Ptacek, Vinales Earn NEC Honors

Senior guard Robby Ptacek and freshman guard Kyle Vinales earned Choice Hotels Northeast Conference weekly honors on Monday, it was announced by the league office.  Ptacek earns NEC Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career.  He is the first Central player to win this season.

Vinales has made league history with his selection this week.  The nation's second leading scorer at 24.0 points per game, has now been named the league's Rookie of the Week in each of the first three weeks of the season.

Ptacek has not showed any signs of slowing down as the veteran sharp-shooter averaged 22.5 points in a pair of home wins last week. Rated fourth in the league in scoring with a 19.8 average, the Bayport, NY product netted 21 points in last Tuesday night's 77-69 win over UMBC. He also grabbed three rebounds while producing eight of his 21 points from the charity stripe.

Ptacek then turned it up a notch and trumped that performance three days later in a 92-58 rout of local rival Hartford. He totaled 24 points for the game but did most of his damage in the first half, producing 14 of the Blue Devils' first 19 points and 22 of the their 44 total at the break. Ptacek also showed off his playmaking skills by dishing out a career-high seven assists as CCSU shot 62% from the field.

Just a week after dropping a nation-high 39 points in a game against Niagara, Vinales, the NEC's leading scorer accomplished another feat.  He became the first player in league history to be named rookie of the week three weeks in a row to begin his career.

The Detroit, MI product averaged 27 points as CCSU went 2-0 against America East opponents. He shot 55.6 percent from the field, including 50 percent (6-12) from beyond the arc.

In a 77-69 win over UMBC on Tuesday, he led all scorers with 29 points and dished out three helpers as the Blue Devils evened their record at 2-2. Vinales then dropped 25 points in a 92-58 conquest of Hartford.  Vinales is the second-leading scorer in the country at 24.0 ppg and the Detroit native's 120 points over the first five games of his career is the highest total by an NEC freshman in 20 years.  He also leads the NEC in made three-pointers (3.0/game) and ranks third in three-point percentage (.536).