Pilsbury quietly leading nation in scoring

BANGOR – Last year, Robert Pilsbury was an offensive dynamo in his first year at Husson College, scoring 26.5 points per game and earning third-team All-American honors.

Don’t look now, but Pilsbury is up to his old tricks. … with a twist.

As of the Jan. 7 statistics, the 6-foot-2 junior guard, who spent his first collegiate year at Champlain (Vt.) College, is the top NAIA Division II scorer in the nation with 25.7 ppg. He has since upped that to 26.2 ppg.

The way he’s doing it, however, is a bit different.

“Last year he had a lot of game where he hit four, five, six 3’s, so those ones you remember,” Husson coach Warren Caruso said. “But the quiet layup, the foul shot, the simple jumper in the lane, you kind of forget about when they’re spread out over 40 minutes in a game.

Caruso points out that Pilsbury has had fewer of those long-range scoring binges this year, but more of the patient, unspectacular outings.

“So I think he’s scoring a little quieter than he did last year,” Caruso said.

Pilsbury’s 7-7 Braves take on UMaine-Presque Isle in a Maine Athletic Conference contest tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Newman Gym.

Caruso said Pilsbury is getting his points against teams that know the nifty guard is the key to Husson’s offensive attack.

“Everyone, no matter who we are, has known who Robert is, and the thing that has made it interesting is that almost every one of ’em has said the same thing: He’s the best perimeter guy we’ve played against all year,” Caruso said.

The Husson star says that in some ways, he thinks he’s playing bettter than he did a year ago.

“I think I’m setting up my teammates better when I penetrate,” Pilsbury. “I’m getting guys good shots, good looks at the hoop, and I’m passing the ball [better].”

Another thing he’s doing more frequently than he did last season: dunking.

He recorded his first dunk in a Husson uniform in a win against Fisher College last week – an emphatic open-court jam.

“It’s been awhile [since my last dunk],” Pilsbury admitted. “Two years. And that was my only [college dunk]. In high school I had some little ones.”

Caruso, who wasn’t known as a leaper during his own playing days at Husson in the late 1980s, said that while Pilsbury’s dunking isn’t exactly rare, it’s not what he’s known for.

“He does it in practice every once in awhile,” Caruso said. “He’s not a flier. Let’s put it that way.”

Braves shorthanded again

When Husson College takes on UMPI this evening, they’ll be missing at least one – and perhaps as many as three – players from their lineup.

Sophomore backup center Nikos Armenakis will be serving a mandatory one-game suspension for his role in a scuffle during the Braves’ win over Fisher College, while three other players have been battling the flu.

Starter Randy Fletcher along with reserves Scott Griffin and Brad Galley, have been sick this week.

Fletcher practiced on Monday while Griffin and Galley did not.

“I think it’s gonna be one of those years where it seems like we’re always fighting to get everyone on the floor and healthy,” said Caruso, whose Braves began the year with two players (Jamel Brown and Armenakis) nursing broken ankles.