Career Highs & Weekly Awards in the Valleys

(St. Louis, MO) – When players set new career highs in scoring or rebounding they often get noticed by others, and that’s what happened during this week’s honoring of players from the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences.

Scoring marks fell, rebounding marks tumbled and teams moved into first place, and that too, will get you noticed.

Ohio Valley Conference

Javier Martinez not only set a personal best of 21 rebounds in a game, but it was the mose prolific rebounding game of any OVC player this season. The UT Martin senior averaged 20 points and 16.5 rebounds in the Skyhawks’ two victories. UTM (17-9, 7-4) is now in first place West Division. His 22 point, 21 rebound performance against Tennessee Tech was the fifth 20/20 game during the last seven OVC seasons. It was the first in Skyhawk history. He scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against Eastern Kentucky and is this week’s OVC ‘Player of the Week’.

Murray State’s Jonathan Stark won his sixth ‘Newcomer of the Week’ nod for a 26 point performance in the Racer’s only game. The Tulane transfer played all 40 minutes in their loss to Belmont. The 6’ junior has topped the 20 point mark 15 times this season.

Another six time honoree is Eastern Kentucky’s Asante Gist. He picked up the OVC ‘ Freshman of the Week’ recognition for averaging 18.5 points and five assists despite two Colonel losses. The New Jersey native leads all OVC freshmen in scoring and assists.

Missouri Valley Conference

Wichita State (21-4, 11-1) moved into a tie with Illinois State for first place in the Valley and Conner Frankamp played a significant role in that taking place. The 6’1 junior set career highs in points, in back-to-back games. The former Kansas Jayhawk scored 16 points against Drake for a new personal high, and then topped that with an 18 point performance in the Shockers’ huge win over Illinois State. Frankamp is this week’s MVC ‘Player of the Week’.

Southern Illinois (14-11, 7-5) is making a move up the MVC standings ladder and Thik Bol is a contributing factor in that climb. The 6’8 forward is scoring points, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds and is this week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week’. Bol averaged 12.5 points and seven rebounds in the Salukis’ two victories and he blocked four shots, bringing his season total to 52.

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