Explosive Wins & Dynamic Players

Stars Emerge as Races Tighten

(St. Louis, MO) – When the money is on the line, money players step up. As the league races tighten in the Missouri Valley and Ohio Valley Conferences, it is interesting to watch stars emerge. This week’s players of the week are some of those players that continue to earn reputations as money players.

Ohio Valley Conference

In a highly eventful week where the league lead changed hands twice and created a four-way tie for the top spot, not surprisingly, our top players come from those teams that made dramatic moves.

Austin Peay went on the road and won two huge contests and moved into one of those top spots. The Governors knocked off Tennessee Tech and in their biggest win of the season, defeated Jacksonville State. Terry Taylor was a key contributor.

The 6’5 wing scored 30 points in the win over JSU, averaged 24 points and seven rebounds during APSU’s two wins and is this week’s ‘Co-Player of the Week‘. It’s his second such honor.

Belmont won a pair of home games and Dylan Windler recorded double-doubles in both. The 6’8 senior AVERAGED 23 points and 13.5 rebounds per game and is the other half of the ‘Co-Player of the Week‘ honors. He now has ten double-doubles and this is his first weekly award.

Tyresse Williford is emerging on the OVC scene. The 5’10 guard topped 20 points in each of Southern Illinois Edwardsville’s home wins. The Cougars defeated Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky and this week’s ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ averaged 25 points per game and made clutch free throws near the end of both narrow victories.

Belmont freshman Nick Muszyinski is making it a habit of collecting weekly awards. The 6’11 center earned his fifth ‘Freshman of the Week‘ award by averaging 21.5 points and eight rebounds during the Bruins’ two wins. Muszynski leads all OVC freshmen in scoring (15.8 per game) and is seventh among all D1 first year players.

Missouri Valley Conference

This week saw two new Valley stars emerge.

Southern Illinois turned its season around with a pair of wins and senior Armon Fletcher recorded the most prolific scoring game of the MVC season. During SIU’s win over Indiana State, the 6’5 senior scored 34 points, connecting on six of eight long distance shots. The preseason all-Valley player is the MVC’s ‘Player of the Week‘.

Illinois State has moved into a tie for first place. The Redbirds defeated both Drake and Loyola and junior Zach Copeland was a key contributor. The 6’5 Copeland averaged 15 points per game during the clutch victories. Copeland became the ninth different recipient of the ‘Newcomer of the Week‘ award and is averaging 10.5 points per game and leads the Redbirds in assists.