Men's Basketball Hosts Salve Regina In Thanksgiving Eve Matinee

Wednesday, November 21

Providence, RI

3:00 pm

Brown University

Salve Regina

Photo by: David Silverman Photography

Men's Basketball Hosts Salve Regina In Thanksgiving Eve Matinee

11/20/2018 2:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Providence, R.I. - Coming off an unbeaten record at the Brown Tip-Off Classic (3-0), coach MIke Martin's Brown basketball team will take on Salve Regina on Wednesday afternoon, November 21 at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The matinee Thanksgiving Eve matchup will tip-off at 3:00 pm and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and WPRV-AM 790.

The Bears:  Brown (3-2) is coming off three straight wins at the Brown Bear Tip-Off Classic, earning victories over UMass Lowell (82-74), Sacred Heart (82-77) and Army (86-66).  Bears' sophomore Desmond Cambridge was named the Tournament MVP  after averaging more than 20 points per game in the three games, and junior Brandon Anderson and sophomore Tamenang Choh were named to the All-Tournament Team.

About Salve Regina:  Brown and Salve Regina will be meeting for the first time ever. The Seahawks (2-2) are coming off a 91-82 win over Colby Sawyer. Salve Regina has also beaten Bridgewater State (91-81) and lost to Coast Guard (92-77) and Suffolk (95-59).

Bear Facts: Sophomore Tamenang Choh's seven assists against Sacred Heart were a career high. He is the Ivy League's leading rebounder with 8.8 per game…Sophomore Desmond Cambridge was named the College Sports Madness Ivy League Player of the Week.  He leads the Ivy League with 2.4 blocked shots per game, registering four blocks vs. LIU-Brooklyn and three vs. Army…Junior Brandon Anderson's 2.6 steals per game lead the Ivy League.

Obi Okolie – Veteran Scorer Returns:  Bears' senior forward Obi Okolie (Ajax, Ontario) opened the season with 17 points and six rebounds vs. LIU-Brooklyn. Okolie had seven rebounds vs. UMass Lowell and scored in double figures vs. Sacred Heart (11 points) and Army (10 points). He has been a mainstay in the lineup since his freshman season, averaging 9.3 points per game.  Last year, Okolie grabbed 4.0 rebounds per game and scored in double figures nine times, scoring a season high 17 points, while grabbing nine rebounds, against Princeton on the final weekend of the season.

Joshua Howard Inside:  Junior forward Joshua Howard (Charlotte, NC) Howard had 11 points and three rebounds in Brown's season opener vs. LIU-Brooklyn and came back by matching his career rebounding high with 11 rebounds vs. NJIT. Howard scored 10 points vs. Sacred Heart and just missed a double-double vs. Army with eight points and 10 rebounds, He earned 16 starts for the Bears a year ago and averaged 5.9 points per game. Howard averaged 3.2 rebounds per game and helped Brown defeat Quinnipiac with a season high 19 points.

Brandon Anderson – Ivy League's Third Leading Returning Scorer:  Junior guard Brandon Anderson (Mahwah, NJ) scored 17 points and handed out four assists in Brown's season opener vs. LIU-Brooklyn. Anderson was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Brown Tip-Off Classic after scoring 12 points vs. UMass Lowell, 10 points vs. Sacred Heart and a game high 16 points vs. Army. He has the exceptional ability to get to the rim, getting to the free throw line more times than any player in the Ivy League. Last year, he ranked third in the Ivy League in scoring with 17.3 points per game and was second in the conference with 3.9 assists per game. He connected on 169-of-196 free throws (.862), third best in the Ivy League. His anticipation also helped his overall game, ranking second in the conference with 1.5 steals per game. He tossed in a career high 26 points against Northwestern.
Anderson's Career Points:    775
Anderson's Career Assists:   179

Cambridge- Top 10 Mid Major Prospect To Watch:  One of the most dynamic and explosive players in Brown history, sophomore forward Desmond Cambridge (Nashville, TN) was named a Top-10 Mid-Major Prospect to Watch in 2018-19.  Cambridge was named the MVP of the Brown Tip-Off Classic after scoring 23 points vs. UMass Lowell, 23 points vs. Sacred Heart and 13 points with three blocked shots vs. Army. He was also named the College Sports Madness Ivy League Player of the week for his play in the Tip-Off Tournament. Cambridge opened the season with 13 points and a career high four blocked shots vs. LIU-Brooklyn. Cambridge was the unanimous Ivy League Rookie of the Year after setting a Brown freshman scoring record with 468 points, eclipsing the previous mark of 460 points by Brown's all-time leading scorer Earl Hunt in 2000. A six-time Ivy League Rookie of the Week, Cambridge, who also earned Second Team All-Ivy honors, ranked third in the Ivy League in overall scoring with 17.3 points per game and second in conference scoring with 18.6 points per game. The only Brown player to start all 27 games, his 2.5 treys per game were fifth in the Ivy League, while his 27 blocked shots ranked sixth. He scored in double figures in 24 of Brown's 27 games and scored 20 or more points eight times, including a career high 33 points against Marist.

Hunsaker In The Backcourt: Complementing Anderson in the backcourt is junior guard and two-year captain Zack Hunsaker (North Salt Lake City, UT), who connected on a key trey in Brown's win over Sacred Heart and netted 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field vs. Army. A savvy player with a great feel for the game, Hunsaker ranked second on the Brown team in treys (46) and assists (46).  He ranked third on the Brown team with 9.7 points per game last year. He also paced the Bears at the free throw line, converting 42-of-45 shots (.933) from the stripe. Hunsaker, who connected on a coast-to-coast game winning shot to beat Dartmouth at the buzzer, tossed in a season high 21 points vs. Bryant, knocking down 5-of-10 treys.

Newcomers:Coach Martin welcomes four talented newcomers to College Hill, including 6-8 freshman forward Davis Franks (New York, NY), 6-9 freshman forward Jaylan Gainey (Goldsboro, NC), 6-6 freshman forward David Mitchell (Roxbury, MA) and 6-0 freshman guard Thomas Shaughnessy (Needham, MA).

Okolie, Sullivan and Hunsaker Repeat As Brown Basketball Captains:   Brown men's basketball head coach Mike Martin announced that senior Obi Okolie, senior Chris Sullivan and junior Zach Hunsaker have been elected tri-captains of the 2018-19 team for the second straight season.

Sullivan Takes Leadership Role:Senior guard and two-year team captain Chris Sullivan (Wilmette, IL) played in all 27 games a year ago and is effective coming off the bench to provide a defensive presence for the Bears.  He scored four points vs. NJIT. Last year, he helped the Bears topple UMass Lowell with 11 points, connecting on 3-of-3 treys.

Choh – Ivy League's Top Rebounder:  Sophomore forward Tamenang Choh (Lowell, MA) leads the Ivy League with 8.8 rebounds per game. He was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Brown Tip-Off Classic after scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds vs. Sacred Heart, and coming back with a double-double vs. Army (12 points, 10 rebounds). He had a big game vs. LIU-Brooklyn with nine points,  and career highs in rebounds (12), assists (6) and blocked shots (3).  Choh scored a team high 17 points against NJIT. Last year, he came on strong down the stretch in a starting role last, scoring a career high 23 points, while grabbing nine rebounds in Brown's final game against Penn.  A relentless rebounder, he led the Bears with 5.4 rebounds per game, 7.0 rebounds in conference play. He was Brown's fifth leading scorer (7.2 ppg) a year ago.

DeWolf Inside:  Sophomore forward Matt DeWolf (Barrington, RI) has earned a starting role and is averaging 4.2 rebounds per game. DeWolf had six points and four rebounds vs. Sacred Heart, and six points and six rebounds vs. Army. He had two points and five rebounds in Brown's season opener vs. LIU-Brooklyn and came back with six points vs. NJIT. Last year, his 4.4 rebounds per game were third on the Brown team, including a career high 13 rebounds against Dartmouth. Last year, he posted back-to-back eight rebound performances against Providence and UMass Lowell.

Fuller Up:  Senior forward Travis Fuller(Encinitas, CA) scored four points against Army in the Brown Tip-Off Classic. Last year, Fuller earned three starts and posted a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds against LIU Brooklyn.  He finished the season with an average of 3.2 rebounds per game.

Head Coach Mike Martin:Former Brown basketball standout Mike Martin '04, the 31st head men's basketball coach in the program's 111-year history, has changed the direction and culture of the program in six years as head coach of the Bears, with the building blocks in place to develop an Ivy Championship team. He has assembled a young and talented 2018-19 squad that includes Desmond Cambridge, last year's Ivy League Rookie of the Year. Martin took over the reins of the program in 2012-13 and was named a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award as the nation's outstanding first-year head coach after leading the Bears to a turnaround season with a 13-15 overall record, including a fourth-place finish in the Ivy standings with a 7-7 mark after winning four of its last five games. Martin's 2013-14 team posted a 15-14 overall record and hosted Brown's first-ever postseason game, playing Holy Cross in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament at the Pizzitola Sports Center. In addition, he guided two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year Cedric Kuakumensah, the Ivy League's all-time leader in blocked shots. A four-year starter at Brown, Martin was part of the winningest class in Bears' basketball history, posting a 63-45 four-year record from 2000-04. He also helped the Class of 2004 to a school-record 39-17 Ivy League mark during that period -- the best by an Ivy League team, other than Penn and Princeton, since 1970. An Agawam, Mass., native, Martin launched his coaching career at Brown as an assistant coach in 2005-06, and was an assistant coach at Penn from 2006-12.

THE IVY LEAGUE ON ESPN:  Video of all home contests and all Ivy League games, home and away, will be broadcast live on ESPN+. Fans can subscribe and view games by purchasing a monthly package for $4.99 or a yearly package for $49.99.

Bears On The Air:  Brown's entire schedule, home and away, is being broadcast on WPRV-AM 790 with Scott Cordischi, the voice of Brown basketball and football, calling all the action. Former Brown basketball star Russ Tyler '71(1,133 career points) provides the color analysis. Brown fans can also listen to the broadcast on http://www.790business.com.

Ivy League Tournament:  The 2019 Ivy League Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament will be held on the campus of Yale University at the John J. Lee Amphitheater at Payne Whitney Gymnasium March 16 and 17. The League's unique tournament format has enhanced the importance of the regular season as seven of the eight squads had an opportunity to earn a berth into the four-team tournament heading into the final week of the regular season.

Next Game:  The Bears are back in action again on Sunday, November 25, hosting Bryant at the Pizzitola Sports Center, starting at 6:00 pm.  Follow all the action on ESPN+ and WPRV-AM 790.