MVC All Bench & Most Improved Teams

(St. Louis, MO) – Missouri Valley Conference awards are rolling like the ‘Mighty Mississippi’ just blocks away from Scottrade Center where the league’s postseason tournament will be played.

The best ‘bench’ players and ‘most improved’ players were honored today. As noted yesterday, Southern Illinois’ Tyler Smithpeters was named the ‘6th Man of the Year‘, but he is joined on the all-bench team today by five significant performers that did their work coming off their team’s respective benches.

Smithpeters led the shorthanded Salukis with 45 three-pointers while averaging 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds for the entire season, but averaged 8.9 points and 4.5 rebounds during conference play.

Other members of the all-bench team were Valparaiso sophomore Markus Golder who exploded on to the scene during the season’s final seven games. For the season, Golder averaged 9.4 points per game, but that number was inflated by a closing kick that saw 6’6 wing average 14 points per game.

Northern Iowa junior Wyatt Lohaus, Missouri State’s Reggie Scurry, Lucas Williamson of Loyola and Drake’s Graham Woodward were also named as to the team.

The Valley’s ‘Most Improved Team‘ was highlighted by two St. Louis area players. Indiana State’s Jordan Barnes was named the ‘team captain’ of this squad. The CBC graduate was the MVC’s third leading scorer at 17.2 points per game and broke the Sycamores’ single season record for three-point baskets with 112.

Southern Illinois sophomore, Aaron Cook (Westminster Academy) averaged 9.9 points per game and and combined with backcourt mate Sean Lloyd to make life miserable for opposing guards as they collected 92 combined steals.

The others noted for their improvement were ‘MVC Larry Bird Player of the Year‘ recipient Clayton Custer, the aforementioned Lloyd, Drake’s Nick McGlynn and Evansville’s Dru Smith.

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