dominant scoring performance that saw him surpass a major career milestone. The senior averaged 29.0 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 53.5 percent from the field (23-of-43) in two Scarlet Raptor victories. He exploded for 34 points on 14-of-23 shooting (including 5-of-10 from 3-point range) against Ramapo on Friday, pushing his career total past 1,500 points to 1,525—third on the program's all-time scoring list. Downs opened the week with 24 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's win over Rutgers-Newark. He also contributed four steals, one block and shot 85.7 percent from the free throw line (6-of-7) for the week. Downs currently leads the NJAC in conference-only scoring (20.0 ppg), is fourth in conference-only field goal percentage (50.8%), and is among the top 10 in conference-only blocked shots (1.0 bpg), free throw percentage (77.3%), and rebounding (6.2 rpg).
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
MATTHEW SOLOMON • The College of New Jersey
Senior • Forward • Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan
Solomon is named NJAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time and picks up his fourth overall weekly honor of the season after dominating the boards in TCNJ's 2-0 road sweep. The senior averaged an impressive 17.0 rebounds per game, recording a season-high 20 boards in Wednesday's 74-51 victory at William Paterson before pulling down 14 rebounds in Saturday's crucial 81-77 win over Kean. Solomon also contributed across multiple categories with 11.5 points, 6.0 assists, three steals and two blocks for the week while shooting 47.8 percent from the field (11-of-23). He is currently the only player averaging a double-double in conference play, with an NJAC-best 12.5 rebounds per game and 13.7 points per game against league foes. He also ranks second in conference-only field goal percentage (53.0%) and tied for sixth in conference-only assists (3.0 apg).
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
MALACHI JEFFERS-VIERA • Kean University
Freshman • Forward • Plainsboro, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro North
Jeffers-Viera is named NJAC Rookie of the Week after an explosive scoring performance. The freshman averaged 26.0 points per game while shooting 55.6 percent from the field (20-of-36) and 90.0 percent from the free throw line (9-of-10). He erupted for 31 points on 12-of-23 shooting against Stockton on Tuesday, adding four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Jeffers-Viera followed with 21 points on an efficient 8-of-13 shooting in Saturday's game against TCNJ, contributing five rebounds and five assists. He also connected on 3-of-6 from three-point range and totaled seven assists and three steals for the week. He leads all NJAC rookies and ranks sixth overall in conference-only scoring (17.1 ppg). He also ranks second in the NJAC (first among rookies) in conference-only free throw percentage (85.0%) as well as third overall and first among rookies in conference-only field goal percentage (51.9%).