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Jerrelle Benimon Triumphs in Battle of Big Men

In a showdown of elephantine proportions, the painted area got a workout Monday night when Jerrelle Benimon and Keith Rendleman went to work head to head. It was a heated give-and-take; Towson, however, came out victorious.

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Jerrelle Benimon is currently on fire.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

To give you a little persepective, the Towson Tigers have played 24 games so far this season. In those games, Jerrelle Benimon has record 16 double-doubles, good for the most in the entire country, and now good for 66.7 percent of the games that he's played in.

You'll forgive UNC-Wilmington's Keith Rendleman if he wasn't able to slow him down.

Benimon scored 20 points on 8 of 10 shooting and snagged 12 rebounds, essentially a run of the mill performance from the nightly double-double machine who is turning into one of the most consistent players in the country, not just his respective conference.

He actually didn't dominate Rendleman; it was a pretty even matchup all night. Rendleman also picked up 12 boards to pair with his 19 points, continuing what has been a solid, solitary season for the big man.

But when you put anybody's performance next to that of Benimon, it simply tends to pale in comparison.

Of course, having three others players on his team with 12 points or more didn't hurt. Rendleman only had one of those on his team. So that's a handicap of sorts.

And yet when it comes down to it, there isn't a single player on more of a roll than Benimon. Monday night marked his thirteenth straight game with at least 12 points, ten of which have been double-doubles. He sits at fifth in the CAA in terms of blocked shots per opponents' two points, and he scores 53.95 percent efficiently.

In case you were wondering: no, there isn't a part of his game that isn't great.

Well, that's not true. He could shoot foul shots a little better.

But those pesky free throws aside, Benimon's performance tonight both solidified him as the premier big man in the conference and the best overall player as well. Going up against the best competition at your position and putting in a more-than-solid 20 and 12 effort?

Really, there's not much more you could look for in a player. You can just call him the Benimonster.