Aaron Falzon

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Aaron Falzon

| image =

| caption =

| position = Power forward

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 8

| weight_lb = 225

| league = Nationale Masculine 1

| team = Besançon Avenir Comtois

| number = 35

| nationality = American / Maltese

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1996|5|19}}

| birth_place =

| high_school = Northfield Mount Hermon
(Mount Hermon, Massachusetts)

| college =

Northwestern (2015–2019)
Quinnipiac (2019–2020)

| draft_year =

| career_start = 2020

| years1 = 2020

| team1 = Étoile Angers Basket

| years2 = 2020–2021

| team2 = Leicester Riders

| years3 = 2021–2022

| team3 = Traiskirchen Lions

| years4 = 2022–2023

| team4 = Mulhouse Basket Agglomération

| years5 = 2023

| team5 = Kagawa Five Arrows

| years6 = 2023–2024

| team6 = Tachikawa Dice

| years7 = 2024–present

| team7 = Besancon Avenir Comtois

| highlights =

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{MLT}} }}

}}

Aaron Michael Falzon (born May 19, 1996) is a Maltese professional basketball player for Besancon Avenir Comtois (BesAC) of the Nationale Masculine 1. He also plays on the Malta national basketball team.{{cite web |url=https://www.fiba.basketball/europe/smallcountries/2018/player/Aaron-Falzon |title=Aaron FALZON |website=fiba.basketball}} He played college basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats and Quinnipiac Bobcats.{{cite web |url=https://gobobcats.com/news/2019/5/20/mens-basketball-adds-graduate-transfer-aaron-falzon.aspx |title=Bobcats Add Graduate Transfer Aaron Falzon |website=gobobcats.com |date=2019-05-20}}

High school career

Falzon graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon School in 2015. As a senior, he was named NEPSAC AAA player of the year. He led NMH to a 26–9 record and averaged 17.7 points per game while grabbing 6.1 rebounds per game.{{cite web |url=https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/aaron-falzon/B7a_BPTuEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/default.htm|title=Bio|website=Maxpreps.com}} He also made 114 3-pointers during his senior year.

=Recruiting=

Falzon finished high school as a 4-star recruit and the 75th ranked player in the class of 2015 according to ESPN.{{cite web |url=http://www.espn.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/news/_/id/146797/aaron-falzon |title=Aaron Falzon |website=espn.com}}

{{College Athlete Recruit Entry

| recruit = Aaron Falzon

| position = PF

| hometown = Newton, MA

| highschool = Northfield Mount Hermon (MA)

| feet = 6

| inches = 8

| weight = 210

| 40 =

| commitdate = October 13, 2014

| scout stars = 3

| rivals stars = 4

| 247 stars = 4

| espn grade = 83

}}

College career

=Northwestern=

As a freshman (2015–2016) Falzon played in all 32 games and started in 29 contests. He made a total of 63 3-pointers, the second most ever by a Northwestern freshman. In his debut, Falzon scored 20 points, which is a school record by a freshman in his debut. As a sophomore (2016–2017) Falzon played in only 3 games before redshirting and having season ending knee surgery.{{cite web |url=https://www.maxpreps.com/athlete/aaron-falzon/B7a_BPTuEeKZ5AAmVebBJg/default.htm |title=Bio |website=www.chicagotribune.com|access-date=2019-09-15}}

As a redshirt sophomore (2017–2018) played in only 28 games due to injury and started in 10 of those games. He shot 37.5% from the 3-point line while averaging 5.5 points a game. Against Minnesota, Falzon scored 8 points without registering a field goal attempt as he shot 8–8 from the free throw line.

During his final year as a Wildcat (2018–19) Falzon was once again limited due to injury. He played in only 17 contests and started only 4 games. He scored a career high 21 points against Indiana after only scoring 6 points in 3 games prior to the game. He finished the season averaging 3.9 points per game.

=Quinnipiac=

Falzon committed to Quinnipiac as a graduate transfer in the spring of 2019.{{cite web|url=https://www.nhregister.com/colleges/article/Quinnipiac-men-add-transfer-from-Northwestern-13860985.php |title=Quinnipiac men add Aaron Falzon, a transfer from Northwestern |last=Borges |first=David |date=May 20, 2019 |website=www.nhregister.com |format=PHP |access-date=2019-09-15}} He scored 24 points against Monmouth.{{cite news |last1=Logue |first1=Ethan |title=Way too early look at next year’s Quinnipiac winter sports |url=https://q30tv.com/sports/way-too-early-look-at-next-years-quinnipiac-winter-sports/ |accessdate=April 19, 2020 |work=Q30TV |date=April 2, 2020}} He averaged 7.8 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in his only season at Quinnipiac.

Professional career

On September 14, 2020, Falzon signed his first professional contract with Etoile Angers Basket of the Nationale Masculine 1.{{cite web |title=Falzon starts his pro career at Angers |url=https://www.eurobasket.com/France/news/644417/Falzon-starts-his-pro-career-at-Angers |website=Eurobasket |accessdate=September 14, 2020 |date=September 14, 2020}} On December 4, 2020, Falzon signed a one-season contract with Leicester Riders of the British Basketball League (BBL).{{cite web |title=Falzon is a Rider |url=http://www.bbl.org.uk/falzon-is-a-rider/ |website=bbl.org.uk |access-date=December 5, 2020 |date=December 4, 2020}} He averaged 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game. On August 9, 2021, Falzon signed with the Traiskirchen Lions of the Austrian Basketball Bundesliga.{{cite web |title=Arkadia signs Aaron Falzon |url=https://www.eurobasket.com/Austria/news/699018/Arkadia-signs-Aaron-Falzon |website=Eurobasket |access-date=August 9, 2021 |date=August 9, 2021}}

On July 31, 2024, Falzon signed with Besancon Avenir Comtois (BesAC) of the Nationale Masculine 1.{{cite web |title=Le BesAC tient son poste 4 majeur : Aaron Falzon ! |url=https://besacbasket.fr/2024/07/31/le-besac-tient-son-poste-4-majeur-aaron-falzon/ |publisher=Site Officiel du BesAC - Besançon Basket Nationale 1 |access-date=30 September 2024 |date=31 July 2024}}

National team career

Falzon has represented Malta in several international tournaments. He participated in the 2021 FIBA European Championship for Small Countries and helped Malta win bronze. Falzon had a 38-point game against Gibraltar and averaged 23.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He was named to the All-Star Five.{{cite web |title=Guillem Colom lands the MVP award, two Ireland players amongst All-Star Five |url=http://www.fiba.basketball/europe/smallcountries/2021/news/guillem-colom-lands-the-mvp-award-two-ireland-players-amongst-all-star-five |website=FIBA |access-date=August 16, 2021 |date=August 15, 2021}}

Career statistics

=College=

| style="text-align:left;"| 2015–16

| style="text-align:left;"| Northwestern

| 32 || 29 || 24.5 || .383 || .354 || .717 || 3.4 || .9 || .3 || .3 || 8.4

| style="text-align:left;"| 2016–17

| style="text-align:left;"| Northwestern

| 3 || 0 || 6.7 || .000 || .000 || – || .7 || 1.0 || .0 || .3 || .0

| style="text-align:left;"| 2017–18

| style="text-align:left;"| Northwestern

| 28 || 10 || 16.0 || .349 || .375 || .853 || 1.7 || .5 || .3 || .2 || 5.5

| style="text-align:left;"| 2018–19

| style="text-align:left;"| Northwestern

| 17 || 4 || 15.5 || .313 || .317 || .833 || 1.6 || .6 || .4 || .3 || 3.9

| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20

| style="text-align:left;"| Quinnipiac

| 30 || 16 || 24.0 || .394 || .348 || .850 || 2.9 || .7 || .6 || .5 || 7.8

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career

| 110 || 59 || 20.3 || .370 || .349 || .792 || 2.5 || .7 || .4 || .3 || 6.6

Personal life

Aaron's brother is basketball player Tevin Falzon.{{cite news |author1=Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson |title=Spilar vonandi betur á Íslandi en hann gerði á móti Íslandi |url=https://www.visir.is/g/2020200109795/spilar-vonandi-betur-a-islandi-en-hann-gerdi-a-moti-islandi |accessdate=3 January 2020 |work=Vísir.is |date=3 January 2020 |language=Icelandic}}