Zafir Williams Chosen for CCAA Weekly Honors
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Zafir Williams poured in game highs of 20-plus points in a pair of narrow home wins to put Cal State East Bay alone in first place and garner the junior newcomer his first CCAA Player of the Week award for Dec. 9-15.
The 6-foot-6 forward out of Long Beach and CCAA Newcomer of the Year frontrunner averaged 24.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals as the Pioneers edged Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, 70-69, and Humboldt State on Saturday, 81-75. Williams shot .515 (17-33) from the field, .600 (3-5) from long range and .733 (11-15) from the line, committing a single turnover over 61 minutes of court time.
Williams dropped 21 points in a come-from-behind triumph over the Coyotes, barely missing another double-double with his team-best nine rebounds. He knocked down nine of 13 from the stripe while collecting two steals and a blocked shot without a turnover in a season-high-tying 35 minutes.
On Saturday afternoon, Williams again led all players with his 27 points, still four points shy of his season high. He connected on 11 of his 15 attempts from the floor, three of four three-pointers and both free throws, adding five rebounds, a season-high-tying three steals and an assist.
Williams stormed onto the scene for the Pioneers this last month with double-doubles in six of the first eight games, including four in succession. He’s still tied for seventh in Division II with those six double-doubles, while continuing to lead the league in both scoring (21.3) and rebounding (8.3). Williams is the only CCAA men’s basketball student-athlete averaging better than 20 points per game.
Now at 9-3 overall and 5-1 in league play and a winner of four in a row, Cal State East Bay wraps up the 2019 calendar year and a three-game home stand this Sunday afternoon against Stanislaus State. Tipoff at Pioneer Gymnasium in Hayward is slated for 3 p.m. Fans can watch for free on the CCAA Network, either online at ccaanetwork.com, or through the channel on Roku, Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV.
Also nominated:
Joshua Hamilton, Chico State
Jahvon Johnson, Cal State Monterey Bay
Robert Lewis, Humboldt State
Darius Scott, Stanislaus State
Jeremy Smith, Cal State San Bernardino