Dakwan Simmons
Simmons continues to quietly have an outstanding season in his first year with the program, and he demonstrated those contributions with a notable two-game stretch of accuracy that saw him shoot 63.6 percent from the field (7-11), 55.6 percent from three-point distance (5-9) and a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
As NJCU won its first two NJAC games of the season at Rutgers University-Camden and The College of New Jersey, Simmons, a starter in both contest, tallied 23 points, five steals and four assists, averaging 11.5 points, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists per game in 60 minutes with only one turnover in each game.
Simmons, a 5-foot-8, 150-pound Health Sciences major, has now reached double figures in five consecutive games and six times overall this year.
In the 68-58 win over Rutgers-Camden, he tallied 10 points, four steals and two assists, shooting 3-of-4 from the field, 2-of-3 from three-point territory and 2-of-2 from the stripe.
Three days later in the 66-62 decision vs. TCNJ, Simmons netted 13 points, including 10 in the second half, while adding two assists. He shot 4-of-7 overall (.571), made 3-of-6 from three-point range and sank his only two foul shots of the night—two crucial shots with 14.5 seconds to go to extend a one-point lead to 65-62. Earlier in the half his three-pointer gave the hosts a 55-43 lead with 7:57 left. He scored the first five points of the second half.
For the season in 15 games (10 starts, six straight), Simmons has collected 113 points, 31 rebounds, 28 assists, 21 steals and one block in 304 minutes—averaging 7.5 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.1 blocks per game. He upped his season shooting percentage from .456 to .481 (38-79) last week while increasing his three-point accuracy from .417 to .455 (22-33). Overall, he is 22-of-33 from the foul line (.667) and lists fourth on the team in scoring.
Simmons currently ranks No. 2 in the NJAC in three-point percentage—just .010 behind Rutgers-Newark’s Doze Ikwuegbu (.465, 20-43)—and is 15th in the league in assists.
