Aaron Toomey(Bishop McGuinness HS/Amherst College) named Player of the Week: Helps team to Little Three title…

Aaron Toomey Named NESCAC Player of the Week

AMHERST, MA – Amherst College rookie point guard Aaron Toomey (Greensboro, NC) was named the New England Small College Athletic Conference men’s basketball Player of the Week this afternoon for his role in helping the Lord Jeffs earn the 2011 Little Three title with wins over Wesleyan University and Williams College this week.

Toomey averaged a team-leading 21.5 points per game, with 5.5 rebounds and 4.5
assists per night this week. Amherst picked up a mid-week win over Wesleyan 87-74, before pulling out a 92-89 thrilling overtime victory against 2nd-ranked Williams College. This afternoon’s award is the first collegiate honor for Toomey, while also marking the first NESCAC Player of the Week award for an Amherst player since David Waller (Tampa, FL) earned the honor nearly one year ago (January 25, 2010).

Toomey scored a game-high 22 points on 6-for-9 shooting against Wesleyan, adding three rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes. The Amherst first-year went a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line, and made two of the four three pointers he attempted.

Already someone who has grabbed notice around the region for his play early on for the undefeated Lord Jeffs (12-0), Toomey made a name for himself over the weekend as the Jeffs pulled off the upset win over No. 2 Williams. In his first
Amherst-Williams game, Toomey led the Jeffs in points (21), assists (5) and steals
(2), while also grabbing a career-high eight rebounds.

With senior co-captain Conor Meehan (Meriden, CT) picking up two fouls in the
first three minutes of the game, Toomey was called on to play 38 minutes,
including nearly the entire first half. In the five minutes of overtime, Toomey
scored seven points to help steal the win and hand the Ephs their first defeat of
the season.

Through the first 12 games of his career, Toomey is averaging 12.8 points per game off the bench. He is Amherst’s leader in assists with 3.5 per night, while
shooting 46% from the floor and 35% from behind the arc. With 17 steals in a dozen games, Toomey has consistently been one of the best defenders for the Jeffs as well.

Toomey and the Lord Jeffs open NESCAC play this weekend with a pair of road games at Conn College and Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday. The game against the Camels tips at 6 p.m. Friday, with the follow-up against the Cardinals set for 2 p.m. on Saturday.